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April 7, 2010
Sabbath or Stagnation?
Which one is happening in your group right now?
After Easter, spring quickly unwinds into summer, and in many churches/small groups there is a collective exhale as some volunteer intensive programs surrounding Easter and the Winter/Spring season wrap up.
In times like these, the need for a little “Sabbath” is natural and even healthy. But sometimes I sense that what we might label as Sabbath is really more about stagnation.
Perhaps you’ve had that feeling in the past, or maybe, like me, you are feeling it now. It’s not a unique problem; almost every group will encounter it eventually. In my own group, I have found it difficult to put my finger on the source of the stagnation. What is it that causes us to grind to a halt in our growth and in our community development this time of year?
Tom Bandy wrote an article that I think gets at the heart of problem for many of us at times. The article is written about stagnation in the larger church, but can just as easily be applied to small groups. I want to share an excerpt with you, so every place you read the word “church,” think small groups:
The problem is that this flow of experience continually breaks down. Churches lose momentum. They get stuck. The church starts out like a rave, with everybody dancing and the beat thumping, but after awhile you look out to see a nearly empty dance floor. The people are all huddled at tables with their friendship circles; newcomers are leaning against a wall hoping somebody will invite them to dance; the chaperones are drinking punch; and the band keeps playing the same tunes, oblivious to the room. The few people who are dancing applaud wildly, self-consciously wondering if all the watchers are criticizing their technique. What happened?Most disciple-making processes break down because the staff, board, and core volunteers focus more on programs than on people. They are thinking more about getting tasks done than on growing people up. They are thinking more about mission results than missionary processes. They assume that the flow of experience in which people change dancing partners, learn new dance steps, and throw themselves onto the dance floor will happen automatically (or that the Holy Spirit will just do it).
I believe there is a lot of truth in this analysis for small-group leaders. Even in groups, we can get sidetracked with getting the group tasks done or the curriculum selected and finished (the program), rather than on growing the people. I definitely feel this drift in my own group experience right now.
Rather than trying to think about what is not happening in the mechanics of my group right now, I’m going to try and think and pray about the people in my group more through the rest of the spring. How about you?
posted by Dan Lentz on April 7, 2010 9:24 AM
