PARTICIPATION GROUPS 5: MINISTRY

1 Corinthians 3:1-7, 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
5 December, 2004
All Rights Reserved

Modern bicycles are a wonderful thing. They are light, strong, and reliable. They are one of the most efficient means of travel on the earth. They require very little energy to go a long way. There is a t-shirt for cyclists which reads: "Don't laugh--I get forty miles to the peanut butter and jelly sandwich!" One thing is clear: bikes are meant to move. Try standing one up on its own with no kickstand and it will flop over every time. It has no stability unless it is moving. A fascinating piece of bicycle physics is that the bike does not even need to be going forward to have stability. If you place it on a set of rollers--which looks like a frame with three rolling pins and a drive belt--the bike can be pedaled and will stay upright without going anywhere. There is a vector of force through the axle of a spinning wheel which keeps the bike upright. Of course, spinning in place is not why bicycles are made! They really only fulfill their purpose when the wheels are spinning and they are going somewhere.

This picture will help us get a handle on the way that ministry gives stability and purpose to groups in the church of Jesus Christ. Groups can be broken down into three levels based upon their involvement in ministry:

1. Groups which are gathered merely on the basis of mutual attraction are called affinity groups. Paul the apostle described these as being in the infancy stage in 1 Corinthians 3:1-7: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not mere men? What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

The Corinthians had divided into groups based on selfish matters. They had an affinity for one another focused on particular leaders, no doubt highlighting human characteristics of ministry rather than the universal characteristics of Jesus Christ. God's word is clear that groups which are gathered merely on affinity do more harm than good. They have no stability because no ministry is taking place. The members have come to receive, not to serve. They are like a bicycle which is not being pedaled and will fall over every time.

2. Groups in which the members engage in ministry to one another are called care groups. They represent the stage of adolescence and have temporary stability only. Paul's description of the Thessalonian Christians reveals the features of this group stage: Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure (2 Thessalonians 1:1-4).

You can see that the Thessalonian Christians were having a hard time, and their gatherings became sweet opportunities to minister in love to one another. The energy of God was being released in service to God and man. This is like the bicycle when it is being ridden on rollers. The energy of pedaling results in stability which keeps the bike up.

I call the care group phase adolescent because it should be on a trajectory to a more complete fulfillment of Christ's purpose for the church. Such groups can last for a time but if they do not engage the mission of Christ they will inevitably sour. Why? Because the church as expressed in any size grouping was never meant by God to be stationary.

3. Groups that not only minister to one another but also to people outside the group are called participation groups. This is the mature phase because the group has engaged the mission of Christ to bring people to believe in him. In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians he pointed out that they had done a spectacular job of both living and trumpeting the good news of Christ: You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything (1 Thessalonians 1:6-8).

A genuine p-group has not only stability but motion. This is like the bicycle when used for going somewhere--that's why they were invented! They weren't invented for stationary exercise and then accidentally got used by a few people for travel down the road. In the same way, church groups were never designed by God to be stationary, but to be actively fulfilling Christ's mission in some way.

Another way to describe this is to notice that affinity groups have neither speed nor direction. A care group has speed, like a bicycle on rollers, but no direction because it is not moving. A participation group has both speed and direction, which is defined as velocity, because it is moving in the direction of the mission of Christ to bring people to a saving knowledge of himself.

Leader, at what stage is your group: infant, adolescent, or mature? It is up to you to lead your group to the fulfillment Christ intends. Group member, at what stage is your personal participation? You may be in a genuine p-group but only to receive. Ask God to help you move to maturity.

We are in a spiritual war zone, and so it is not a small matter to have groups of Christians who are at the infant or adolescent stage. They were never meant to stay there. Another picture of this same truth would be to picture a gathering of soldiers at a post exchange, or PX. Although they are soldiers, their gathering at the PX to hang out, read mail, and eat snacks is a affinity group only. They have neither organization nor purpose at that moment. The group is all about them as individuals. It has neither loyalty nor stability.

But picture a group of soldiers training on base. Now their group has become a unit with some stability because they have a common purpose to meet training goals. The group is no longer just about them as individuals because the unit must succeed together. Notice that unlike the group at the PX this group has its purpose in view. They are training to fight though they are not yet doing it. That is like a care group.

Then the unit becomes a participation group the moment they are sent to war. Now it is not only about the unit, but it is about the security of a nation. This is a group which is fulfilling its purpose. This is where the members of the group find out why they are soldiers.

What would happen to the nation if our armed forces refused to do anything except hang around the PX? What if they refused to do anything except train their unit on base? The PX group and the training group only find their purpose with respect to actual service--only when they are in motion.

I have watched affinity groups in the church explode with very bad results. I have seen care groups go well for a while and then go as stale as moldy bread because they were not in motion for Christ. But genuine participation groups stand out as different and as preeminently durable compared to the other groups. P-groups minister for Christ, both inside and outside the group.

Even mature Christians can be members of infantile groups. I have seen groups full of mature Christians produce nothing but complaints about what they are not receiving. Where did Christ complain about anything? His purposes to care for existing believers and to seek new believers outweighed everything else. Take a hard look at your group and ask God to help you be a catalyst for change for your gathering to become what Christ wants it to be. Ask God to help you achieve velocity--both speed and direction.