"Only after settling into [the wilderness'] unhurried rhythm will you recognize its subtle, continuous changes."
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In terms of leading groups, it's important for us leaders to recognize that the people we lead default to avoiding the desert. Most of us leaders do the same. Our culture operates on the premise that pain is to be avoided as a bad thing. Though much pain can and should be avoided, I wonder often we beg God for spiritual maturity while flat refusing to step one foot into the discomfort of the wilderness.
"Our lives can become a wilderness when experiences expose our frail and tenuous existence. Episodes of bewilderment, abandonment, and inner terror reveal our soul's restless cravings and fundamental neediness. In the wilderness we can lose our bearings. Or regain them".
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Christmas is a great time for exercising our capacity for avoiding discomfort. Shopping, stressing, planning, worrying, decorating and continuous motion are the real holiday traditions for many of the people in our groups. The last thing we would want to do is actually turn all that off, wander out into the desert, and see if we can find the Baby Prince of Peace. As group leaders, however, we have to reflect on not only the need for this in the lives of people who are pursuing Jesus, but that it may only happen in the context of the groups we're leading. What other opportunities do some (most?) of our group members have?
If groups are about life-change, and the desert wilderness is one of the main change-agents God uses in those who turn to Him....how do we create wilderness environments (shy of meeting in Arizona...) as a group?
How do we create a hunger for the desert?
How do we create a thirst for desperate thirst?
Maybe you have experienced things in group world, whether in an official church group or just in the context of a few friends recognizing that spiritual growth happens together, intentionally. Please share those experiences with the rest of us. And let's look at the "Christmas season" as a chance for us to not only celebrate the Son of God coming to earth, but also for His followers coming with Him into the wilderness to pray, awaken and grow.
We'll dive into Chapter 2 next week.
Steve
Well this Shepherd is feeling a touch overwhelmed with what is going on in our group but I'm hopeful that we can continue to foster an environment of compassion and healing.
ReplyDeleteOver the last eight months we have discovered that many in our group are suffering from marital problems which have painful histories rooted in sexual abuse, pornography, parents who were poor role models, and misguided expectations. These heart breaking stories have mainly come to the surface during our once a month social which the men and women do separately. Because of everyone's crazy schedules, we don't meet as a group the week we have our guys or gals night out. It's amazing to me how much individuals will open up when they are not intimidated by the opposite sex. I wish we would have started this earlier.
I also attribute this very recent surge of disclosure, regarding marital turmoil, to our current study. We are watching the four session Sacred Marriage conference by Gary Thomas on DVD. God has been doing amazing things in all our marriages including my own. Each session is a little over an hour which doesn't leave lots of time for discussion, but I am hoping after the DVD series that we can do a more in depth study with his book. Although one of our couples may be filing for divorce this week, we have other couples whose marriages are being healed by something as easy as playing a DVD. God is working through Gary Thomas in our group and I'm thankful to be a part of it.
It's time for me to recharge my prayer life as I continue to shepherd people, along with my husband, with problems bigger than I could have ever imagined. When a woman in our group asked another woman what we could do for her as she struggles through a potential divorce she answered, "You can love me and not judge me." I think that is a wise philosophy for our life groups.