Well, it happened.  I’m sitting here in a strange new room with another family just across the hall.  Katrina and I have made a commitment to living communally, and now, after a full-on day of U-Hauling, packing, and box piling, we sit at the threshold of the kitchen door, with the first day of communal life on the other side.  What will it be like?  Who are these people we have moved in with?  Who are we, and who are we to become in the midst of dying to ourselves daily for sake of our Christian brother and sister we are now living in such close proximity to?

We did this because we want to share in LIFE together.  Now that we are here, I really have no concept of what that will be like.  I was reflecting the other day on just how LITTLE I understand about fellowship, and I believe the Lord has brought us to this place to begin to teach us something about it.  I intend to be a learner in this new stage of life.  It will take bravery on all our parts not to remain isolated and simply committed to our own projects and agendas.  (Several years ago my mom, brother and I lived with another family for a whole summer, and only saw that family TWICE!?!)  Sharing life together is nothing drastic and difficult to do.  It comes in finding time together each day - a meal, a morning prayer, playing Frisbee in the back yard - and allowing that time to become a rhythm that blesses and affirms that we as a group mean something so much more than I do alone.  That is so backwards for my American mentality.  We’ll see how today goes…

In my discussions with others about organic church, I will sometimes be asked, “Why don’t you guys just have small groups?” It’s a great question. It’s an important question.

For many large churches, small groups are the answer. Church leaders have been honing the small group method for several decades now, and currently there is a section in just about every Christian book store on how to lead small groups, small group curriculum, small group retreats, cooking for small groups, small groups and Bing Crosby: the Christmas album; a veritable small group smorgasbord.

This is awesome. Many people have for many years realized that the “big Sunday event” just won’t do it when it comes to moving people along a path towards deep spiritual maturity. We simply can’t expect one-hour of jam-packed, highly intentional preaching/teaching/worship will stimulate the spiritual growth for the masses for all the other hours of the week. John Wesley was doing small groups back in the 18th century, and prompted the powerful and vibrant early years of the Methodist Church. Yes, we’ve known the power of small groups for a long time.

But what is it about the small group that makes it so alluring and satisfying for the Christian? I’m guessing it is the family that is born through the shared meals, prayers, laughter and tears. The very architecture of our pew-style church buildings (which is rooted in Roman government buildings, many of which were given to the Christians when they became a legal religion) promotes an attitude of “audience” or “spectator”, leaving the original family style “small groups” seen in Acts behind for the pizzaz of a impressive performance. Is it any wonder that our on looking world sees church-going Christians as “spectators” and not practicioners? Is it any wonder that for many people Christians are just “putting on a show” with their faith?

So the small group was born. In the hopes of many mega-church pastors, the small group was going to bring the best of both worlds - impressive, fine-tuned worship on Sunday mornings, and intimate heart-felt fellowship in the evenings. Who could ask for more? Apparently, no one.

Even the best churches find that their small groups still includes only the most committed, and usually the most over-worked Christians at the church. For the vast majority of mega-churches, the small group has become simply another “program” tacked on to an already overextended core church membership. No one would ask for more because for many, just making it to Sunday morning was all they could squeeze into their schedules, and only the very spiritual would dare show up at a small group gathering! While there is meaningful worship times in the morning, and intentional family focused care in the evenings, small groups seemed like the dessert menu only the overeaters wanted to peruse.

So what makes simple churches different than small groups? In a word, its all about life. I realize that there are many churches out there working hard to see their small groups remain vibrant and healthy, and cheers to them! I only question the necessity to work to find that life through a program, when people find life naturally in the midst of life! Small groups still see themselves as secondary to what is actually the REAL church - the activities done the building. This is true! Have you ever been a part of a small group and not a part of the membership of the church? I would guess that you felt pressured to join the “church proper”. Healthy, vibrant, simple churches are not reliant on the “big brother” to sustain them; they are learning to feed themselves spiritually, and more importantly, they are learning to let the Lord feed them!

In other words, the reins are taken off the “small group” when there is no “big group” controlling them. Allow Christians to flourish on their own, and suddenly a surprisingly organic explosion begins to take place! Soon these “small groups” are realizing their giftings from the Spirit. Not long after that they are serving and loving each other, and building each other up to full maturity in Christ. Before you know it, they are raising up leaders, and sending others out to begin a new “small group”. Essentially, simple churches are just what they say they are - they are simply the called-out people of God, without all the exhausting additives and preservatives found in programmatic churches that sustain their life artificially through their “small group ministry”.

