Last DG meeting of the year
One of my worries about my current DG was their initial lack of chemistry with each other, coming from diverse backgrounds and personal situations, having vastly differing theologies and spanning a great age range. No, we didn’t want them to become just a social club where for the most part, people acquired companions to watch movies, plays and concerts and spend weekends and holidays with. Such superficiality, especially as people joined together by the blood of Christ, would be a great pity indeed.
The concern was that if the people didn’t feel comfortable with each other, they wouldn’t be able to share their lives and struggles honestly and openly with each other and if they couldn’t do that, and assuming they did not have anyone else to hold them accountable, they would lack proper fellowship: the type of fellowship that is very helpful and almost essential as a Christian; the type of fellowship which is concerned with one another’s relationship with God, which wants to present all members of the group perfect in Christ on the Last Day, that cares deeply for other members of the family, that rebukes and corrects in love, that gently brings back the straying, that encourages and perseveres.
We ended off our last official DG meeting this year by sharing about our growth (or decline) in our relationship with God in the year. As the group was sharing, I couldn’t help but be a bit joyously teary to see how God had worked in all their lives: the ones who were openly hostile at first, had settled down surprisingly well and were looking out for others in the group and some overseas ones even made long-distance calls back to check how everyone was doing; the ones with dodgy theology had improved remarkably in their knowledge of Christ of the Bible and had put their faith in the right object; many were becoming more prayerful and submitting more and more of their lives to Christ. Surely the growth and maturity of a follower of Christ must be marked by an increase in love for, dependence on, and obedience to God and love for neighbour. Thank God for working in these people’s lives in spite of my own sinfulness and imperfect leading. It’s great to see the real results of God’s Spirit moving people to his good and perfect will.
The concern was that if the people didn’t feel comfortable with each other, they wouldn’t be able to share their lives and struggles honestly and openly with each other and if they couldn’t do that, and assuming they did not have anyone else to hold them accountable, they would lack proper fellowship: the type of fellowship that is very helpful and almost essential as a Christian; the type of fellowship which is concerned with one another’s relationship with God, which wants to present all members of the group perfect in Christ on the Last Day, that cares deeply for other members of the family, that rebukes and corrects in love, that gently brings back the straying, that encourages and perseveres.
We ended off our last official DG meeting this year by sharing about our growth (or decline) in our relationship with God in the year. As the group was sharing, I couldn’t help but be a bit joyously teary to see how God had worked in all their lives: the ones who were openly hostile at first, had settled down surprisingly well and were looking out for others in the group and some overseas ones even made long-distance calls back to check how everyone was doing; the ones with dodgy theology had improved remarkably in their knowledge of Christ of the Bible and had put their faith in the right object; many were becoming more prayerful and submitting more and more of their lives to Christ. Surely the growth and maturity of a follower of Christ must be marked by an increase in love for, dependence on, and obedience to God and love for neighbour. Thank God for working in these people’s lives in spite of my own sinfulness and imperfect leading. It’s great to see the real results of God’s Spirit moving people to his good and perfect will.
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