Groups Guy

What will be the things that propel us in becoming fully devoted followers of Christ? What are the essential strategies that churches should employ to help their people grow and mature? These are some of the questions “Move” has studied. Not everything is what you think it would be. Some insights you’ll say, “Well of course that works.”

I’ve each of the installments of the REVEAL survey. I’ve enjoyed each one. They’ve pushed me to think smart and consider the stats that hundreds of church folks have said about their spiritual journey.

Who should read this?

Anyone wanted to understand spiritual formation, from pastors to lay folks. This is accessible to anyone in the church.

Why should I read it?

If our goal is to make disciples and it is, then we need to consider what helps build them. (see Mt 28:19-20) Am I doing my part in my life and in the lives of those around me? You will take away things you can immediately in the first 25 pages.

Insights I like. 

1. Four Best Practices for churches. p24 If you only read only section this one would be worth it. These are the compilation of all the surveys in over 1000 churches. The 4 things we must do are: get people moving, embed the Bible in everything, create ownership by all in the church, and pastor the whole community where you live. If people are stagnant there’s no possibility for maturity. You may have experienced that yourself. If you are not learning, changing, rethinking and pushing on in Christ you lose all vitality in your spiritual life. Embedding the Bible is the way for growth. We must find any and every way to get people into it. I’ve seen a lot of folks move to reading a book by a christian leader over spending time in the Bible. Think of the power of Isaiah 55:10ff. God has a purpose for his Word in each of us. The REVEAL survey says we grow when we read and meditate on the scriptures. Creating ownership is critical for each of us to own our own walk with Christ. We buy believe too that the church we attend is “the church”, but “my church.” Strengthening the church is not the job for pastors. It is all of our jobs..(see Eph 4:11ff) Finally, as we in the church serve and pastor the community, not just our church we position ourselves for maturity. The stats tell us the more we consider the needs of those outside of the walls of the church the greater opportunities we have to get our churches moving to full discipleship.
2. A sad fact that the stats bear out is the behavior gap for those furthest along spiritually. It almost doesn’t make sense. The stats tell us that there is a larger disparity between what the most mature say they believe and how they live. For example, Christ-centered believers say they use their gifts for the kingdom but actually don’t significantly much more than those not as spiritually mature. p91 That’s the gap between what they believe and what they do. These gaps also pop up in stewarship and evangelism. That is a bummer. We would wish that the mature would have greater congruity in belief and their actions. I believe the key becomes how we help others in these harder areas. Accountability happens in trusting relationships, where there is safety, grace and truth. These mentoring, honest relationships must help us take next steps in every area, even the painful ones. This is backstage discipleship. In quiet places we can speak gently into each other’s lives to aid transformation.
3. “Vanilla Ice Cream” Hawkins & Parkinson show that vanilla is actually the most popular flavor of ice cream because it is used as the starting point for most ice creams. Think of all the extra things we put into vanilla ice cream: chocolate swirls, caramel, nuts, oreos. They therefore state that vanilla is in most flavors of ice cream and therefore the most popular flavor. So what’s the vanilla ice cream in spiritual growth?? “Church pastors have an equally compelling option, If they could do only one thing to help people at all levels of spiritual maturity grow …their choice would be equally clear. They would inspire, encourage, and equip their people to read the Bible — specifically, to reflect on Scripture for meaning in their lives.” p167 So our job is to get folks into meditating and reading the Bible in anyway we can. You may think, “Duh, I know that.” Stats show very few of us reading our Bible. Take the time to read this book for great ideas that many churches have implemented to get engagement.