Author: Scott Chafee

Scott serves on staff at King’s Grant Baptist Church in Virginia Beach.

Why FEAR God?

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Throughout the Bible we are told to fear God, but have you ever considered what that means?

At the start, we need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God. While these distinctions can be helpful, they can also be a little dangerous because God’s Word is so much higher than my human words.

When Martin Luther struggled with the “fear of God,” he made a distinction between what he called a servile fear and a filial fear:

The servile fear is a kind of fear that a prisoner in a torture chamber has for his tormentor, the jailer, or the executioner. It’s the kind of dreadful anxiety in which someone is frightened by the clear and present danger that is represented by another person. Or it’s the kind of fear that a slave would have at the hands of a brutal master who would come with the whip and beat the slave. Servile refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner.

The filial fear draws from the Latin concept from which we get the idea of family. It refers to the fear that a child has for his father. In this regard, Luther is thinking of a child who has tremendous respect and love for his father or mother and who dearly wants to please them. He has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves, not because he’s afraid of torture or even of punishment, but rather because he’s afraid of displeasing the one who is, in that child’s world, the source of security and love.

This distinction can be helpful because in Deuteronomy and in Wisdom Literature, we are told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Job 28:28, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 3:7, 9:10, 15:33, Isaiah 11:2, 33:6). The focus here is on a sense of awe and respect for the majesty of God, which is often lacking in contemporary evangelical Christianity. We get very flippant and casual with the God of the universe. We are invited to call him Abba, Father (Romans 8:15) and to have the personal intimacy he promised to us, but still we’re not to be flippant with God. We’re always to maintain a healthy respect and adoration for him.

If we really have a healthy adoration for God, we still should have an element of the knowledge that God can be frightening. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). As sinful people, we have every reason to fear God’s judgment; it is part of our motivation to be reconciled with God.

Jesus even warns his disciples not to fear men who may kill them, but to fear God, who could not only kill them but throw their souls into hell (Matthew 10:28, Luke 12:5).

But the good news is, for those who are in Christ, there is no longer condemnation (Romans 8:1)

[print_link] [email_link] Adapted from R.C Sproul

Basics of Biblical Greek

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To properly understand the Bible, knowledge of the original language is helpful to gaining the proper meaning of the text. While I am no Greek scholar, I post this here for quick reference.

Number and Person: Before discussing tense, voice, and mood, it is first necessary to have an understanding of person and number.

  1. Person: This is what determines whether
    1. The subject is the speaker (first person)
    2. The subject s being spoken to (second person)
    3. The subject is being spoken about (third person)
  2. Number: This is what determines whether a verb is singular or plural.
 

Number

Singular

Plural

Person

First

I

We

Second

You

Y’all

Third

He, She, It

They

Tense: Tense plays a very crucial role in the study of New Testament exegesis. Dana and Mantey understood its significance in saying that “no element of the Greek language is of more importance to the student of the New Testament than the matter of tense” Tense deals both with time and kind of action. Ancient Greek focused more on kind of action; however, time does play a role in verb tense when the mood is indicative.

The aspect of a verb correlates with the kind of action. It determines whether the verb’s action is punctiliar, linear or perfected. These are described in the following table.

Punctiliar: The action relates to a specific point in time.
Linear:

—————

The action is in the progress of occurring.
Perfected:

