Day 20... Friends

Day 20... Friends

Bible verse:

These are the twelve he appointed:  Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.  Mark 3:16-19

I love how God knows exactly what we need, and when we are paying attention we see it.  In today's reading Moore (2007) describes how many popular television shows are based around a group of friends.  Sometimes they live in the same apartment building (The Big Bang Theory), or they work in the same hospital (Gray's Anatomy), and sometimes they attend the same school (Saved by the Bell).  I'm sure there are several other shows that you can think of, but if you stop and think about it a little longer as I did, you come to realize that even if the show is centered around "one" person, they always have a group of people that they work with. 

Contemporary society creates many barriers that can drive people into silos of loneliness and alienation.  Impersonal work cubicles, automated phone systems, cellphones, iPhones, and iPads (Moore, 2007).  We can travel faster, and further than our ancestors ever dream of, and we have the world in the palm of our hands.  However, if we do not have anyone to share these experiences with, we have nothing. 

I am learning through this experience that I need to surround myself more with other Christians if I want to grow.  I am the proverbial "couch potato", and I have learned that I watch the programs that Moore describes so that I have  a sense of belonging.  It has been this way for many years, and now with Jesus in my life, it needs to change.  That is why it was important for me to talk about this blog and book study in Church.  I was hoping to draw more people to read it, comment, disagree, and add to it so that we can grow more into the Christians that Jesus wants us to be.  Sure it's scary, but it's necessary.  We all need human connection in one way or another.

This week we are going to continue our examination of exercises and practices of Christina living.  We will see how we perform them as members of a small group.  Long-term spiritual growth seldom occurs in isolation.  Christ most ofter grown and develops His followers as they participate in groups.  His Spirit lives in and works with our spirits individually.  However, the friends in our small group encourage us, listen to us, hold us accountable, pray with us, correct us, are honest with us, tell us the truth about ourselves, pray for us, support us, stand by us, and sometimes carry us (Moore, 2007).

Because we already belong to one of the largest communities in the world today, it should be easy to find a group to pull together or to find a group that is already working together in a Bible study or Grow group to join.  I know Moore said earlier to not "just do it", but in this case, I hope he would agree that sometimes we just need to "just do it"... remember you have Christ with you, so you're really not alone.  Also, if one group doesn't work out, simply bow out graciously, and find another.  The Pastors at your Church should be able to direct you to a group that will be suitable.  Sure we are all busy, but again we cannot do this alone.

If you have already committed yourself to a Sunday School class, grow group, or Bible study, Moore (2007) says you are already ready to move on to our exploration of this week's insights on Christian growth in a group setting.  If you haven't committed yourself yet, find out about all of the groups that are available, times, days they meet and commit to joining one of them.  You'll be glad you did; your spiritual growth and development require it (p.104).

Remember:  Jesus usually grows and develops His followers in groups.

God Bless!