One of the leaders at yesterday’s meeting revealed that their Life Team had grown by 50% in just one week! Now, before you get too excited keep in mind that they had six people to begin with and those same six people have been meeting for almost four years. That last statistic, to me, is the most impressive.
Six people have chosen to share life for the past four years. Some of them hardly knew each other at the beginning. Others had been friends for a long while. They’ve walked each other through family problems and are currently supporting one of the members as he has begun a descent into Alzheimer’s. They’ve stayed together in the absence of any measurable results. Because they’ve stayed together, they’ve found an intangible treasure – community.
That community, is the reason their Life Team has experienced growth. Paula, the hostess of the church in her house, invited a friend to join them a few Sunday evenings ago. This lady tricked her two teen aged kids into coming with her. Though they objected to her tactics, they were drawn in by the aroma of life emanating from the group. At the next meeting, the kids were asking to return.
I’ve said many times that we’re being intentionally ambiguous with the phrase, “sharing life.” We want to convey the two-fold mission of the church to share our lives (love on another) and to share his life (make disciples). The story above demonstrates that rather than being two distinct items, sharing our lives and sharing his life are two aspects of one experience. His life within us equips us with the loyalty and selfless service required for us to share our lives. The Christlike love demonstrated among us gives flesh and bone to the life of Christ which we offer to the world. Sharing our lives is sharing his life because our lives are his life.
For more on sharing life, see this video of our most recent service.