God: Making an Ass Out of U and Me

This one has been in my posting queue for a while so it's time to clear it out...

Feeble Knees brought up this thought provoking piece from Totem to Temple. Totem deals with the ministry of Billy Sunday, a former professional athlete and alcoholic turned evangelist, who largely preached from Christ against alcohol and vice. His piece is a bit over the top for me, but he raises a good point: don't assume everyone is going through the same spiritual struggle you are.

I have been leading small group bible studies, mostly men's bible studies, for quite a while now. But one thing that always made me feel awkward was how much I was basing my instruction and lesson plans on myself. Now I wasn't putting myself ahead of Christ or anything like that, but I have found myself planning bible lessons that are more about what is going on in my life than in the group's lives.

Sometimes it works. Especially if your spiritual struggles are attuned to your group's struggles. Maybe most people are having trouble at work or in their prayer lives. Great, everyone is happy. But maybe not. And so instead of equipping those people you are shepherding, you are using them to equip yourself. It is a very easy trap to fall into, especially if your group doesn't give you a lot of feedback about what it needs. I wish there was an easy solution, but like most things in the Christian walk, what is really required is discernment in what you need to do. Being told is easy. Figuring it out is hard, and leadership seems to mean a lot of figuring things out for yourself and hoping you don't screw people up too much before you do.