PARTICIPATION GROUPS, PART 6: REPRODUCTION

1 Corinthians 14:23-26, Acts 15: 36-41, 1 Peter 4:6-10 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
30 January, 2005
All Rights Reserved

In the film, Lorna Doone (ch. 3), a farming family named Ridd in England in the 1800's experiences what it is like to live under oppression. Their entire region is dominated by a heartless and criminal clan called the Doones who once had been wealthy and powerful, but who lost their lands and turn to crime to make up for it. One day when young John Ridd and his father are in town shopping in the market a band of Doones sweep in, smashing and stealing things. John's father tries to protect a woman who is being terrorized and is shot to death right before the eyes of his young son. The Ridds feared and hated the Doones as did everyone else.

Then one day John Ridd is fishing and accidentally gets washed downstream to a spot he had never been before. There he meets a beautiful young girl named Lorna. Young John finds himself entranced by Lorna. He does not know that she is a Doone--that he's supposed to hate her. Soon the very Doone who killed John's father comes looking for Lorna. Lorna sends John away through a secret passage in the rocks and saves his life, for no Doone would ever be permitted to consort with a Ridd.

How different a perception of Lorna he would have had if he had known she was a Doone! He never would have gotten to know her. He would simply have assumed that all the evil things he knew of the Doones would be true of her. The raw hatred that the common folk had for the Doones would have become fixed upon her--without cause! But since he had a chance to experience what she was really like, he found himself taking a shine to her.

This unexpected experience is a crucial thing that small groupings in the church, which I am calling participation groups, do for people. A participation group is not a single-purpose group, but a group which grasps the fact that the fullness of the church can and should be at work even in the small groups. We have seen four great purposes of the church which become fleshed out in p-groups: fellowship, study, prayer, and ministry. These can be remembered with the mnemonic: Fine Students Progress More Rapidly. The final purpose of p-groups is Reproduction. The church as it gathers in p-groups should be among its most powerful tools for helping people meet Christ and forming them into genuine followers.

1. THE IMPACT OF A GENUINE P-GROUP

The manner in which p-groups impact reproduction of new believers is relational, not programmatic. Or, if you prefer, the p-group is the program. There are several major impacts the group as a whole can have on people who are still on the way to becoming followers of Christ. In the book of Acts we see that through the church gathered people were able to witness and experience direct manifestations of God: "And great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things. At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico. But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people held them in high esteem. And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number" (Acts 5:11-14).

Annanias and Sapphira had just lost their lives as a direct judgment of God for lying to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gave Peter a word of revelation about what they had done and a word of prophecy about what would happen to them. This was in addition to the many signs and wonders done by the apostles. And what was the result? Multitudes of men and women came to follow Christ!

I cannot tell you which manifestations of God you will have in your p-group as you seek to walk in all that God has for you, but I can tell you without doubt that God will indeed manifest himself. And when people experience God first hand they do not say: "Oh, you are just making this up." This is even more crucial for postmodern people than moderns because moderns say: "I'll believe it when I understand it," and postmoderns say: "I'll believe it when I experience it." This is not about presenting people with a slick entertainment-style program, but about bringing them face to face with the raw reality of God seen in the lives of those who are already following him. Do not forget that the crowd which got saved on the Day of Pentecost was drawn by the manifestation of the sound of a "mighty rushing wind." And this is why kingdom ministry, where each of us determines to walk in and minister the mighty power of God and his word, is essential to p-group ministry.

But an experience of God without the truth of the gospel cannot help anyone, and the p-group is a key environment where people engage the word of God. Paul explained this to the Corinthians who had become unbalanced in the direction of manifestations: "But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification" (1 Corinthians 14:24-26). One possible interpretation an unbeliever might make of the unbalanced functioning of spiritual gifts is that we are simply mad. The truth of God must do its powerful work on the heart and mind. And notice how the word of truth gets delivered: "each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation." That cannot happen in the large group meetings of the church. This is a key function of p-groups. People wrestle with the word to understand it, and they bring forth what God is teaching them in all different ways.

In a cult they do the reverse. Everyone is forced to listen to one person, no matter how stupid what he or she is saying. In a p-group the Spirit of God who teaches every true believer directly is revealed to be at work in everyone. And if you combine the impact of the manifestations with the impact of the word, you have one of the most powerful ways people can meet Christ and become his followers.

