Our Hangout

I love Living Rooms (small groups)

Truth of the matter is, I love community. I say that because not every small group environment, whatever you call them, leads to true biblical community.

In my life, however, I have been fortunate and priviliged to be a part of several small groups that began to experience community.

You never know what's going to trigger community. But in every small group where I've seen it come alive there were no warning signs, nothing that told you, tonight's going to be the night.

But in every group where I've experienced real community, there was usually one event that was a catalyst to our beginning to experience and delve deeper into the experience of Biblical community.

I wish I could go into details, but confidentiality prevents me from doing so. I wish I could not because I would like to gossip about it, but because I'd love for you to see the depth of it, and that it is possible. I say that, because many of us, throughout our Christian experience don't experience deep community very often.

Anyway, I will say this, after a rather average meeting this past week. We moved on to our prayer time as a group. And out of nowhere, without warning, it happened. One person came clean. They decided ten and there that they weren't going to live a lie anymore. And so confession took place. By the way, often confession is the catalyst to real community.

Something happens when someone confesses to a community. I know because I've been there. If you've lived with a secret for a long enough time, the kind of secret that Satan says, "if you tell, they won't accept you, if you tell you'll be destroyed." When you live with that kind of lie for long enough, the thought of coming clean tears you apart. Everything about you wants to. Everything about you fears it. But one person, wanted to be clean more than they wanted to appear clean and so they confessed. Then in tears, realized what they hoped might be true but had been too afraid to find out. Once they were exposed the others in the room didn't pick up stones or condemn. They loved as Jesus did. Tears of guilt became tears of joy. And what minutes before had been hopelessness, in the face of confession and within community turned to hope.

Something neat happens to the rest of the group when one person in a group finally has the guts to come clean, to confess, to believe that God has more for them than the guilt they've known for so long. It becomes contagious! Others begin to realize that maybe they too could be honest. And if one person was loved in their shame, maybe they could be loved to. And then without any warning, the floodgates open up and amidst tears, fear, courage, insecurity the light overcomes the darkness and freedom has a chance to reign in places where previously it had been given no access.

And for this reason I love Living Rooms or whatever you choose to call your small group environments. Those environments create the potential for this to happen. Sunday morning is not usually an environment that allows for this, that's unfortunate, but it's just the way we've come to do church.

Now, these moments don't happen every week. But I know something, after last week, our group will never be the same again.

Posted by ed