Results

The action is both punctiliar and linear in that it refers to action relating to a point in time, yet has results that are in the progress of occurring.
  1. The Present Tense: The present tense usually denotes continuous kind of action. It shows ‘action in progress’ or ‘a state of persistence.’ When used in the indicative mood, the present tense denotes action taking place or going on in the present time. The continuous present is usually translated as “I am following” while the undefined is best translated as “I follow.” Another example: “In Whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22) or “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” (Hebrews 10:25).
  2. The Imperfect Tense: The imperfect tense shows continuous or linear action just like the present tense. It always indicates an action continually or repeatedly happening in past time. It portrays the action as going on for some extended period of time in the past. This is best translated as “I was following.” Another example: “For you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:8).
  3.  The Aorist Tense: This tense is hardly a tense at all. The aorist is said to be “simple occurrence” or “summary occurrence,” without regard for the amount of time taken to accomplish the action. This tense is also often referred to as the “punctiliar” tense. Punctiliar in this sense means “viewed as a single, collective whole,” a “one-point-in-time” action, although it may actually take place over a period of time. The word aoristos derives from an alpha privative (ie. negation) and the verb horizô (meaning “to bound”) thus meaning “without boundaries.” With the indicative mood it is often best translated as a simple past: “I follow.” Another example: “God…made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:5) or “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6).
  4. The Future Tense: This tense generally denotes action that will occur in the future. This is best translated as “I will follow.” Another example: “We know that if he is manifested, we will be like Him, for we will see Him even as He is.” (1 John 3:2).
  5. The Perfect Tense: The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence. Unlike the English perfect, which indicates a completed past action, the Greek perfect tense indicates the continuation and present state of a completed past action. The perfect is often translated as “I have followed.” Another example, Galatians 2:20 should be translated, “I am in a present state of having been crucified with Christ,” indicating that not only was I crucified with Christ in the past, but I am existing now in that present condition, or “…having been rooted and grounded in love,” (Ephesians 3:17).
  6. The Pluperfect Tense: The pluperfect (‘past perfect’) shows action that is complete and existed at some time in the past, (the past time being indicated by the context). This tense is only found in the indicative mood and is rarely used in the New Testament. Both the completed action and the results of that action occur in the past. The usual translation for the pluperfect is “I had followed.” Or another example: “…and they beat against that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” (Matthew 7:25).
  7. The Future Perfect: There is also a future perfect tense in Greek which is very rare in the New Testament. It is only formed by periphrasis in the New Testament is much like the past perfect, only the completed state will exist at some time in the future rather than in the past.

Voice: Biblical Greek has three voices which indicate whether the subject is the performer of the action or the recipient of the action, active, middle, and passive:

  1. The Active Voice: This occurs when the action of the verb is being performed by the subject. If the subject of the sentence is executing the action, then the verb is referred to as being in the active voice. For example: “Jesus was baptizing the people” (paraphrase of John 3:22; 4:1,2). “Jesus” is the subject of the sentence and is the one that is performing the action of the verb; therefore the verb is said to be in the “Active Voice.”
  2. The Middle Voice: When the subject of the verb does action unto itself, or for its own benefit, the middle voice is used.  In overly simplistic terms, sometimes the middle form of the verb could be translated as “the performer of the action actually acting upon himself” (reflexive action). For example: “I am washing myself.” “I” is the subject of the sentence (performing the action of the verb) and yet “I” am also receiving the action of the verb. Many instances in the Greek are not this obvious and cannot be translated this literally.
  3. The Passive Voice: The passive represents the action of the verb being done unto the subject but not by the subject. If the subject of the sentence is being acted upon, then the verb is referred to as being in the passive voice. For example: “Jesus … was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:9). “Jesus” is the subject of the sentence, but in this case He is being acted upon (i.e. He is the recipient of the action), therefore the verb is said to be in the “Passive Voice.”

Mood: There are four moods in Greek. They demonstrate the relationship between the action of the verb and reality. They denote whether the action is factual, potential, wishful, or a command.

  1. The Indicative Mood: The indicative mood is a statement of fact or an actual occurrence from the writer’s or speaker’s perspective. Even if the writer is lying, he may state the action as if it is a fact, and thus the verb would be in the indicative mood. It may be action occurring in past, present, or future time. This “statement of fact” can even be made with a negative adverb modifying the verb. This is the mood of assertion or presentation of certainty. The indicative mood is the only one to give designation concerning time (past, present, and future). The majority of all verbs used in the New Testament occur in the indicative mood. The writer/speaker may desire or ask for the action to take place. For example: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 12:11) or “God is not mocked.” (Galatians 6:7)
  2. The Subjunctive Mood: The subjunctive mood indicates probability, desirability, or objective possibility. The action of the verb will possibly happen, depending on certain objective factors or circumstances. It is oftentimes used in conditional statements (like, “If… then…” clauses) or in purpose clauses. But if the subjunctive mood is used in a purpose or result clause, then the action should not be thought of as a possible result, but should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action. For example: “Let us come forward to the Holy of Holies with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:23) or “In order that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church…” (Ephesians 3:10)
  3. The Optative Mood: The optative is the mood of possibility and has relatively few appearances in the New Testament because (by the time the New Testament was written, the subjunctive has taken over some of the classical usages of it). Some of its usages include, a wish/prayer or a potential statement. The optative is two steps away from reality whereas the subjunctive is only one step away. For example: “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
  4. The Imperative Mood: The imperative mood is a command or instruction given to the hearer, charging the hearer to carry out or perform a certain action. For example: “Flee youthful lusts.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

