Everything we do as followers of Christ is related to mission.  Or at least it should be.  We are very good at making things all about us, aren’t we?  Groups is one of those areas where it gets really easy to shift the focus inward.  We come to a group because we want to grow, meet new people, gain a connection.  Soon enough, if things continue on, the group is all about the needs of the people in the group and mission gets shifted to the back burner.

There aren’t very many of us that come into a group thinking that it would be a good opportunity to make something all about us, but we can easy go there.  How many times has a real need come up in my group only to think to myself, “Can we speed this up, Sunday Night Football is on in 10 minutes!”  (Sorry folks in my Sunday night group…) I offer to pray for their needs and we go on our way.  I feel like a real jerk for feeling that way.  Be honest, sometimes we aren’t on the same page with God.  We don’t want to be the answer to the prayer we are willing to pray because that would be messy and take the focus of our lives off of us.  Yet, how many times are WE the ANSWER to our own petty prayers for hurting people around us?  We use prayer as an excuse to NOT DO ANYTHING.  I know for me I need to STOP PRAYING, and START ACTING on the promptings that God gives me when I do pray.

Here’s a thought…
We lead our groups to the level of closeness and growth that we choose to be involved in.  If we lead out on mission, our groups will follow.  If we lead out in selfishness, our groups will be closed, self-serving, ugly representations of the Body of Christ.