29 March, 2024

Seeing God”s Work (Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY)

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by | 9 December, 2007 | 0 comments

A book review by Bill Search

“Why do you hate me and everything I stand for?”

Those were my first words to Joe Myers, author of Organic Community. I admit it wasn”t the best way to make a new friend. However, I had just finished reading his first book, The Search to Belong, and I was certain he didn”t like small groups. And since I was a small groups minister, I took his criticism a bit personally.

Joe”s gracious response and sly grin helped me realize he was initiating a conversation, not attacking groups. In fact, he gave voice to the majority of churches in America, which offer a variety of ways to help people connect and grow in their faith. After my aggressive introduction to Joe, we developed a friendship. Over time I began applying the principles from The Search to Belong to my church in western Michigan.

As intriguing as it was, Joe”s thought-provoking first book raised more questions than it answered. Soon a chorus of community life ministers was begging Joe for more detail on how to do ministry in a more organic manner. As he was writing his second book, Joe allowed me the privilege of reading his manuscript as he completed chapters. He couldn”t write fast enough for my curiosity.

WIRED FOR COMMUNITY

Organic Community unfolds with the assumption that since God has wired us for community, it should occur more naturally and not be forced. Then he presents a new language for how to describe the development of organic community. Joe explains nine “organizational tools” as a grid for thinking of the subject.

One of the most profound chapters, Measurement, seeks to expand how we count. Joe points out that whatever we count becomes important to us””and likewise that which we don”t count becomes less important. Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, where I now serve, is large. At Southeast, it would be easy to celebrate numbers. Depending on the season, we have more than 10,000 people in groups of various kinds. However, we don”t want to simply track attendance, but also hear stories of God”s work in the lives of people. The stories tell us of marriages restored, lives surrendered to Christ, individuals overcoming addictions, the Scriptures coming alive to people for the first time, and more.

If we simply asked how many people showed up to a group, we would miss God”s redemptive work in our church. Imagine if Luke had just listed numbers in the book of Acts. We wouldn”t be aware of miracles, changed lives, and a spiritual revolution. Joe reminds us that it is both practical and deeply biblical to interact with people as individuals and not as systems.

INVITING TO PARTICIPATE

Participation also presents a good challenge for how we invite people to become involved in our churches. Joe challenges the reader to examine if we are seeking to involve people for the right reasons or just to plug the gaps.

Again, at a church like Southeast Christian, it is possible for a person to feel like a “cog” among all the “gears.” However, since God has uniquely gifted each person, we take seriously the challenge of inviting people to participate in a way consistent with how God has formed them. For some, that”s through joining a weekend group (known in many churches as an adult Bible fellowship) and for others it might be by participating in a men”s or women”s Bible study. For others, participation is best in a community group or serving team. We don”t expect one size to fit everyone.

Organic Community provides a framework for thinking about how and why we do what we do. For some, it might be an uncomfortable exercise to explore their ministry patterns more deeply. But it is a journey worth taking.




Bill Search is community groups minister at Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.




RELATED ARTICLES:

ORGANIC COMMUNITY, an excerpt of a new book by Joseph R. Myers

CREATING ENVIRONMENTS, a review of Organic Community, written by Myron Williams, Southland Christian Church, Lexington, Kentucky.

DISCUSSING AND DISCOVERING COMMUNITY, a review of Organic Community, written by Jon Zabrocki, Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois.

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