The Real Bottom Line
“If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
I’m thankful for my Sunday night Core Group. I love the people, the fellowship, and have gained enormous benefits from being a part of it. In many ways, I’d say ours is a strong, healthy group.
Perhaps you’re like me. We’re fortunate to have a lot of great people in our groups. But, if I step back a bit, I wonder, how healthy is our group really? What’s the real measure of health for a group – or larger church?
We do measure, whether we realize it or not. We might judge a group based on how “well” its going (generally a lack of conflict), how we like the studies, or what we get out of it. We might judge a church based on its worship, the preaching, or its friendliness.
Some might even look at the health of a group based on whether or not it’s growing. Others might evaluate the finances of a church to measure its health (how’s the bottom line?).
All these might have their place, but Jesus never used any of them as measurements for the health of his movement. Instead, he measured everything by how well his disciples knew him and loved each other.
This gets us down to the real bottom line. YOUR GROUP (AND OUR CHURCH) IS ONLY AS HEALTHY AS THE DISCIPLES IT MAKES! No other measure can substitute for the healthy DNA of a disciple.
Here’s a simple way to think of healthy disciples (from Neil Cole and CMA):
Divine Truth: Loving Christ and his word.
Nurturing Relationships: Loving each other.
Apostolic Mission: Loving and reaching out to those beyond the group.
So, how is your group at growing the DNA of a healthy disciple of Jesus?
We have to watch out for those false measurements that would distract us from the main purpose of church – to flood the earth with committed disciples of Jesus. We can have money in the bank. We can have the best people in the world. We can even have great preaching. But, the real bottom line is how strong are our disciples.
- How prevalent is Jesus in the discussions of your group? (D)
- How are people developing closeness to Christ? (D)
- To what extent is Scripture and prayer an integral part of your group times and the lives of the people in your group? (D)
- How transparent are people with each other about significant things in their lives? (N)
- How are group members loving and reaching out to others beyond the group? (A)
