For just this one Sunday, we will be discussing what it means to be sent out into the world ready to engage it, rather than ready to fear it- wondering what we're allowed to believe. We won't and can't be answering all our questions, but we will try and provide some filters to pass ideas through as questions come up in the future.
Use this group time to talk about the how our faith isn't a fearful, narrow pursuit of Jesus that cannot be discussed outside of approved thoughts and words, but a dynamic, transforming engagement with the world through Jesus Christ alone.
Thaw
- How was this past Easter the same or different for you?
- How would you like to celebrate Easter differently next year, and how can this group of followers be part of that?
- What most impacted you from the message this Sunday?
- What was the main thought you had as you left about how you engage your faith and the world around you?
Read
- Matthew 10:16
- Thoughts?
Leader note: You may want to read versus 1-16 for the context. Though reading the context doesn't change the principle of sheep among wolves and being like snakes and doves, you may uncover that Jesus is speaking to the first-phase, Jewish followers and the charge is to not speak to anyone outside of the Jewish faith. This is not to say that Gentiles (non-Jews) have no part in what God is up to, but it does reinforce that the gospel is "first for the Jew and then for the Gentile". Not until later were the Gentiles sought after (Acts 1:8). This may be a discussion in and of itself, as understand that the New Testament is largely about Jewish men and women convincing other Jewish men and women to see that the very Jewish Jesus is the very Jewish Messiah that they had been waiting for. Much of the context of the NT should be understood this way, as it definitely shapes our understanding of passages and how to apply them accurately in a modern context. Being a "sheep among wolves" can be specifically understood as a Jewish man or woman encountering much resistance from the Jewish Theocracy about the "new thing" called Jesus-following. A gentile response to Jesus' animal metaphor is and should be very different from a first-century Jewish response to it.
- What does it mean to be sent out as sheep among wolves?
- Why doesn't it say "a sheep"?
- What are some characteristics of a herd of sheep and what does that have to do with this group?
Leader note: If the emphasis becomes dependent on "wolves" being big, bad, non Christians!!!!....remember that Ephesians 6 says our war isn't with flesh and blood humans. We needn't be scared around any person or their ideas. Help your group not fall into an "us-and-them" trap, but hold at the center that there is an establishment that can function as a wolf, but is actually comprised of individually lost sheep.
Read
- 1 Corinthians 3
- (Choose a reader, and have listeners write down the phrases that stick out for one reason or another)
- Thoughts?
- Is Paul trying to help early Christians realize the bigness of our faith, or the smallness? Explain.
- Read verse 21-23 again. How encompassing does this seem to you?
- Does this mean that everything is ok and that it doesn't matter what people believe, or is it saying something about a Christians freedom to glean truth, beauty and redeemable elements from anything regardless of it's affiliation with the faith? Discuss.
Leader note: This may be a helpful exercise for your group, to go through their next week and see if they can spot the good in things otherwise, seemingly categorized by religion as inherently bad. Christians are invited to be a courageous, thoughtful, listening and wise people that can spot the roots and reasons for things that fearful, cowering Christians merely condemn. This is an invitation from Paul to live in the real world not denouncing, but being part of redeeming.
Apply
- What does it look for you in your specific daily context to be a sent sheep among wolf-like paradigms, employing the dove and the snake-like attitude? Each member share.
- Is there a way to increase in innocence and wisdom?
- Is there a way to redeem more of what had been previously denounced?
- If you work harder in these areas, what might the non-Christians in your world think? Family?
- What help can this group be as you seek to take your place as a sheep among wolves, and one to whom all things belong because they belong to Christ, and Christ to God?
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