Life in Community

So, I've been stoked to be a part of an amazing team that defines, encourages, and supports the pursuit of biblical community at Southland. It's been a challenging experience while being rewarding at the same time. I got the opportunity to meet with a group of seventeen ministers the other day to discuss what they are doing to chase this value in their respective locations in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky. We also examined what many of the other big churches in this country are doing. It was encouraging to walk away knowing that:

1) No one is doing exactly the same thing
2) No one has a "lock" on a perfect method to organize and administrate this
3) The problems that we face are the same that others are experiencing

On the positive end of things:

1) We were intrigued by the notion that maybe we should be chasing spiritual formation centered NOT around independently focused Bible studies, but centering around the teaching in the church service on the weekends.
2) Developing curriculum for personal study that allows time for an individual to reinforce the stuff taught on the weekend is a great thing.
3) Maybe Life Groups are most effective when they are freed up to become gatherings where true friendships are the number one priority.
4) It's possible that it may be better to study more material but it's best to discover, ponder, and implement ONE thing that God taught you during a weekend service and then share the testimony of that one thing with your group when you are having a cookout.

This is getting to be longer than the average post. I'm done for now.