05.19.10
Small Groups... A Journey, not a Destination
Small groups are a journey not a destination. Some individuals will go on a mental, even emotional journey before joining one. They will wrestle with the idea of agreeing to covenant expectations, letting people into their space, being expected to show up each week for a meeting that may or may not be what they imagined, and they will also grapple with the idea that a band of people who make up a group will become their “friends.” They may well believe that they have arrived at the finish line upon arrival at the first meeting. But arrival at the first meeting is the starting line, the first step onto the path that leads toward (not to) transformation. I say “toward (not to) transformation” because transformation is a lifetime undertaking.
Each time your group meets every person there must embrace the fact… they are in process and that arrival will happen at the point of seeing Jesus face-to-face in heaven. The journey this side of heaven will be continually filled with difficulties, disasters, celebrations, confusions, internal wars and external calamities. Healthy groups laugh together, cry together, are confused about life together, and depend on God together. They question and collaborate and induce their own ideas into the Bible study only to find out they were disillusioned.
But this is all part of the journey. This is what makes the journey an adventure. A group of believers trying to arrive at a place of safety and comfort may want to read the gospels and Acts one more time. Oh, and don’t forget the book of Revelation. You’ll find that most of the early Christians found joy in the journey, hope in an eternal future, held desperately to what was to come rather than what was, and helped and comforted the other believers they were doing life with. Journeying, rather than arriving together is what makes the journey bearable, even enjoyable.
A small group journeying together is one of the most fantastic experiences of the human experience.
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