Honesty first...
I haven't been to the study in a couple of weeks. I don't miss it...Definitely not the study part. I know that Bible studies and church aren't all about being entertained, but this is such a repeat that I feel bogged down in it. I did find a site where I can skim through the transcript of the study and see what it's about. I read about half of one...
Then I was talking to some people who go to the study, and asked what they'd been picking up from it. Their only thing they really had to say was that they learned that we're all lazy, and that's what keeps us from being spiritual. Which was pretty well the theme on the nights I attended the study.
But that was sort of it..."Well, I've realized that I'm lazy..." Nothing to change that though.
Then I was talking to some people who go to the study, and asked what they'd been picking up from it. Their only thing they really had to say was that they learned that we're all lazy, and that's what keeps us from being spiritual. Which was pretty well the theme on the nights I attended the study.
Just the realization that you are lazy doesn't change anything. If I say, "Man...I would love to be super hot for bikini season, but I'm just so lazy.", that isn't going to do anything. I will not end up with the ideal bikini body simply because I finally said that I am lazy. I have to get off of my butt, stop eating cookies, and start working to get that body (yeah...that doesn't sound worth it...I like my cookies...). Likewise, acknowledging that you are lazy about pursuing God will not get you the spiritual life that you want.
I think that this is where many studies and churches fall short. They tend to send us on guilt trips without always giving us the resources to change. Then we're stuck, unable to move forward because we don't know how to, or making up our own way forward, which may or may not be effective. Or we sit there as a group and commiserate about how lazy we are for the 12 weeks or whatever we're in the study. Then, when we're done with the study, we know that we need something more, so we choose another study and it starts over again.
That's not the way such things should work. If we understand as a group that we need to work on our laziness, or our ability to do outreach, or anything else, we should help each other, and build each other up. Sometimes it is hard to find the momentum to change our own laziness, but as a community, we should be able to encourage each other and make the change.
It also shouldn't only be on one person. There may be a leader, whether official or unofficial, in a group, but they should not be the only one who prompts the group to action. That person will simply be burned out, and once again, nothing will happen.
There's an episode of Adventures in Odyssey called The Boy Who Didn't go to Church. It's about the different parts of the body, and how each one has to interact with the others to do what God has for us to do, and if we try to do everything by ourselves, or if we only work with people who have the same skill set, we won't be able to do what we were made to do. But if we work together, the way that the body should work, we can help and encourage each other, while doing the part that we were created to do.
Guilt has no part in a community. A community should be a place to realize your faults, and change them. There is no point in dwelling on what you have done wrong so far, instead, you should accept those things, determine that you no longer want to do that, and start moving forward.
If, for example, you are lazy, choose some way to end the laziness. Is there an organization in your community that needs help? In our area, there are. I would bet that any place that you are, there are people that you could help. And there are organizations that will tell you exactly what to do. You take a group of willing people to help them, and they will give you jobs to do. You don't even have to figure out how to handle it to begin with. They will teach you to not be lazy. You only have to come with a willing heart.
So stop feeling guilty. Corporate guilt does nothing but keep a lot of people in a place where they are unable to help anyone. Just get out and start doing something.
There's an episode of Adventures in Odyssey called The Boy Who Didn't go to Church. It's about the different parts of the body, and how each one has to interact with the others to do what God has for us to do, and if we try to do everything by ourselves, or if we only work with people who have the same skill set, we won't be able to do what we were made to do. But if we work together, the way that the body should work, we can help and encourage each other, while doing the part that we were created to do.
Guilt has no part in a community. A community should be a place to realize your faults, and change them. There is no point in dwelling on what you have done wrong so far, instead, you should accept those things, determine that you no longer want to do that, and start moving forward.
So stop feeling guilty. Corporate guilt does nothing but keep a lot of people in a place where they are unable to help anyone. Just get out and start doing something.
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