Creative Community

Our youth pastor, Keith Sandison, has implemented "Fight Clubs" with the young men of our church. While these teenagers and young adults aren't actually pummeling each other physically, they are using the opportunity to aggressively challenge one another to be more attentive to their spiritual formation. Right now my son is participating in a fight club focusing on Proverbs. I love it. Keith has created a handout he uses for the fight clubs which lists seven different methods of "generic Bible study". I think the idea started with this post a few years ago, but as he often does; Keith took my thoughts and made them immensely more substantive and beneficial. Check out his system below:

These thoughts aren't fully formed, but this idea is based on a pretty simple concept. Not everyone can be discipled using the same methods. This is not rocket science. Joe Myers book  The Search to Belong  really nails this concept and does a great job of identifying four spheres in which people develop relationships. A few years ago, I broke this idea down in a sermon entitled,   7 Things Everyone Should Know About Community . This model, however, is based on the idea that the process of discipleship is a process which is intertwined with a person's developing spiritual maturity. Observe an infant. Their primary concern is themself. Everything they do/think/say revolves around what they want or are trying to get. Even young children spend far more time thinking about themselves than about others. Even though  no one enjoys self-centered children , the reality is that almost all children are self-focused. Around adolescence that begins to change, thou...

While there are no magic formulas which will enable you to create a true community of people who are sharing life, these ten steps can get you moving in the right direction: 1. Form a committed launch team. You need 2-3 partners in this venture, and all of you need to be deeply committed to one another and to making the community go.  You'll support each other through the tough stages and celebrate together when you taste success. 2. Create a prospect list.  I know, this isn't marketing and a "prospect list" sounds cold and uncaring.  But you need to work with your launch team to make a list of people you can envision being a part of your community.  Put the names on paper and start praying specifically for each person. 3. Invite every prospect.  This is just the first invitation, and it should simply be informative.  Tell the people what you are planning to do, and when you are planning to do it.  Don't ask for a commitment, but ask them to beg...