I am not ragging on the existence of small groups, because I know how important they are to the lives of the many Christians that are a part of one. But please: don’t fool yourself or others that a “small group ministry” is something Jesus intended when he sat around the table in the upper room of a home to dine with 12 of his best friends who had been on a daily journey with him for the past 3 years.

In my opinion, small groups are the crutches for many Christians who are beginning to believe in themselves. They are slowly getting up off the cot, and wobbling around in community with others and with their Lord. They are piping up in spiritual dialogues, contributing what the Lord has given them to say. These are exciting times, and to be honest, I still have a lot to learn from my brothers off the cot and on the run towards God.

While there are plenty of poor in our city, they have to be sort of creative to bump into people, since there are very few places people pass by each other when not in an automobile.  Yesterday however was a special one for me…

Around 9am I was biking towards a friend’s house and I noticed a tall, black man in a Cleavland baseball cap strolling on the side of the road.  I waved hello at him, and he quickly asked if I lived in town, and if I knew any Christians nearby.  “B” (we’ll call him) said he was looking for help (Can I just say that I’m grateful that Christians can still be turned to for aid?) and I told him that the friend I was going to visit had some yard work he could do.  Man!  That guy went at it!  As soon as he was given work, he tore into and worked his tail off to get it all done.  Afterward B, my friend and I had a good conversation with him, prayed for him and sent him on his way.

Around 5:45pm later that day, I was washing our car up at a local “hosery” (a place where you pay a quarter and you can hose/soap down your car…not sure what they’re really called) when an African-American man strolled up to my car port.  My body was in “threat” mode, and I tried my best to seem friendly.  His first question was, “Are you prejudice?”

I said, “Of course not.”

Next He (we’ll call him “T”) said that his 5 kids were crying from hunger, and he wasn’t going to get food stamps until Tuesday.  He asked me for $10.  I don’t carry any cash with me but I told him that I would be glad to leave right then to take him and his family out to eat together.  He said he didn’t want that.  He said he also needed $20 for bus fare - “What if my kids get sick, who is going to take them to the hospital?”  I was a little confused, and he was beginning to mumble more and more to the point of being incoherent.  I said, “I don’t understand, say it again,” twice (maybe I’m a bad listener - but I really couldn’t understand the guy!).  At that point he began cursing me and yelling loudly.  He reached into his pocket and said, “Nigga hater, I got a ‘38 in my pants!  I could rob your sorry ______ _____ ______!”

Threat alarms were going off wildly inside, and I’m not sure this guy knew where he was, but I responded by saying, “No you won’t.”  and then “I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”  He then asked for $5, and I told him to leave.

What is the moral for these two tales?  What was the fundamental difference between B and T?  I’m not sure.  Maybe someone could respond with some wisdom on how to interact with those who ask us for money.  All I know is, I’m going to be washing my car there again.

This evening we started officially packing our stuff, preparing to make the voyage 1 mile due south.  We’re doing this because we are moving in with another family to participate in Christian communal living.  What an opportunity!  How often are we denied the chance to actually know one another on a deeper level in our culture?  We’re looking foward to the switch.

But what will it be like for our marriage?  We’ve only been married a year and a half, and still have a lot to learn about each other.  Almost daily we’re having those “big conversations” where paradigm shifts are happening, and more light is being shed on our relationship that we have committed to for our entire lives.  She and I have already proven faithful in these small steps into community, and now we’re asking for God to protect us as we move deeper into his called-out people.

I guess you could say its taking what we “do at church” down to the everyday life.  I’ll tell you one thing, if church is going to last all week, I’m loosening my neck tie.  I’m putting my socked feet up.  If our families are going to experience life together, it will be done with no masks to hide our true faces.  If nothing else, it will teach us daily what it means to be church - an authentic faith community.

A related thought I’ve been recently mulling over.  Ever noticed how a gardener’s yard has little to no landscaping or trimmings?  Remember the old truism that states that it is the cobbler’s children who go without shoes?  Why is it that so many “preacher’s kids” (PK’s as they’re affectionately called here at ACU) have no faith?

Unfortunately, I don’t have a good solution - excpet to say, “spend more time with your family!!!”  Not JUST quality time, but quantity time too.  They want to see you at home with them, even if that means your home is a bit smaller.  And when you’re home, they want to see you making them the same or better shoes (yard/faith/etc) that you made the stranger down the street.  What message does it send if we’re willing to be paid to preach the Gospel when we won’t do it for free for our own family?

How do I preach the Gospel to my wife?  How does she preach it to me?  How are we preserving each other’s faith?  Guess I’d better stop writing this blog tonight and get started…

Found this from a friend. I’ll throw this out there and see what you all have to say about it. I’d also love to hear your scores! What is the Kingdom of God?