Reflections – What a difference one invitation makes.
Sometime during the Spring of 2010, I began a regular weekly meeting with a group of local pastors, 6 in total. The group formed after an experience with a friend who had gathered pastors together in a reading group project for required course work on a Doctor of Ministry degree. We had enjoyed reading different works and then gathering together for discussion and often, lunch. That desire for reading, discussion and fellowship led us all together. However, it would be the invitation of a new member some nine months later that would change everything.
Our group attempted to read a couple of books but unfortunately, became more of a burden rather than a blessing. Long story short was that our time together devolved into a ministry gripe and complaint session. Week after week after week we would gather for breakfast and then enter into the danger zone of sharing the trials and tribulations of being pastors of local congregations. Fear and frustration and anger were the major topics of each week’s gathering. We all knew there must be a better way. After nine months, the frustration and depression of my own ministry along with the weekly gripe session had led me to believe it was time to do something different with my life.
I began to dream about doing anything else but being a pastor. I began to look into different career options. I began to think about how I was going to tell my wife that I was considering a new path—“sorry I spent so many years of our life together going to school but…” Along with the personal struggle, I was looking for a way to drop out of the weekly pastor’s group. I just could not take all the complaining about the sorry state of churches and the frustration of my friends. Literally, I believed I would explode if things did not change and soon.
Without warning, a new youth minister, Victor, entered into our circle. Without warning, after sitting in with us for a few weeks, he invited us to join him on a journey. “Would you guys like to begin reading the Bible together?” Now that was a novel idea for group of pastors. He shared with us how over the past several months, he had been on a journey of Bible reading with a gentleman from Connecticut who had moved to Georgia. The man had developed a Bible reading plan which he placed on book marks. The method, gleaned from Cultivating a Life For God’ by Neil Cole, called for the reader to focus on one book of the Bible each week. The goal was to read, at least, four to five chapters of Scripture. He invited us on the Bible reading journey and it literally saved my life.
During the first week, we read the book of Colossians. The first meeting, after a week of Bible reading, was transformed. Instead of focusing on our complaints, we began focusing on the goodness of our Savior Jesus. God began a process of healing and strengthening in our group centered on the power of His Word. Conversations were Gospel-saturated. The reading schedule continued…1 John, Ephesians, Galatians, 1 Peter, Philemon/Jude, Philippians, James and finally, 1 Corinthians. We had been rained on by the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. We had been refreshed by a new look at Christ. Doubt and depression were replaced with certainty and hope. In a time when I wanted to give up, I was renewed to move ahead with strength and new conviction.
We all marveled at what God was doing in our small group. Instead of being hopeless about our churches, we began to have new dreams and vision for what could be. After that first nine weeks, the whole tone and outlook of each man had changed dramatically. Near the end of those two months, Victor then challenged us with a new concept: invite someone to journey with you in Bible reading.
That second challenge of Victor has produced results in the lives of our churches and our people that we have never experienced before. Our youth pastor friend gave us a few pieces of helpful advice. One, when you invite someone on the journey and they refuse, do not get frustrated or feel rejected because it might not be God’s time for them. Two, when you meet with them each week, simply ask them what God had been teaching them in the reading of Scripture. This will be the focus of the meeting time—what God has been teaching them. Third, pray for those you are journeying with each week. Again, that simple challenge has been a game changer for us all.
In the weeks that followed, we began to prayerfully ask for God’s leading in who we might invite to read Scripture. It began to look different for us all. Personally, I invited two men to begin the Scripture reading journey. I asked a lady of some spiritual maturity to invite two other ladies to join with us men. The evening of our first gathering was unbelievable! After a few minutes of chit chat, I prayed and asked God to guide our time together. I looked at everyone and simply asked, “What did God teach you this week during your Scripture reading?” Initially, I had told the group, we would meet no longer than an hour. Ninety minutes later, the group was still going strong sharing the most unbelievable insights.
What I remember, most clearly, from the evening was one woman in particular. She shared with us how she had been struggling for with bitterness over the death of her mother for nearly ten years. Her mother had been a strong and independent woman reduced to absolute helplessness by cancer. For nearly two years, this lady had dutifully served and cared for her sick mother. It had been a time of great distress and doubt. The doubt eventually gave way to bitterness when her mother was not healed but died. This precious woman, after a week of daily reading the book of Colossians, had been reminded of God’s great love for her through Christ. With tears in her eyes, she shared how she had confessed her sin of bitterness to God and his wonderful washing of her life in freedom and healing.
One of the men, after a week of reading the book of Ephesians, shared of God’s powerful dealing in his life. The man, just over seventy years of age, began to testify of how overwhelmed he felt to recognize he had been chosen by God in Christ before the very beginning of the world. He spoke of how he had been serving in the church for so many years out of a sense of duty. After reading Ephesians, he confessed his burden and has, since that time, been serving God in our church with great delight. The stories of healing and growth were simply overwhelming. Each week, our gathering became a time of seeing God’s grace in action.
In the months that followed, I have had the pleasure of seeing that one group now become two groups that are reading Scripture together. I have journeyed with my oldest daughter in Scripture and seen God do a complete work of healing in her relationship with her mother. I have journey with another pastor that was so incredibly discouraged. After reading the book of Colossians, he testified how he had confessed his own disillusionment and had it replaced with the peace of Christ reigning in his heart. Instead of figuring out new programs, I am looking forward to how God is opening up opportunities to journey with others in the reading of Scripture. The process of reading the Bible consistently in the manner of repetitive reading has completely reframed how I believe discipleship needs to be done. I have seen its benefit in counseling couples in preparation for marriage.
Some nine months after Victor invited our group to begin reading the Bible, I have seen the most amazing things. Tony was tragically forced out of the church he was serving. Yet, we have seen God wonderfully sustain this faithful pastor and increase the faith of his wife that God in His sovereignty can be trusted. Andy left the comfort of a traditional church and is planting a new church to the west of our county. Matt has entered into many exciting relationships with men in his church and has just begun meeting with Middle School students at the McDonald’s in his town. It is with joy that he is seeing them faithfully read the Word and be taught by the Holy Spirit. Luke left the comfort of his family and has taken the step of faith to pursue his college education in Virginia—all with the intention of entering into Scripture reading relationships.
The simple invitation to read the Bible in a specific and intentional way has changed everything for a group of discouraged pastors. We have become a hopeful bunch. Yes, we have our struggles. Yes, we feel the temptation to revert back to old ways of ministry. Yes, by God’s grace, we keep moving forward through His strength and continue to see His Word transform us and transform men and women around us!