Infinitive: An infinitive is a verb that can be used to function as a noun and is therefore referred to as a “verbal noun.” An example may be, “to follow.” Neither person nor number is found in the infinitive and it does not have mood designation. The Greek infinitive is the form of the verb that is usually translated into English with the word “to” attached to it, often used to complement another verb. For instance, “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21), the words “to live” are an infinitive in Greek and are functioning as the subject of the sentence (a noun).

Participle: A participle is considered a “verbal adjective.” It is often a word that ends with an “-ing” in English (such as “following,” “speaking,” “going,” or “seeing”). It can be used as an adjective, in that it can modify a noun (or substitute as a noun), or it can be used as an adverb and further explain or define the action of a verb. For example:
In an adjectival use: “The coming One will come and will not delay.” (Hebrews 10:37) or in an adverbial use: “But speaking truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things.” (Ephesians 4:15).

Read more from William D. Mounce and Blue Letter Bible and NTGreek.org

Why Does a Church Decline?

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Why is it that churches tend to slip into decline? A vibrant and growing ministry becomes “plateaued” or begins to lose the numbers or excitement it once had. How about these steps to find a solution:

1. Return to Your First Passion (Revelation 2:4-5) – But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.

Churches don’t realize how far they have fallen, then “church” simply becomes routine, going through the motions, and going into maintenance mode. If we will only remember the first days of our relationship with Christ, the excitement, the purpose, the mission, the commands, the new insights; perhaps we will be restored to our earlier fellowship, and make an impact on our community and others around us. The key in this passage is a single word… REPENT. While that is so humiliating, (to admit that we have fallen away, or drifted), that is the solution the angel provides through the apostle John.

2. Remember Your Foundational Purpose (Matthew 28:19-20) – Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This passage talks a lot about mission and purpose; we are to be about our Father’s business of evangelism and discipleship. How often do we begin to cool in our desire for God’s kingdom to increase?

I recently read Brian Moss* who writes, “Churches plateau and decline due to missional drift.” I cannot think of any church that ever drifted and kept the main thing the main thing. In order to get the church moving in the right direction we’ve got to figure out which direction we need to go! Moss again writes, “Too often plateaued churches focus on growing the church numerically before they correct the drift philosophically. If you focus on growth before depth you’ll be tempted to adopt gimmicks, quick fixes and copycat tactics. Don’t change anything until your core leaders are thoroughly committed to the biblical purposes of the church.”

The Great Commandment is essential as well; to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). These are the reasons for worship and ministry. We worship due to our love for God and we are involved in ministry because of our love for others. Let’s rekindle our focus on the primary purpose of the church, to know Christ and to make him known.

3. Refocus on Your Favorite People: by “favorite” I mean your target audience.

Moss writes about his church experience: “Our church was hidden in the woods at the end of a dead-end road completely surrounded by an upper-income housing development. Our congregation was comprised of medium income families. We tried for months to reach the families in the homes surrounding our church. It was a complete failure. Finally, we decided to try reaching people like us. We learned the hard way that you reach who you are, not who you want.”

That sounds a lot like our situation, high income and powerful people in the neighborhood north of the church property. We are a congregation that has a good number of these types families, but we also have plenty of average income families, young and old, and a fair amount of transitioning young Navy families. Perhaps we have a schizophrenic personality, not knowing who we are, but we CAN reach people like us; each group reaching out to their own circles of influence.

That, my friend is relational, and I feel is the beginning of effective evangelism and discipleship.

[print_link] [email_link] *Brian Moss is pastor at Oak Ridge Baptist, Salisbury MD

Who Are You in Christ?

