By Mike O’Dea | Mars Hill Theology Response Team

The elders at Mars Hill are very serious about encouraging Mars Hill members and attendees to get busy in their community groups with the study and application of the “How People Change” material. What is the big deal about this stuff? After all, are we not already undergoing huge change at Mars Hill? New campuses are springing up. New elders are being added. The member’s website is different.

Not only is “our church” different from what it was a few months ago, but now they want to change ME! What’s up with that? Well, it just so happens that Mike needs to make changes too. I am so grateful that our elders recognized the value of the “How People Change” material, authored by Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp. As a Christian of close to 30 years I had become pretty set in my ways (also known as pride). So what, if things were not going so well in my marriage of 31 years. Surely it was her fault, and not mine. I was sure Jesus was on my side. After all, I have a mission to attend to and my wife better get used to it. Right? Well, wrong Mr. Mike.

“How People Change” has opened my eyes to realize that I have made a habit of sinning against my wife for years. Not only that, but I was oblivious to my sin. I had developed a pattern of sin that became habitual (automatic responses to “Heat”) and I was not even aware of my sin. Let’s look at an example: My wife might say, “Mike, you spend too much time involved in Mars Hill ministries. All you care about is making yourself look good and seeking the approval of others.” Wow! That would cause the hair (what little I have left) to raise on the back of my neck. I would respond in one of the following ways: I might argue with her and try to defend myself by selling her on how much I loved Jesus and I just wanted to serve him at Mars Hill. Or, I might get so —–d off that I would go into a retreat and just withdraw from her. Or, I just might get even more involved in Mars Hill ministries to show her how wrong she was. Or……..well, you get the idea.

The “How People Change” material, and the emphasis on bringing Jesus into the situation in order to turn a “Hot” situation into a fruitful situation, has had a tremendous impact on me and my marriage. I now look at the “Heat” from the perspective that my “Thorns” (sin) has much to do in causing my wife to react with “Thorns” (her sin) and the beat goes on. I am learning to recognize the “Heat”, “Thorns”, “Cross” and “Fruit” of daily life. Even at my age (67) I am learning how to better love my Savior and my wife. Thank you Jesus!

I want to encourage all community group coaches and leaders to become enthusiastic about the “How People Change” material, because if taken seriously and applied to each of our lives, the transformation and fruit in our lives will go a very long way in reaching Seattle for Jesus and for causing us to identify with the apostle Paul when he said, “…….I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content (Phil. 4:11).

Sweetheart! Are you ready for your back rub?

Photo courtesy of CCCF

Should community be a safe place?

I often hear it said that to have a healthy growing community groups ministry, the groups must be a safe place for believer and non-believer alike. And to this point I agree, that the community of God should be a place that is welcoming to all comers, hospitable and loving. and in that sense very safe.

But what are people really saying when they say they want their community to be safe?

I fear that many equate safety with comfort. Defining a safe group as one where I can be myself.not judged but excepted as I am, “judge not, lest ye be judged”.right?

Sounds great. but wait. what if “myself” is a gossip. or a liar, or ungrateful, or self worshiping. Should a Community Group be a place where I am free to be those things in a safe environment? Have we not been called to spur one another on to good deeds. to encourage and rebuke one another so that we glorify Jesus with this fleeting life? (Hebrews 3:12-14)

My wife and I experience this as we prepared to go through the HPC curriculum with another couple. We experience some trepidation as we prepared to expose ourselves in that community. Our fear was not because we did not trust or loving friends. It was because, in that community, we could guarantee discomfort from the exposure of our sin. Should we have dismissed this community because it was un-safe?

If safety is comfort then I pray our groups are never safe. To be comfortable with your sin is to be dead to the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-9). In authentic community, I cannot hide my sin for long because, inevitably, pressure and time will expose it among a group of people who truly care and love me. In such a community, I am forced to confront, confess and repent of my sin. This is painful, unsettling, and certainly not safe by the standard of comfort. Safety is not in that I will not be challenged to live a life worthy of my calling to Christ, but it is in that it will be done in love from a brother or sister that is, or has, walked through that same fire. Ultimately, there is no safer place then in the arms of Christ, to whom this process points and draws us.

Considering the non-believer, it is unfathomable to me that we can believe it is safer to be left in a state of death and decay, dangling over the flames of hell, then to be confronted with the life-giving message of the Gospel. This is rarely a comfortable confrontation with the living the God, but how desperate is their need to be saved from the destruction they are hurtling toward. Yet we hold our tongue for comfort? Unfortunately we are often deceived that what would be safe (God) is dangerous (uncomfortable) and that which is dangerous (damnation) is safe (comfortable). (Isa. 5:20).

My encouragement to you is to embrace the danger of living in authentic community. Look forward to the work God is doing in you and through you as part of a community. Embraced discomfort for a greater joy, Sanctification.

My prayer is that groups will be a place where we encounter God, and challenge one another to glorify Him. That’s not safe. That’s community.

By Tim Zion 

I recently was at a friend’s church. As we left the parking lot there was a sign that read, “You are now entering the mission field.” My mind took that simple sign I had seen countless times and ran with it. Where is the mission field? Is it really only outside the church? If the mission field is only “out there”, what does that say about me? Well, I am the one driving by the sign so that must mean that I am not part of the mission field. It’s those other people I meet outside the church who REALLY need Jesus.

Even as I write this, I laugh at myself. Not because I am so funny, but because these thoughts are real. Somewhere in my sinful heart I actually believed this. I actually had those thoughts; poor sinners out there in the world who need Jesus. How ridiculous is that? I am sure as you are reading this blog you are thinking, man I’m glad I don’t think like that. But how often are we like that? How often do we think the sin outside of us is way worse then the sin inside of us? Most the time we are like the Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14 thanking God we aren’t like everyone else.

