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MINISTRY THROUGH SMALL BIBLICAL COMMUNITY
by Wency de la Viña
Church history and the Bible indicate that during the early years of Christianity, the ministry was done mainly through small groups of people meeting at homes. Composed of families, they met at homes to have fellowship over meals, to learn with and from one another as they seek to know God and His will from the Word, and to just enjoy bringing Christ to other people. Their meetings were rather informal and almost devoid of rituals.
These small groups were characterized by the pervading atmosphere of one-another-ness and a strong sense of community life. People who constitute the small groups were committed to grow in their life with God, which includes all aspects of their individual and corporate life. Moreover, members of the small groups were not dependent on just one or few person to teach them. Instead, they teach one another as they interact in small groups. As individuals from the members’ natural network of relationships observe the quality of love that the believers in the small groups have for each other, they become interested and drawn into becoming part of a small group.
This scenario of small groups as the major form of Christian ministry was the norm during Christianity’s first 300 years. Recently, there has been a resurfacing emphasis on forming and proliferating small biblical communities that are similar to the small groups formed by believers some two thousand years ago. The following points illustrate why, even after almost two centuries, developing small biblical communities is still a significant and relevant element of Christian ministry.
It empowers ordinary believers to minister. Since the group is small, ordinary believers can serve according to their abilities and willingness. Some can facilitate the discussion, others can function as hosts, others can act as coordinators, and still, others can cook the food and prepare the refreshments. Everyone in the group can play an important role in depending on what an individual can offer and enjoy doing—as long as they work to complement one another; even nonbelievers can serve. Moreover, each person in the group can invite his or her friends and relatives to these home meetings. By giving to each participant a task or two, they eventually realize that they are essential to the continuation of the ministry, and that they are actually the hands and feet of the ministry.
It promotes deep relationship and authenticity. More often than not true fellowship occurs not in context of large crowds but in small close-knit communities. This is because within the loving environment of small groups, interactions happen at a deeper and more personal level. Furthermore people feel have a greater tendency to reveal their true inner selves without feeling judged.
It ministers to children. In small biblical communities, children do not feel neglected or left out since they go to meetings with their parents and gradually develop friendships with the other children. As a result, children typically look forward to the group’s next meeting because they enjoy being with their friends and doing whatever activity they choose to have. Moreover, parents are mentored to disciple their own children within the community and group and in their homes. In addition, the children have an opportunity to be around other adults who can serve as models to them.
It can naturally happen anywhere. Communing and reaching out to others who are not yet part of the community does not have to involve organizing activities that may come as unnatural to the group. In small biblical communities, outreach can be done by inviting other people to typical activities of the group such as birthday celebrations, excursions, parties and the like. In the process of participating in such events that typically take place in the small groups, guests are gradually acquainted with the believers’ community and are eventually motivated to join the home meetings. As they are exposed to the truth and grace permeating the community of believers, they become aware of the difference the gospel makes in lives and relationships of people.
New believers grow as they relate to others in more meaningful ways, study the Scriptures, and help in filling the needs of individuals and the group, in which they learn how to minister to others. In this manner, ministry is kept simple and is made possible without costly or big-budgeted buildings, equipment, programs, speakers, choir, bands, and others. Virtually, all a group needs is a place to meet, the Bible and one another to form small biblical communities.
The minimal resources necessary for forming small groups, enables small biblical communities to be developed in both urban and rural settings, though small groups may grow and grow faster in rural areas due to long-existing and extensive relationships that are especially ubiquitous in rural villages. Furthermore, reproduction is not limited to the increase of individuals in a community; groups also multiply. This usually occurs when the number of participants in a group reaches 16 – 20; otherwise participants are limited in their participation.
It ministers to the whole person. Small biblical communities are more than Bible study groups; they are functioning communities where love is expressed in practical terms not only within and among the groups but also towards others in need.
It provides an avenue for developing intimacy with God. In small groups, it is more likely that everyone can be encouraged to utter words of prayers to God—while others listen—as a response to His message read from the Scriptures. New insights usually come as the Spirit of God brings in a fresh perspective on frequently read or ‘ordinary’ Bible passages. This intimate moments times in of meditation in the Word and prayer results to faith based not on what God does but on who He is even in difficult circumstances. (Lam 3:1-23 and Hab. 3:17-19)
Wency de la Vina is the National Director of the Navigators Philippines. He is married to Celia, a Biology instructor at UP Los Banos. They are blest with three sons
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Do You Really Lack Money?
by Stephen T. Tan
"The lack of money is the root of all evil," Mark Twain once said. Not knowing the context of his statement, I will not set off a debate on whether the statement contradicts or reinforces 1 Timothy 6:10 ("The love of money is the root of all evil"), which has become one of the most quoted Bible verses. Still, most people familiar with this verse probably do not yet fully understand what it means. But instead of embarking on a lengthy deliberation on its relation to the verse, it would probably be more useful to view Mark Twain's statement as referring to a paradigm about people’s needs and wants.