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Many Christians are not exactly sure who they are in Christ, so here are a few things the Bible tells us about being in Christ:

  1. Salt and Light – Matthew 5:13-16
  2. Child of God, part of his family – John 1:12, Romans 8:16
  3. Child of God – Romans 8:14, 15, Galatians 3:26, 4:6
  4. Part of the true vine – John 15:1, 5
  5. Christ’s friend – John 15:15
  6. Chosen and appointed by Christ to bear fruit – John 15:16
  7. A witness for Christ – Acts 1:8
  8. A slave of righteousness – Romans 6:18
  9. Joint heir with Christ – Romans 8:17
  10. The temple of God – 1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19
  11. Joined to the Lord – 1 Corinthians 6:17
  12. Member of Christ’s body – 1 Corinthians 12:27, Ephesians 5:30
  13. Reconciled to God and a minister of reconciliation – 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
  14. A son of God and one in Christ – Galatians 3:26, 28
  15. A saint – Ephesians 1:1, 1 Corinthians 1:2, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:2
  16. God’s workmanship – Ephesians 2:10
  17. Fellow citizen with the rest of God’s people – Ephesians 2:19
  18. Prisoner of Christ – Ephesians 3:1, 4:1
  19. Righteous and holy – Ephesians 4:24
  20. Citizen of heaven, seated with Christ in heaven – Philippians 3:20, Ephesians 2:6
  21. Hidden with Christ in God – Colossians 3:3
  22. An expression of the life of Christ – Colossians 3:4
  23. Chosen by and dearly loved of God – Colossians 3:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:4
  24. A son of light – 1 Thessalonians 5:5
  25. A holy brother, partaker of a heavenly calling – Hebrews 3:1
  26. A partaker of Christ – Hebrews 3:14
  27. One of God’s living stones – 1 Peter 2:5
  28. A Chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation – 1 Peter 2:9-10
  29. An alien and stranger in this world – 1 Peter 2:11
  30. An enemy of the devil – 1 Peter 5:8
  31. Now a child of God – 1 John 3:1-2
  32. Born of God and the evil one can’t touch you – 1 John 5:18
  33. A sheep of his pasture with everything you need – Psalm 23, Psalm 100

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The Commands of Christ

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The theme of all Scripture is to love God with all of our hearts and to love one another (which is the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:36-40 and John 13:34), but how do we love God? And how do we know that we are loving our neighbor? The commands of Christ precisely tell us how we should love our neighbor.

These commands are the secret to loving God: Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” (John 14:21).

Rather than in chronological order, here is an alphabetical listing of commands that we can obey in order to show our love for God and others.

Ask in Faith (Mark 11:24).
Ask, Seek, and Knock (Matthew 7:7–8).
Await My Return (Matthew 24:42–44).
Baptize My Disciples (Matthew 28:19).
Be a House of Prayer (Matthew 21:13).
Be a Servant (Matthew 20:26–28).
Be Born Again (John 3:7).
Be Perfect (Matthew 5:46–48).
Be Reconciled (Matthew 5:23–24).
Be Wise as Serpents (Matthew 10:16).
Beware of Covetousness (Luke 12:15).
Beware of False Prophets (Matthew 7:15–16).
Beware of Leaven (Matthew 16:6).
Bring in the Poor (Luke 14:12–14).
Choose the Narrow Way (Matthew 7:13–14).
Deny Yourself (Luke 9:23–24).
Despise Not Little Ones (Matthew 18:10).
Do Not Cast Pearls (Matthew 7:6).
Do Not Commit Adultery (Matthew 5:29–30).
Do Unto Others (Matthew 7:12).
Fear God, Not Man (Matthew 10:28).
Feed My Sheep (John 21:15–17).
Follow Me (Matthew 4:19).
Forgive Offenders (Matthew 18:21–22).
Go the Second Mile (Matthew 5:38–42).
Go to Offenders (Matthew 18:15).
Hear God’s Voice (Matthew 11:15).
Honor God’s Law (Matthew 5:17–18).
Honor Marriage (Matthew 19:4–6).
Honor Your Parents (Matthew 15:4).
Judge Not (Matthew 7:1–3).
Keep My Commandments (John 14:15).
Keep Your Word (Matthew 5:37).
Lay Up Treasures (Matthew 6:19–21).
Let Your Light Shine (Matthew 5:16).
Love the Lord (Matthew 22:37–38).
Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:44–45).
Love Your Neighbor (Matthew 22:39).
Make Disciples (Matthew 28:20).
Practice Secret Disciplines (Matthew 6:1–18).
Pray For Laborers (Matthew 9:37–38).
Receive God’s Power (Luke 24:49).
Rejoice (Matthew 5:11–12).
Render to Caesar (Matthew 22:19–21).
Repent (Matthew 4:17).
Seek God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33).
Take My Yoke (Matthew 11:28–30).
Take, Eat, and Drink (Matthew 26:26–27).
Watch and Pray (Matthew 26:41).

