Good-bye to Life Group

Last week we said farewell to leading our Life Group. It was a bittersweet thing.

Tim and I definitely agree that we have lost the passion and the heart for leading the group. It was starting to be a "just going through the motions" kind of thing and each week as we read the flow, we were less and less enthusiastic about doing it. Lately it seemed, we ended up leaving out huge chunks, spending most of the time on "highs and lows" and very little on the actual questions. I thought maybe I was just going through a funky kind of mood, but having prayed about it a lot, I honestly believe that what is going on is that God is releasing us from this role.

See, the thing about being a "Revolutionary" is that you have to be willing to go where God leads you. It's messy. Being part of a movement means moving, by definition. And that moving may not always look like what others around us think it should look like. No one person can direct it. God directs us.

I am awed by the example of the most revolutionary person I know, Karla Goddu. She has answered God's call to start a home church in South Central Los Angeles, and will be going to Africa in February to work in home churches among Muslim populations. Of course, I would rather that she kept coming to our house every Thursday, but that is not what God had in mind for her.

When we started attending Revolution, we were constantly being challenged and pushed. Becoming Life Group leaders came out of that. For us, at that time, it was a very revolutionary move (as anyone who knew us back then can attest), but now I really believe God has something else for us. I don't know where or what at this point, but I think we were released from Life Group so we could be available for the next thing.

On the flip side, we will definitely miss having these people over to our house every Thursday. The picture above is just a portion of our group. We have had an amazing bunch of very smart and knowledgeable Christians gathered around us. We have learned so much and been so impacted by the relationships formed and the opportunities for service to one another that have arisen. I will definitely miss the weekly opportunity to check in with each other and encourage each other in whatever struggles we are facing.

If we could just meet up every Thursday, pray for each other, share our lives with each other, talk about what God is doing in and through us, and read some Scripture that had spoken to us the previous week, that would be o.k. But I think that is called "friendship" and that will continue, of course. I guess we want to do something a little less formalized. But we know that is not what Revolution has set up as Life Groups. We want to honor the leadership and step aside to allow someone else, someone with the heart and passion to do it the way it really should be done, to take our place. This is not meant as a criticism of the structure of Life Groups, it is simply to say that Tim and I feel we are going in a somewhat different direction. I genuinely hope the members of our group will find a fit in another amazing group. I know they have all felt blessed to be a part of this community and I am excited to see them venture into new territory and take their many gifts with them. They will be an asset to any group they find themselves in.

This Thursday would have been canceled anyway due to Bug-a-boo, but come next Thursday, I'll be missing everyone.