Fireside Chat

What had discipleship looked like for thousands of years leading up to the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason? Let’s face it: the world we are familiar with is the post-Enlightenment era. Do you want to know about something? Buy a book and read it! (OK, I’m showing my age. “Read a blog or listen to a podcast!”) And personal discipleship in the church today is driven by the call to “quiet time.” But for thousands of years leading up to the invention of the printing press, very few people could actually read. Were they weak in their faith? Were they deficient in some way because they weren’t daily reading their Bible and journaling their thoughts?

Well, I certainly hope that you didn’t answer “Yes” to those rhetorical questions. Frankly, this was a time when individualism was less popular, even seen as dangerous. Community played a huge part in discipleship. Whether it was the family, the church, or the village, folks got together and interacted with one another around God’s Word and life. People spent time together, sharing food, insights, and struggles. They learned and practiced, sometimes all in the same gathering. And their faith was extremely practical, impacting their lives and casting their culture.

Last Saturday, 23 Leaders from our CONNECT Small Groups Ministry got together at the home of Denny and Gini Hummer for our first Quarterly CONNECT Leadership Fireside Chat. It was an opportunity to come together as the leaders of Grace Church. Does that sound strange to you? “Aren’t the leaders of Grace Church the pastors and elders?” Certainly. But biblical leadership is primarily about influence. And who is more influential in the lives of the members of a small group than the one who pours himself or herself out for them, their group leader. And your pastor and Coach want to do the same for your group, namely to make ourselves very accessible to the people in our ministry.

We had a great night of sharing about what God is doing in our groups and about how we are struggling. Yes, I “taught” more than I wanted to. I felt it was needed at a couple points, and it led to great dialog. Afterward, one Leader told me that he was encouraged most to know that the difficulties he was facing did not indicate that he was failing as a Leader, but that he was truly engaging in real discipleship. He clearly heard that there were other groups struggling through the very same issues. Another Leader told me that for the first time she was beginning to understand that group was not the place people go to grow but actually how people grow. I couldn’t have said it better myself.