Till the Earth Becomes Soft

(…or The Heart Cultivating Business)

I want to thank Tim for inviting me to contribute to Living Stones Unearthed. What a great privilege to be considered for such an honor.

What follows is my perspective on how God moves, especially and how He moves in and through small groups.

Here is what I know from my experience as a youth pastor in the 90s, a public-school teacher for 24 years, and now as a small group pastor for the past 6 years: people are open to God when they’re in transition, under tension, or in pain. CS Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…”

If Jesus is the Truth, and I believe He is, look what he says in Mathew 13:3-9:

Then he told them many things in parables, saying:  “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear.” 

Jesus is saying that there are four kinds of soil, representing four kinds of hearts: the conflicted heart, the hard-hearted, the busy heart, and the open heart. Jesus is saying only 25% of the people out there are open to hearing the truth, which means 75% are not going to be interested in the good news of Jesus Christ.

Maybe we should start focusing on the 25% while remembering that it’s not our job to prepare the soil but to plant the seed and water the soil where it grows best. It is God’s job to prepare the soil. God is in the heart cultivating business. How does God turn hard hearts into soft hearts? He sends a storm, and when the rain comes down long enough and hard enough, the soil gets soft, and eventually, the seed can grow. We believe the best way for that seed to grow is through a caring small community built on the 5 purposes of the New Testament Church described in Acts 2 (Worship, Bible Study, Ministry/Service, Evangelism, and Fellowship).

God uses storms.

My wife Suzi and I have four awesome kids, and every one of them faced a lot of adversity growing up playing sports. Haley tore her ACL twice in six months and was never able to play competitive sports again; my son Dylan broke his arm four times in eighteen months, and my son Carson tore his ACL and broke his wrist all on Father’s Day, and my son Evan tore cartilage in the back of his knee, which would require 3 surgeries to repair the same injury. God used those struggles and others, to mold us and shape us into His image. Suzi and I have been involved in a small group for most of our 31 years together, and we would have never been able to deal with life’s curveballs had we tried to do life alone in isolation.

Today, my life is full, and I am happy to report that all four of my kids and their spouses are happily married and involved in a small group.  One thing is sure: in this life, there will be trouble, but Jesus says, take heart; He has overcome the world.  

God inhabits small groups.

Just recently (January), I implemented a simple idea called the empty chair for all our small groups. The empty chair is a practical way to incorporate evangelism. It symbolizes all those people we know who don’t know Jesus, and every time we get together, we pray for those people. We pray that they will receive Jesus and one day fill that empty chair. Then in February, our Tuesday Night Men’s Group witnessed God do what only God can do.  One of the men we had been praying for got saved at a weekend service, and on February 6th, he visited our small group and has been coming ever since.  His search for God and community was born out of the deep pain and suffering he had recently been experiencing.  

God is bringing people together through small groups.  I am currently going through this incredible study called Rooted with about twelve people, and it has been fascinating to watch God bring people together from different walks of life, from Nepal to small-town Ida, from homelessness to thriving children of God.  Most of us were strangers seven weeks ago; now we are family. God is using each of our stories to create a life-changing community. Listening to people’s stories (most of which were stories of God meeting them in their darkest moments) has brought us joy and a deep connection to Jesus and each other we didn’t have seven weeks ago.  

Small Groups are needed now and in the future more than ever; I need them, you need them! 

It is becoming increasingly apparent that small groups are the church’s future. It is the antidote to the greatest need facing our country and the world today: loneliness. Loneliness is the greatest epidemic in society today. Studies show that 50% of Americans are lonely.  In a time when technology can connect us from just about anywhere, experts find that this type of connection creates dissatisfaction, and that social media creates false intimacy. For example, studies show that the more teenage girls are on social media, the lonelier they feel. 

Research has also found that loneliness is bad for your health. People suffering from loneliness die younger and loneliness is worse on our bodies than obesity or cigarettes. It doesn’t have to be this way. Loneliness has a cure, and his name is Jesus. Life with Jesus is best lived in small communities where people can know and be known, first with God and then with each other.  

People need people. It’s with the help and encouragement of others that one can deepen their spiritual walk. People in groups feel more cared for, which leads to giving themselves away, which leads to service, which leads to personal growth. 

True Christian community goes deeper than spending social time together. It dives below the surface into the heart and enables us to speak into each other’s lives. It provides a strong foundation for living out all five purposes of the church (Worship, Bible Study, Ministry/Service, Evangelism, and Fellowship) in a safe environment. It is the glue that holds your group together when times get tough.

Editors Note: Remember CS Lewis? He was also a member of a small group, “The Inklings” while at Oxford University. This group, which included J.R.R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings) and Charles Williamson helped Lewis reach his destiny and purpose.  

There’s a group out there just for you to help you accomplish the same or if you’re already in that group, than maybe there’s someone meant to join you.

Don’t forget to pay it forward, Stones.