Hosting a Small Group

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If you are familiar with Saddleback Church, you’ve probably heard of “hosting” a group, but what does it mean to be a host? Is there a difference between a host and a leader? Is it just another name for a leader? If I’m a host, will you provide the teacher? These are questions that are asked all the time. ALL the time. You may have your own answers, but let me give you some of the defining ideas of the host strategy (and what it means to host a group).

The HOST Concept: The first thing you need to know is that the idea of H.O.S.T. makes it possible for ordinary people to lead a small group. By that I mean that we’re almost always talking about using a DVD or video-based small group study, bringing the teaching into the group via the television, and allowing the Host to do just that. In fact, the HOST acrostic stands for:

Heart for your community (or your church)
Willing to Open your home for six weeks (or the length of the study)
Serve a few simple refreshments
Tell a few of your friends (in the beginning the T stood for “Turn on your VCR”)

This is very important to the idea. You’re not recruiting teachers or leaders. You really are simply inviting people to open up their homes, serve some coffee and dessert, and tell (invite) a few of their friends. That is a ground-breaking concept and allows many more people, ordinary people, the chance to include friends, family, neighbors and co-workers.

1. Will a “leader” or “teacher” be provided? No. Using a DVD-driven curriculum allows a group to begin without a teacher. In addition to a warm invitation and spirit of hospitality, only very basic facilitation skills are needed. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to match someone with an interest in leading with someone who has an open home, but that is not normally how the concept works.

2. When is HOST strategy used? The HOST strategy can be very effective when used as part of a church-wide campaign (an alignment of weekend message series and small group curriculum). As part of the build-up to the campaign, HOSTs can be recruited who will commit to opening up their home for the six weeks of the series/study and invite a few friends.

3. Who can be a HOST? Every church makes this decision based on a number of factors: the culture of the individual congregation, available coaching for new hosts, even the topic of study are all relevant. Some churches may decide that only members may host a group. Other churches may decide that you must attend an orientation to qualify, but will only allow members to advertise their group on the web or in the lobby. Still others will simply require that you use the provided materials and invite your own group members.

4. What kind of training is required? Again, this varies from one church to the next. The most effective strategy seems to be to require attendance at a brief orientation (1 to 2 hours max) combined with connection to a coach who will serve as a liaison for at least the period of the campaign. Many churches are also finding that a decentralized mid-series huddle in the home of the coach is a very effective additional opportunity to encourage the host.

5. What happens when the six-week commitment ends? With a good experience, many of the new groups will decide to continue. Hosts are reminded in the orientation that they’ve made a six-week commitment and that their commitment is making it possible to launch many new small groups. They’re often encouraged to be open to the possibility that the group may be such a good experience that they would choose to continue, but there’s no pressure to do that.

From Mark Howell Live [print_link] [email_link]

Evaluating Small Groups

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Everyone knows that before you take your car on a road trip, you really should do more than fill up the gas tank. You might check the tire pressure and take it in for an oil change. You might decide it’s time for new windshield wipers or even a new set of tires.

Getting ready for the next leg in your small group ministry adventure? Maybe it’s time you took your ministry through my signature 10 point checklist!