Marketing thrusts and advertising media have generally been successful in getting our needs and wants all mixed up. As a result, most of us have mistaken many of our wants as needs. It is no wonder then that we feel that whatever amount of money that comes to our possession is never enough, so much so that the phrase, "saving for a rainy day," is just an idiomatic expression that we learned and left behind at school.
This misconstrued notion regarding our needs and wants subconsciously helps us to justify living beyond our means and spending in advance what we have yet to earn; even the eagerly anticipated 13th month pay is not spared, and is commonly allocated for settlement of obligations incurred as early as the start of the year. It is puzzling how a person in such a gloomy situation is still able to look forward to a "Happy New Year."
Fortunately, there is a way out of this vicious cycle of despair. As with everything else worth doing, commitment is a must in getting ourselves out of debt and into the liberating realm of financial fitness.
First, you need to come to terms with man's selfish nature—that "the more you make, the more you will spend; the less you make, the less you will spend." Only when this reality sinks in will you begin to come up with creative strategies for attaining financial fitness. One simple yet effective strategy is to "create an environment of artificial shortage for yourself and your household."
Second, you need to implement an action plan towards creating an environment of artificial shortage for yourself and your household. One such plan of action is to allocate in advance equal portions of all future incomes both to the Lord (as giving to His ministry) and to yourself (for investing). By setting aside your tithe at the beginning of the month, you are making your offering back to the Lord a real priority, an act that will stay with you throughout the month. And by paying yourself through investing, you are on your way to ensuring your future financial fitness because, at the end of each month, "it is not what you make that matters, it is what you get to keep."
Then, and only then, do you get to “take home” whatever is left in your pay envelope. This is the only money that is available for your spending without any reservation, except to ensure that you make it last until the next payday.
To make sure that the previously stated concepts, recommendations, and suggested action plan for gaining financial fitness is making sense to you, let us work out a hypothetical situation. Let’s say your next pay envelope contains Php 5000.00. You need to take the following action steps:
- Set aside in an envelope at least P500.00 (that's 10 percent of the salary) for your contribution to God's work.
- Set aside in another envelope at least P500.00 (again, that's 10 percent of your salary) for investing with a long-term investment vehicle like the KATIG Multi-Purpose Cooperative. (Note: It is important that your investment is not readily accessible to you so as to lessen the temptation to it at the slightest urgency.)
- Set aside at least P250.00 (that’s 5 percent) to settle some of your prior obligations while ensuring that you do not incur new ones.
- If your pay is not automatically deposited to your ATM account, quickly deposit the remaining amount in an ATM savings account before it vanishes into thin air.
- Withdraw from your ATM savings account only the amount you need at that time. Keep in your wallet or purse only the amount that you will need for the week plus a little more for minor contingencies. This will greatly help you overcome your tendency to give in to impulse buying. This means that whenever the urge to spend becomes a little too much for you, you will still face the intentional inconvenience of having to make a special trip to your favorite ATM. Quite often, you will find out that even before you get to the ATM, the urge to spend has been replaced by a sense of relief.
The effect of the sudden change in your net disposable income will be felt the most during the first two pay periods after you implement your financial fitness action plan. This phase also promises to be the most difficult because the changes demand a drastic adjustment in your lifestyle to make ends meet.
Yet in the long run, the advantages of placing yourself in this situation of artificial shortage far outweigh the initial inconveniences. At the outset you will notice that suddenly, the dividing line between your needs and your wants becomes more distinct than ever. It then becomes very easy for you and your household to quickly learn to defer wants that you always thought you could not live without. But the best part of adopting this practice is when you come to realize that you have become an eager investor in the Kingdom of God and that, more than "saving for a rainy day," you are actually investing for a brighter future for yourself and your household.
Stephen T. Tan came into contact with the Navigators in the early 80's at U.P. Diliman. He is currently into advertising (ModernMedia Solutions) and packaging (SMILEY Packaging). His hobby, researching on and investing in select Philippine equities, has now become an equity investment fund for his friends as well. Office Pals Investment Management, (0922) 888-9-168, ofcpals@yahoo.com
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