2. PERSONAL MINISTRY IN A P-GROUP

But p-groups don't really do anything on their own. Only the people in them do, and that is why reproduction must become personal. Jesus commanded all believers to make disciples (Mat. 28-18-20). The question is: What are you willing to do to connect with people personally so that they might become genuine followers of Christ? The example of Barnabas is instructive: "After some days Paul said to Barnabas, 'Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.' Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord" (Acts 15:36-40).

I am not willing to say that Paul was wrong not to take Mark because they were out on a demanding missionary journey. I do want to focus on the fierce personal connection between Barnabas and this young man he chose to disciple. Barnabas was so committed to forming Mark into a genuine follower of Jesus that he was willing to part company with Paul over it. Did Barnabas succeed? Paul himself says so twice, and this is one of them: "Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas's cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him); and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me" (Colossians 4:10-11).

Barnabas was willing to disciple the "failure," John Mark. What are you willing to do to connect with people personally to form them into true disciples? Would you: learn a new language? give perpetual rides to a non-driver? meet regularly for prayer and Bible study? overlook hurtful remarks? remain faithful in spite of failures?

Helping people become genuine followers of Christ is a dirty business because sin is a dirty thing. One of the most important aspects of learning to be a disciple is killing sin (cf. Rom. 8). We can no more expect to disciple people without messes than we could expect to raise an infant without diapers. The clincher is that Christ is doing this with each one of us. Can you imagine how it feels to the Holy One of Israel when his own disciples for whom he died say and do unholy things? And yet he does not throw us away. He has a fierce devotion to us personally, not just to the task of discipling people in general. Reproduction is intensely personal.

3. FOUNDATIONS FOR P-GROUP FERTILITY

When women have difficulty getting pregnant they often go to a physician specializing in fertility. If our p-groups are not bearing children for the Lord we need to go to the Great Physician to improve our spiritual fertility. I cannot tell you how the Lord led me to the following passage, but I invite you to consider these foundations for p-group fertility in 1 Peter 4:6-10.

First, the good news always must be trumpeted by our small groups whether we think people will respond or not: "For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God" (1 Peter 4:6). Nothing is more central, and only God knows the results. Our job is simply to be faithful megaphones. Secondly, Peter exhorts: "The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer" (1 Peter 4:7). P-groups must be an environment of sober prayer in light of Christ's return. Kingdom ministry moves on the wings of prayer.

Thirdly, Peter instructs: "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). P-groups without an intense spirit of love are failures, and if they should reproduce loveless Christians they are transmitting a congenital defect which may cause Christ to reject them (cf. Rev. 3). No, love is the mark of true believers, and it seems clear that you have to be personally connected with others in real relationships for that to take place. It won't happen in a huge auditorium where you never sit next to the same person twice.

Fourthly, a spirit of hospitality is crucial to every p-group: "Be hospitable to one another without complaint" (1 Peter 4:9). Open heart, open home. Never think that simply being the host of a p-group is a small matter. Hospitality is a characteristic of Christ: "In my house are many rooms... I go to prepare a place for you." P-groups cannot function without the spirit of hospitality. Finally, Peter delivers the highest calling: "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (1 Peter 4:10). A p-group is a crucial place where we minister the grace of Christ to one another by serving each other.

Picture the reproductive power of a group with these intentional characteristics. A visitor or Christian comes into a group where there is good news all the time, where the relationship with God the Father is revealed in prayer all the time, where love for one another conquers all the stupid stuff which divides us, where every person is welcomed all the time, and where the miraculous grace of God flows through humble people as they serve one another. That's a group that's going to have babies and is going to raise them into healthy disciples.

CONCLUSION

Postmodern people are overwhelmingly post-Christian. They think they know what they are rejecting, but they do not. They need to stumble into the river of God, get washed downstream to a place they've never been before, and meet the beauty of the Lord in the flesh of his followers. Just as John Ridd had a chance to experience the goodness of Lorna Doone without rejecting her in advance, people need to experience the person of Jesus Christ. Church buildings and formal meetings are actually a liability in that life-giving process. P-groups meeting in homes are the place where people can feel the church out for themselves and come to understand what the good news really is.

Are you in a p-group? Perhaps you are already leading a group. What does your group have to do in order to reproduce? I invite you to move into kingdom ministry in an intensely personal way, and to lay the foundations of spiritual fertility in your group. Then watch out--you're going to have babies!