How You Say What You Say

Last week I wrote about the sense of URGENCY that is often lacking in our groups, which allows us to slip into mediocrity. On the other hand, an over-stated sense of urgency can undermine our intended results. In our services yesterday, our worshipper were asked to consider if the world hates Christians because of what we believe or because of how we communicate it. This morning I received an email link to a video of a preacher who has s real sense of urgency for a particular issue. His urgency for a Biblically justified position prompts him to speak in harsh and judgmental tone toward any who disagree with his conclusions. One sad side effect is that some who may agree with his conclusion are so offended by his delivery that they never hear the whole message. I was taken in my mind to Queen Esther in the Bible. She definitely had a sense of urgency as she had come to conclude that all of her life events had prepared her for "such a time as this." But even with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she took the time to consider HOW to best communicate her message to the king. As leadership is a function of INFLUENCE. I challenge you to maximize your influence by seeking wisdom in how you communicate with others. I know I have often missed the mark in this area. I have often been driven by right motives, but poor methods have hindered my ability to accomplish God's purpose.

A Sense of Urgency

Over the weekend I received a blog posting speaking about the need for URGENCY. This morning I received a copy of a devotional that reminded me of Screwtape's dialogue with Wormwood in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. The point of this devotional is that one of Satan's tools is to lull believers into complacency. As a student I have been in classes where it was very clear that the teacher had no sense of urgency in the material. And that sense of complacency had a great bearing on how little I enjoyed (or got out of) the class. For this week's encourager I would like to challenge you to ask yourself if there is any sense of urgency in the content of your lesson or the purpose for gathering. If you have trouble identifying a motivation, I offer article 9 of the newly accepted Statement of Faith of our denomination: We believe in the personal, bodily and premillennial return of our Lord Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

What Does your Room set-up communicate?

If somebody walked into your meeting room before your students/participants began to arrive, what priorities would they assume? Is your goal interaction or instruction? Is there a hierarchy within the room? Are the chairs all facing one direction? facing each other?

Some small-group directors will call me and say, "We've got four or five small groups in our church, and all they do is socialize." And I say, "Good. Let them just socialize. That's an important part of Christianity. It's an important part of their life." Now, I would guess that if I attended those groups, the homes themselves would be set up in a social way. There would be a lot of food. There would be a lot of room for just standing and talking. There would be couches and chairs set up in little pockets. That's an environment that is conducive to natural connection. But in most small groups, we switch that off and move everyone to a round circle so that eight or ten of us can see each others' faces. But when that happens, you've just changed the environment. Let's be real—none of us sit around in a circle with eight or ten people in the normal course of our lives (unless we're at a business meeting). It's just not a natural way to connect in our culture. So when we gather everyone in a circle after they've been connecting, we're communicating that something is changing. We're doing something different. And after a few times, the group members begin to understand that we're moving into a learning mode—that someone is going to teach us something. That's not a bad thing. We just need to realize that we change the intimacy level when we change the environment.

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Life Transformation or Christian Education?

What makes the difference between a class/study that is a “data transfer” and one that facilitates spiritual transformation?

If asked to describe “spiritual disciplines” most people will give things done in privacy like prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, Scripture memory, etc. and they are often things that are viewed as burdens. A couple of years ago I was introduced to the phrase “spiritual practices.” That are the behaviors that we choose to practice that yield the results we desire?

Below are some practices that may alter your class/study/small group.

“When we are alone, it's easy to think, incorrectly, that we are spiritually advanced. I can watch a Hallmark commercial alone and find myself moved to tears. I tell myself that I am a very compassionate person. But when I spend time in community with a person who annoys me, it's amazing how quickly I experience "compassion fatigue."

In community we discover who we really are and how much transformation we still require. This is why I am irrevocably committed to small groups. Through them we can accomplish our God-entrusted work to transform human beings.

However, experience tells us that simply meeting with a small group does not automatically result in spiritual growth. There are certain practices that must be present, spiritual disciplines that must occur, to facilitate the transforming work of Christ in us. The presence of these things is what makes the difference between all-too-typical small groups, and life-transforming communities of spiritual formation.

What are these practices? I don't think I have the definitive answer, but I have observed five essential practices:”

Confession: remove the masks

Application: look in the mirror

Accountability: stand on the scale
Guidance: follow the map
Encouragement: embrace each other

To read more from the author of the above quote and list (including explanations and illustrations of each one) click here.

Theology in Aisle 7

One of the joys of teaching others is that we do theology in the real world and our answers must apply to real situations. This is often messier than many of us are comfortable with. I just read an interesting piece about our attempts to understand theology and explain it to others.

I've been searching for frameworks, outlines, contexts; ways to more thoroughly understand what I believe. The studies I've chosen emphasize systematic theology. The very word systematic gives me that Aisle 7 rush. I can hardly wait to be organized!

But there are people—wise, godly people—who grin at me like my husband did at my organizer. "Do you think," asked my friend Barbara, who happens to be a theology professor, "that part of you is looking for control?" I stared at her blankly. No, part of me isn't looking for control. All of me is looking for control. I hate chaos and uncertainty. I am deeply bothered by doctrinal divisions within even the small confines of my own church tradition.

And honestly, I really don't like it when God behaves unpredictably, when he seems to be as much about mystery as he is about revelation, and when he refuses to fit into the slots I have labeled for him.

If these thoughts resonate with you, I encourage you to click on the original article below and contemplate the tension between organization and mystery.

Theology in Aisle 7 | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction