I’m not sure where I heard it. Probably from a Drill Sergeant in basic training encouraging me to keep going and not to give up. But I have heard that most people can give 50% more than they think they can give. Those who are athletic or have spent some time living and working in the outdoors or in harder physical conditions can give 30% more than they think they can give. But the real anomaly is that professional athletes and special forces, the elite of the elite, know that they can give 10% more than they think they can and that the 90% they have already given is more than most people will ever know they are capable of.

I used to think it was because those professional athletes and special forces were accustomed to giving more; giving and pushing is essential to the nature of what they do.  But I suspect there is more.  I suspect that those who know that they are capable of doing and giving more are those who surround themselves with people who share that knowledge.  Your faith, your Christianity is the same.

How many of us would like to get healthier?  How many of us would like to run faster and to lift more?  I know I would and yet I fail; again and again.  But there are those who do succeed.  What is their secret?  Are they just wired different?  No, they commit and then surround themselves by people who share the same commitment.  I have the privilege of praying with our local police officers before some of their shifts.  There are some, and I could name them because they are consistent, who as soon as they are off work are preparing for their work out at the gym.  They work out together.  Their banter as they leave the station is what both unites them and what encourages them not to simply go home and sleep but to push on in their commitment.  That is what a Life Group is for your Christianity.

Now, Life Group is the term used by my local church.  But call it a life group, small group, bible study, connection group or even Sunday school ultimately they do three things for both the individual Christian and the church as a whole; they facilitate the discernment of the truth, they encourage the pursuit of righteousness, and they facilitate church discipline.

I have the greatest life group ever.  It meets virtually every Thursday night.  We have law enforcement professionals, a college educator, an IT professional, three people who are pursuing seminary degrees but what unites us is our commitment to Christ; to the truth that who He says He is and what He says He has done is real.  We have committed to one hour because we are all busy husbands, fathers, and professionals who are pursuing success in all those areas and yet the center of gravity of who we are is found in our commitment to the truth of Christ.  This is the first function of the Christian Life Group.

In Proverbs we read, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Pro 27:17, ESV).”  The plain meaning is that we need one another to test our understanding of scripture.  I like to think that I am well read and intelligent regarding God’s word but occasionally I come up with some wild ideas.  Ask me about my theory on aliens sometime.  Being honest, I am usually wrong before I am right.  What moves me from one to the other though is the opportunity to bounce ideas off of other people; other people that I trust.

On my second tour in Iraq God called me to lead the men’s study at the base chapel.  Initially I refused.  I wasn’t doing the things I needed to be doing as a leader of a men’s bible study and I didn’t feel worthy of the call.  I wasn’t regularly reading the Bible and I was not spending the necessary time in prayer.  But God eventually turned me to obedience and what astonishes me as I look back is that I don’t think God used that call to bring me back to study and prayer.  Don’t get me wrong, that happened.  But, I think his intent was to introduce me to men who took scripture seriously.  They didn’t tell me what they thought the scripture said they either told me what the scripture said or we spent the evening confirming that it did say what we thought it said.  My understanding of God’s truth and, as a result, my faith in that truth grew.  Our interaction with God’s truth was intended to be a social interaction.  We are to fellowship with God and with one another.  We start by hearing, we move to reading, but it is the social interaction with the truth that solidifies our convictions.

Second, is the call to righteousness.  A successful life group results in conviction that moves us towards righteous works.  The Word tells us that we are, “to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Heb 10:24-25, ESV).”  This year I have found a blessing in the COVID-19 pandemic.  Everyone is trying to figure out how to get together without getting together.  That is not new for me.  I am writing these thoughts on an early flight to Seattle.  I can look east out over the wing to the sunrise.  My wife and family are at home still in their beds.  I have sought a non-traveling job and for what ever reason it is not yet in God’s plan.  I have been trying to figure out how to be together without being together since the beginning of this phase of my life.  I miss Saturday morning breakfast with the men’s group in Ellensburg.  You can’t beet meeting together in person.  However, this year I have met consistently with eight fellow Christians regardless of our locations; often for me from a distant hotel room and even once twelve miles from my in-law’s cabin at the first spot with a strong enough cell connection.  What a miracle that is!!!

And I love each of them.  Their commitment to understanding the truth is a commitment to being better men, better husbands, better brothers, and better fathers.  Better is a moral statement.  It is the idea that one man can be better morally than another.  We are free to be better because we have been made free from the requirement of perfection by the blood of Jesus and yet in that freedom we don’t long to pursue the desires of our flesh.  Rather, we desire to pursue obedience and righteousness.  And that is hard!!!  Harder than getting up every morning and going for a run.  Harder than committing to eat healthy.  To deny your sinful self is harder than denying that Venti Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte!!!  And because it is hard we need encouragement and motivation.

I’ve been a leader in the Army National Guard for a long time.  What amazes me is that as a leader my number one responsibility is to motivate people to do that which they have already volunteered to do.  Every soldier has already volunteered to serve under extreme conditions.  Every soldier has already volunteered to do a very specific job.  And I am no exception!  I can’t count how many times I have had to check myself for not wanting to do that for which I have already volunteered and agreed to do.  We need each other for encouragement and motivation to do even those things that we have already individually committed to do.

Lastly a Life Group is to implement church discipline.  Church discipline is unique to that which most of us have experienced.  It is geared towards repentance and restoration rather than punishment.  Jesus tells us how we are to do it…

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Mat 18:15-20, ESV).”

It starts with the individual and it is geared towards repentance and restoration.  That repentance and restoration hinges on the love of Christ shared between those individuals.  Because I love the men in my Life Group I am more likely to hear them when one of them comes to me and says, “Aaron, you are sinning.”  And what if I don’t listen?  What if the next “one or two others” is from my life group?  Am I still not more likely to listen to them because of the love and truth we share?  And heaven forbid, my sin goes before the church and I am asked to leave, is there not still hope?  Gentiles and tax collectors have repented in the past.  Should I finally repent those men who surrounded me each become a point of contact for restoration.  In my repentance each of my brothers is a place where I can go and request forgiveness and restoration.  We are not yet perfected.  We need a way to fail and be restored.  God’s discipline is always aimed towards repentance and restoration.  We need a way to fail and be restored.  That can only take place in the context of fellowship grounded on truth in an environment love and respect.

The life group is the life of the church in that it encourages discernment of the truth, motivates the individual towards works of righteousness, and is the context of love and respect in which church discipline can be executed towards repentance and restoration. If you are not a member of a life group, then I would encourage you to change that today. If your church does not have a life group program or your church does not offer a life group program that interests you I would encourage you to step forward and host one. What it looks like will be a combination of your vision and the vision of those He puts into it. Without one another… without one another in real relationship with one another, we perish.

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