  1. Review your small group ministry’s present state.  There are a number of ways you can think about the way things are right now.  An accurate understanding of where you are right now is essential no matter where you want to go.  See also, Diagnosing a Small Group Ministry and The Four Helpful Lists by Tom Paterson.
  2. Review (or create) your end in mind for your ideal small group.  What kinds of groups do you want for every member of a group?  Are there certain activities and habits?  Are there certain experiences?  What do you want it to feel like to be part of a small group in your system?  See also, The End in Mind for My Ideal Small Group.
  3. Review (or create) your preferred future for the kind of small group leader you dream of producing.  Spend some time thinking about the kind of leaders you will need to have in order to create the micro-environments that actually encourage life-change.  See also, From Here to There: The Preferred Future for Small Group Leaders.
  4. Review (or create) your annual group life calendar.  Have you planned to take advantage of the best opportunities to connect unconnected people?  Have you built in the steps that will allow you to maximize impact?  Or have you compromised and compressed timelines in a way that will lessen impact?  See also, How to Build an Annual GroupLife Calendar.
  5. Evaluate your current coaching team.  Do you have high-capacity, hundred and sixty-fold players on the team?  Or have you compromised and added thirty-fold players who struggle to accomplish their mission?  Have you settled for warm-and-willing when hot-and-qualified is needed?  See also, Diagnosis: The Coaches in Your System.
  6. Evaluate your current plan to develop the coaches on your team.  Remember, whatever you want to happen in the lives of the members of your groups must happen first in the lives of your small group leaders.  If that’s true, then whatever you want to happen in the lives of your leaders must happen first in the lives of your coaches.  Can you see where this is going?  Assuming that your coaches will develop themselves is short sighted and compromises the integrity of your system.  See also, 7 Practices for Developing and Discipling Coaches.
  7. Evaluate (or create) your plan to develop your existing small group leaders.  I am a fan of a very low entry bar of leadership…but the word “entry” is a very important word.  I also know that lowering the bar and recruiting HOSTs won’t often put shepherds into the system, but people who are willing to open up their home.  If you want to make it easy to begin as a host, you’ve got to make it nearly automatic that new hosts step onto a leader development conveyor belt that moves them in the direction you want them to go.  Don’t have the conveyor belt?  Now’s the time to build it!  See also, Steve Gladen on Saddleback’s Leadership Pathway.
  8. Evaluate your existing leaders in search of potential coaches.  Look over your list for high capacity leaders who may be able to put their toe in the water of caring for another new leader or two.  Your best coaching candidates are almost always leading their own group and doing a great job.  Inviting them to test-drive the coaching role by helping mentor a new leader or two is a great way to let them put a toe-in-the-water.  See also, What If Your Coaching Structure Looked Like This?
  9. Take a careful look at the next connecting event you’ve got planned.  Will you take advantage of the next optimum time to connect people?  Do you have several weeks of promotion built in?  Have you designed the event to appeal to unconnected people?  Have you chosen a study that will peak the interest of unconnected people?  Have you already chosen a great follow-up study?  See also, 6 Essential Components of a Small Group Launch.
  10. Evaluate (or create) your recommended study list.  One of the most helpful tools you can provide for small group leaders is a recommended study list.  It doesn’t have to be elaborate.  It can begin as simply as a top 10 list.  It can exist as a page on your website or a simple handout that you keep updated.

What do you think?

From: Evaluate Your Small Group Ministry with This 10 Point Checklist
By Mark Howell

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Three Fears of Leaders

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For God to really use you in ministry, you have to be willing and able to get close to people and enjoy real relationships with them. But for most believers around the world, it’s pretty apparent that we’re dying of relational isolation.

Many of our relationship problems are not really relationship problems; they’re personal problems that spill over into relationships. Many of our relationship conflicts, including conflicts with people within the church, are really personal conflicts and internal battles. If you want to have great relationships and therefore be a better leader, you have to start with some changes in yourself first rather than expecting everyone around you to change and fix your internal issues for you.

The Bible says in Romans 12:9, “Love from the center of who you are. Don’t fake it” (MSG). Authenticity is when “what you see” is “what you get.” It’s when you don’t play a role, you don’t wear a mask. Most People are afraid to remove their masks. Here are three reasons why.

We Are Afraid of Being Exposed

The fear of exposure is the fear that people will find out that you’re not really who you say you are. It is the fear of exposure that keeps us from being authentic.