Truth is we are. The difference is we don’t have to be. We are free in Christ. If every Sunday you hear the word, are convicted of sin, yet find yourself repeating the same sins over and over through out the week. You need help. We all need help. We need to be in a community of believers who love each other enough to call us on our sin, yet humble enough to know they are no better. That is what community groups are all about. It’s where you can give support to others and receive it yourself.

So, is the mission field only outside the church? Oh no! There is a whole different kind right here inside the body. My own heart is the biggest. I find that the hardest thing about being a Christian is actually having to care about others. I mean, really care. Phone calls late at night, uncomfortable conversations, disrupting “your” life care. That is what we are called to. That is what should be happening in our community groups. If you aren’t involved in a community group, get involved. If you are, welcome to ministry. It’s not for people who have it all together or those with all the answers. It’s for those who are willing to humbly come along side others, help them transform and be transformed. All by the grace of God, for his glory alone.

As a reminder, I think at every community group we should have a sign that says “You are now entering the mission field.” But, if no one else thinks that’s a good idea. I guess changed lives will work too.

At the Transformation Series conference about three weeks ago Paul Trip did some work out Hebrews chapter 10 that I have been noodling on since that weekend.

[(nōōd'ling) to contemplate, meditate, think about.]

The concept is not new, and most of us are quick to pay it lip service.

The concept: Christianity is meant to be lived out in community.

Ground breaking I know. Probably not the first time you’ve heard this proposition, but have you ever noodled on it?

We are created in the image of the Trinitarian God who exist in community. “Yes, yes” we nod our heads in agreement. yet few of us willing seek out encouraging, rebuking, exciting, fun, painfully authentic community in our church. I am convinced that the majority of Christian hear this proposition say that you could, may, might benefit from, living out your faith in community. The reality however is that this is not a suggestion. There is an expectation in this text that we live in community (Heb. 10:22-25). In fact, verse 25 is a rebuke to those that think they don’t need to be apart of it. As Mr. Tripp indicated, this is not a call to attend a church service, but to live life together in a meaningful way that exposes our sins, encourages us in faith and draws us closer to Christ.

As I sat in my office this week I was posed the all too familiar question: Why do you think people avoid community? If I had a nickel .

Just to give you background, we currently have approximately 1/3 of our Sunday attendees in Community Groups including ½ of our members.* Respectable numbers by church statistical standards, but far from the expectation of Scripture and to what I believe God is calling us. *This does not include other legitimate forms of community.

So why DO people avoid community?

One reason, and I believe the most significant, is that in authentic community our sin is exposed. We can keep up appearances at work, a family function, or a barbecue. but if we are in a community of believers who take scriptures like Hebrews 3:13 seriously, we cannot hide for long. We all sin, and as John 3:20 outs us, we “will not come into the light for fear that [our] deeds will be exposed.” We fear light like a 32 year old actress fears HDTV. In reality, however, it is this exposure that gives us life. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)

Unfortunately too many of us have believed the lie that darkness is better then light. In the deepest parts of our regenerate hearts we want communion with God and fellowship with each other… but we have been deceived by the promise of comfort that does not bring peace. My challenge is to live in the light believing the promise of my faithful God that the shame of being exposed will be worth the joy of glorifying Jesus.

So let us live life together, willing to be pruned by God through His Word and His people for the purpose of glorifying Jesus… and don’t forget to bring your sunglasses.

If you’re like me, there were moments in the How People Change conference, when you were tempted to dismiss the significance of some of the illustrations. “Yeah, like that’s a big deal: frustration in traffic, Paul arguing with his wife about the most direct route, Tim’s momentary reaction to his daughter’s disrespect. Hey, let’s not trivialize the depths of sin, here. Use some more shocking examples, please! You know, real sin…”

And then I caught myself coming to recognize these mundane moments for what they really are, unguarded moments that expose what’s really in the heart. I see that, actually, they show sin to be a much greater enemy than if we only paid attention to those BIG “sin moments”. That’s because those mundane moments happen all the time. Everywhere in life. So the battle against sin, and the “droppings of the heart”, are everywhere.

For those familiar with Grace Groups and S.A.L.T.S. groups, we call this “processing the here-and-now.” Those subtle interactions in the group that might seem disconnected from the members’ stories, but actually are vital clues to understanding what’s really going on in the gut.

Don’t believe that these moments really count? Then what did Jesus mean in Matthew 12 when he said, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks…I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak…”?

careless words? You’re telling me I have to give account for careless words?

Thankfully, Jesus has already paid the price for every careless word I speak. Now I can honor the costliness of the price he paid by paying attention to what those careless words say about what’s still in my heart, what work He still wants to do in me, and take seriously my responsibility for the harm I cause others around me by those careless words.

As I gave this blog entry some thought, I recalled writing something similar on my personal blog about a year ago: Words at the Tip of the Iceberg.

The How People Change conference at the Ballard campus was a blast this weekend. Energy was high. Lots of learning. Felt good.

In the closing comments, I challenged conference participants to commit to a “next action” with the curriculum, and I asked them to tell someone what that next action would be–before going to bed Saturday night.

“Will you work through the curriculum on your own? With your spouse? Informally with a group of friends? In an existing team meeting context? With your existing Community Group?”

I said, “you don’t have to eat the whole elephant at once, just eat the first bite tonight–commit to your next action.”

Well, I had my next action in mind on my way home from the conference. And I admit, I forgot to tell my wife before I fell asleep last night. But this morning, we nailed it down! We already have a bi-weekly time scheduled on the calendar for devotions together, and we’ve agreed to spend that time working through this curriculum as husband and wife. Having done that, my new next action is to increase that commitment from bi-weekly to weekly!

What’s your next action?