GROWING WITH GROUPS

One of the premises of the spiritual formation group strategy is that by engaging in spiritual exercises, we grow closer to God. Through these exercises (prayer, Bible reading, service, etc.) we place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.

Dallas Willard in his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines, points out that spiritual growth "will not be done for us, though in our effort we'll find gracious strength beyond ourselves." We are co-laborers with God. We do not simply wait passively for God to work.

Doing. But as I look at my own life, and listen to many of you who are involved in spiritual formation groups, I notice a tendency to focus on "doing things for God." For example, one group shared some frustration with a member who rarely fulfills the covenant. If this member plans to read a chapter of the Bible each night before bed, you can bet that next week the other members will hear, "Well, I just didn't find the time."

How should group members respond? Because they are holding each other accountable, is it their duty to point out this inconsistency, to share their frustration, perhaps to chastise this member?

Let's examine this. First, pointing out the failure of another rarely accomplishes any long term good. Why? Because it only provides a temporary, external motivation. Second, God is not as concerned with our doing as with our being. The way God works is from the inside out.

In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing." Now notice: branches don't produce fruit, they bear fruit. No matter how

hard a branch tries, no matter how many other branches stand by and encourage, that branch—by itself—can never produce any fruit.

Being. Spiritual exercises flow out of our being, not our doing. If I am aware that I am a child of God, unconditionally loved and accepted, a new creation, free from the power of sin, resting in who I am, then I will naturally bear fruit. If I am not producing fruit, the solution is not to try harder, to have others prod me more forcefully; the solution is to abide in Christ.

Paul proclaimed, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." The life of Christ within us is a fact, not a wish, and that life produces a pressure and a power that enables us "to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done" (Foster). Sometimes we work, and sometimes we rest. Being led by the Spirit means letting God determine the agenda.

Focusing on who we are, not what we are doing, is the solution to the problem. As new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) we have been transformed, just as a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. If, as butterflies, we still act like caterpillars (hanging out with the worms, doing wormy things) it is not because we are lazy, it is because we are not living out of our new identity in Christ. We are in error as to who we are, and what we need most of all is to come to the truth of who we are, and the truth will set us free.

Flying. As butterflies we are free to fly, but sometimes we forget who we are. The way the Holy Spirit chooses to shape my choices and actions is by a gentle reminder of my identify, not a sharp rebuke with a fear of judgment. Perhaps we would do well to encourage one another in the way God has chosen to encourage us.
James Bryan Smith