We don’t mind our strengths being exposed. We don’t mind our capabilities being exposed. We don’t mind all the good things about us being exposed. What we don’t want people to find out about us is our weaknesses. We don’t want our insecurities exposed. We don’t want our sense of inadequacy exposed (and all of us have that sense of inadequacy). It’s part of being a human and ministry leaders are not exempt. We don’t want people to know that we don’t have it all together.

The truth is nobody has it all together. So why do we pretend? Why do we fake it? Why do we wear masks? The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:11, “No one really knows what anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person himself.” The reason it’s easy to wear a mask is because nobody really knows what you’re like on the inside. In the entire universe there is only one person who fully understands you. And, by the way, it’s not you. It’s God. You don’t even understand yourself.

If you really want to build deep, meaningful, satisfactory, intimate relationships you’re going to have to let people see your weaknesses. There is no other way. We can impress the people we lead from a distance but we can only influence people up close. And when we get up close, people see our warts and they see our mistakes and we don’t like that.

So how do you overcome the fear of exposure? You decide to walk in the light. The Bible says in 1 John 1:7 “If we live in the light as God is in the light then we can share fellowship with each other.” Fellowship is soul-to-soul interaction, heart-to-heart. The key to genuine fellowship in a marriage, in a friendship or any other relationship, is to live in the light.

We Are Afraid of Being Rejected

We don’t want to let people see what we’re really like because we fear disapproval. We fear rejection. Proverbs 29:25 says this “The fear of human opinion disables.” You spend much of your life trying to earn the acceptance of other people. The way you dress, the way you talk, the kind of car you drive and the house you live in. The fear of human opinion disables. But trusting in God protects you from that.

Why do we fear the opinions of other people, often people we don’t even know? Because we all have a deep desire to be loved. In fact, you don’t just have the desire. You need to be loved. You were created by God to be loved by God and by other people It’s one of the basic needs of your life – to be loved. So we spend our entire lives making sure we’re not unloved. And we’ll do anything to make sure we’re not unloved. It drives us to great extremes many, many times.

The antidote to a fear of rejection is to trust in God’s love. Don’t build your self-worth on another person who loves you conditionally. The Bible says in Daniel 10:19, “Don’t be afraid for you are deeply loved by God. Be at peace, take heart and be strong.” And Psalm 56:11 says, “I trust in God so I will not be afraid. What can people do to me?”

We Are Afraid of Being Hurt Again

The truth is you will be hurt in life many, many times. This is not heaven. This is earth where people get hurt. And you’re going to be hurt over and over and over. The important issue is what you do with that hurt. If you hold on to that hurt, it’s going to strangle the love out of your life. It’ll all go away. If you hold on to your hurt it will shrink your heart, harden it, and eventually turn it to stone. You’ve got to deal with the hurt so you can get on with your life.

There’s a sad process that goes like this:

  1. The more you have been hurt, the more you become afraid of being hurt again.
  2. The more you’re afraid of being hurt again the more defensive you become and protective.
  3. The more defensive and protective you become the more inauthentic a person you become.

We develop self-protective habits and build defensive walls around our hearts that nobody can get through. We actually push people away by all kinds of behaviors.

What happens to people who give in to the hurt and hold on to it? What happens to the people who don’t know how to let the hurt go? The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 5:17, “All they get are days full of sadness and sorrow and they end up sick, defeated and angry.”

The antidote to the fear of being hurt again is to let God give you a new heart. God is in the heart transplant business. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart. I will put a new spirit in you. I will remove your heart of stone.” Have you been on the defense because you have been hurt? Jesus Christ can give you a fresh start. He can move you from phony inauthenticity back into authentic relationships.

If you want to be a more effective leader and shepherd, it means being close to people. Being close to people means taking the risk of being exposed, rejected, and hurt. In the end, it’s a risk well worth taking. Jesus opened Himself up to people and He was rejected and crucified; but He also launched a world-changing movement and became the Way for people to know God and go to heaven.

If you want to lead, you’re going to get hurt, but you just might change the world in the process.

From: 3 Fears That Prevent Leaders from Being Authentic and Influencing People
By Rick Warren

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