How to Prepare to Share with Your Group
To share in your group effectively requires prior preparation; we shouldn't just show up and trust God to do something.
Yes, he will help us, but that help can be, and should be given, before the group convenes. Consider each step of the process that will better engage his help.
There is an enormous difference between accessing the Word and processing the Word. Accessing the Word identifies truth. Processing the Word actualizes truth. Accessing the Word doesn't necessarily change us. Processing the Word does.
For many Christians, there is a Grand Canyon gap between belief and behavior, between their talk and their walk, between what they know and what they grow. To generalize truth is one thing; to internalize truth is another. So how do we become a Word processor?
Too often, we hear a message or read a message without processing it very well. We identify main points. We think of a couple of ways that message might relate to us. And within five minutes we're done. Not much more happens until group time.
Purposing to go a little deeper than that, the meditation strategy recommended here charts a different course. First—
Principlize the Word
Once you’ve examined the background of a passage, perhaps with help of your pastor or a good commentary, you are now ready to “principlize” the Word—that is, in your own words, in a sentence or two, say what the passage means.
Do you remember the story of Peter walking on the water? When Peter got back in the boat, Jesus said, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Now, for a long time I understood these as words of mild exasperation, words of gentle rebuke. But then I noticed that what followed was not an exclamation point but a question mark. Jesus wanted Peter to rethink what had just happened, to replay the entire episode in his mind in order to see what went wrong.
First, Peter got out of the boat. Well—so far, so good; nothing was going to stop him from being with the Lord! Then Peter walked on the water—and what a monumental achievement that was! Only he and the Lord had ever done this! But then what happened? Peter started to sink. Why? Because he started watching the waves instead of watching Jesus.
All right, what’s the principle? Putting the focus on the problem instead of on Jesus will cause us to go under.
So what did Peter do next? He cried for help, which is a lot better than what many people do—they just go under! There’s a book addressing this subject: the importance of crying out to the Lord. Peter’s cry got an immediate response, as the Lord came to his rescue and led him safely back into the boat.
In another sea adventure, the panic-stricken disciples awoke the sleeping Christ, saying, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” In response, Jesus, beckoned the wind and the waves to be still—and instantly each complied! The principles? Go to Jesus and he’ll either enable you to get on top of your problems or, if not that, he’ll take the problems away.
This is what we mean by “principlizing” the text. Once you understand what it meant in that day, then in your own words, in a sentence or two, update and relate this principle so it becomes usable to you now. The next step is to—
Personalize the Word
Soon after determining the principle (what, in our own words, the passage really means), we should ask the Lord, “What is the area of my life needing this principle the most?” In asking this question, it is important to realize we shouldn’t trust ourselves to answer it. This is because of a spiritual density within that is difficult to overestimate.
Do you recall how the prophet Nathan told David a little story that should have put David under great conviction? Yet, despite the simplicity of the story, David didn’t see how that story had anything to do with him. David did identify with the story—factually, and even emotionally—yet he couldn’t make a connection between himself and the main point of the story. So Nathan nailed the point of the story more forcefully by declaring, “You are the man!”
Unfortunately, Christians repeat this scene all the time. We hear a sermon. We learn what the main point of the sermon is. We add this to our stack of bible lessons learned. We get stirred in our emotions, perhaps. Yet, despite all this, we still haven’t quite understood how the biblical principle we just heard needs to connects with us right now.
That’s why, in the words of Scripture, we should lean not on our own understanding. To personalize the Word effectively, we must depend on the Holy Spirit. Jesus declared, “... when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).
Sometimes, we just don’t see. Try as we might, we can’t imagine what a certain principle has to do with us—not, that is, until the Spirit searching out our soul, finds some dark, around-the-bend, burrowed-out-of-sight crevice, allowing his light to fall precisely there! Once the Spirit then identifies the problem needing to be solved, there will be a fermenting of thought and a crystallizing of vision in what otherwise would have been a blind spot.
A second aid to personalizing is the Scripture itself. Streaming from its pages will be an illumining, a piercing awareness that can cut through layers of rationalization and pretense faster than Zorro can cut his “Z.” As “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), the Bible can reveal what we had preferred not to see, certain inner-life issues needing God’s remedy—and can do so in a way that fills us with hope and not condemnation.
Third, we need fellow believers. Romans 12:3 says we’re not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. And yet we do. We all have blind spots, our grid permitting certain parts of the truth to get through but not others. This is where fellow believers come in.
After determining the principle of a passage and now seeking to personalize it, loving friends may say, “How about this?” pointing out a blind spot I never would have seen myself; and yet others have seen it, through whose help I can now focus where the Lord wants me to focus.
The Spirit, the Word, and fellow believers—that’s what it takes to personalize the Word.
Particularize the Word
Having discovered the principle and the area of our life that needs it the most, we now need the one-two-three biblical strategy that can begin to put this principle in place. This is part of our preparation, because we don’t want to show up overly “group-dependent,” having taken no initiative ourselves to get the Spirit’s help.
