Tension - Truth or Life?

Anyone who has been around small groups a bit realizes that there is a persistent struggle pertaining to the nature of the discussion time. Some feel that the point of group is to get deep, deeper, and deeper still into the Word of God. The argument goes something like, “If the Bible has God’s truth in it and God’s truth should shape our lives, then group time should be filled with reading, exploring, and dissection of the Bible. Group time should be about doctrine, right and wrong answers, and filling our minds with the Word.” Sounds like a correct position, right? I mean, you’d quickly find stones flying your way if you suggested that groups should not focus on God’s revelation.

But there’s another position. Some people would suggest that all the Bible knowledge in the world won’t make you a godly person. Perhaps they would say, “Don’t you get enough Bible teaching from the Sunday sermon? After all, you’re only employing about 10% of it. Looks like there’s plenty of information available. Besides, all the information in the world doesn’t help the demons in the end; they are still destined to eternal destruction. I’m more interested in hearing how it’s working for you, what struggles you’re having implementing God’s truth, and how you keep from straying from the path of faithfulness.”

Can you see the battle lines drawing? Truth versus Life. The accusations fly. “You’re only interested in talking about your feelings!” “It’s not truth that saves you. It’s faith; ‘Without faith it is impossible to please God’ (Hebrews 11:6a)!” “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17)!”

But true spiritual formation, growing into the likeness of Christ, happens in the tension between Truth and Life. God’s truth is immensely important to our growth as Christ followers. We are broken people in a broken world. Things that seem right to us can’t be trusted. Only God’s Word stands as our perfect canon or rule for godly living. But information doesn’t produce godliness. We have to live out God’s truth. In the biblical sense, it’s the difference between holding something in your head or within your heart.

Last month at a Leadership Gather, we discussed the components of learning. There is the “learning” part, the acquisition of biblical truth. But there’s also the “doing” part, where you try to implement what you have heard. If you want to know how to fly a plane, reading a book or watching a video just won’t get you there. Eventually, you’re going to have to try. And you’ll probably fail the first several times – praise God for flight simulators! But, after the hearing and after the doing, there’s the “assimilation” of that knowledge, what the Bible would call “understanding.” This happens best in a discussion, especially of the tension between the truth and its implementation. This is where we make the information we have learned to be part of who we are, where it becomes truly integrated into and forming who we are.

Look at the study you are using in your group (if you use a guide). Does it ask questions where the answers are found in the text? You may as well do it at home by yourself. A good group study should lead you into God’s truth and then invite discussion of how you struggle with the concepts. And there should be opportunities to implement that truth. Then, your group can become a place where God will work His wonders, through you and within you.

Remember: The outcome of the Christian life (and therefore your group time) is not information, but transformation.