Consider how a simple and specific strategy can be developed. Let’s say one of the waves beating us down is worry. What should we do? Well, first acknowledge that our worry isn’t just a weakness, it’s a sin. Scripture says, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1) … “do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34) … “Be anxious for nothing” (Philippians 4:6). Therefore, to do what Scripture says not to do is sin. So confess it. Forsake it.
Second, establish a “promise-consciousness,” not a “problem-consciousness.” Encouraging this objective, Scripture says, cast your care upon him (I Peter 5:7) … because God shall supply all your need (Philippians 4:19) … so rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). This agenda of focusing on God’s promises instills hope, blocks doubt, and stops defeats that otherwise would have come.
Third, convert your concern into a prayer request. Philippians 4:6 says that we are to make our requests known unto God with thanksgiving. The words “with thanksgiving” imply a release of faith that the Lord will show himself strong on our behalf even before we see any evidence of this.
Accordingly, we will focus on what he says, and not on what we see, praising him for what he will do, instead of lapsing into self-absorbed pity where the downward look, the depressed spirit, and the intangibles of distress are on full display.
Fourth, do what the Lord says whether we feel like it or not (I Corinthians 15:58). Tozer said, “We have been trying to substitute praying for obeying and that simply will not do.” The worrier can be so preoccupied with tomorrow he neglects the tasks of today. Since changing behavior helps to change feelings, it is important that the worrier not give in to worry but instead carry on his or her responsibilities. So name some overlooked tasks, then prioritize these—and do them!
Upon marshaling together relevant verses that suggest a strategy, remember that truth is a sovereign; it must be served, not just observed. That’s why accountability with your fellowship group is essential, especially if personal neglect has been more pattern than episode.
Lastly, preparing the heart for inner-life sharing requires us to—
Pictorialize the Word
Having determined the principle and the area of our life that needs it most, and having then determined a one-two-three biblical procedure that would begin to put this principle in place, what we must now do is to form a vision.
As director, cast yourself in the hero’s role: a more-than-conqueror (Romans 8:37) who is triumphing in all things (II Corinthians 2:14). Visualize! Project! Invite the Lord to energize this vision where you see yourself carrying out this strategy to a successful conclusion!
One can hardly overstate the importance of this last step, since truth and strategy achieve nothing until the right image is cast on our mental screen. In fact, all Satan needs to do to defeat us is to get his picture on our mental screen. That’s it! That one move will overcome bible knowledge and all those feelings that earlier encouraged us.
It is only when we get God’s picture on our mental screen that truth will get out of neutral and accelerate toward victory.
Interestingly, the faith chapter of the Bible (Hebrews 11) illustrates the imagination’s importance to faith when it recounts what Noah could “see” (vs.7), what Moses could “see,” and what the Old Testament faithful could “see” (vs.13). In each instance, this seeing wasn’t physical but was a phenomenon that occurred in the imagination.
Instead of doubting and dismissing, we can know that our scripture-sculpted images are going to come true. It was in this regard that A.B. Simpson asked, “Does our imagination dwell upon his Word until it makes the things of eternity more vivid and real than the objects of sense?”
Likewise, Oswald Chambers challenged, “Where is our imagination? In Colossians 3 we are told to set our affections on things above. That means concentration, and concentration is spiritual determination to fix the mind on the things of God.” Instead of waffling and wavering, the mind can rivet its attention where God directs.
Have you ever seen what a weightlifter does before gripping the weights? He turns his back on the audience, bows his head, closes his eyes, and visualizes himself lifting those weights. There are worthy aspects to this routine that are instructive for us. For in order to be free from the weight of sin (Hebrews 12:1) and to stand tall under the weight of glory (II Corinthians 4:17), we must replace unbelief with images of faith, and then replay these images until they are deeply etched in our mind.
Merely identify the principle, and Satan yawns. Discern the area of your life that needs it most, and Satan smiles. Discover what you must do to activate that principle, and Satan laughs. But get the right image in your mind and Satan runs in wild fright.
To “principleize” is to find the weapon. To “personalize” involves picking it up. To “particularize” is to load it. To “pictorialize” is to aim and fire it.
We could wish otherwise, but there are overly-enthralled enthusiasts who make claims about the imagination that simply aren’t true. Forming our own images and pursuing fulfillment of these with our own abilities is humanism.
So, no, any old image won’t do. It must be the right image, formed from the Word, energized by the Spirit, and empowered by belief. It is only by this process—“principlizing,” “personalizing,” “particularizing,” and “pictorializing” Scripture—that the age-old miracle is repeated, the Word become flesh!
Having prepared your heart in this way, you’ll know exactly what the Lord wants you to share when you get together with your group; there won’t be any need for ice breakers.
Moreover, you won’t be considering a biblical thought for the first time, as is the case in groups where talk with little reflection occurs without this heart preparation. Instead, you and the Lord will have made substantial progress in advance. And can’t you see how that will help your fellowship to become sweeter and deeper than it otherwise would have been?
