When only one of the ten healed lepers returned to be grateful to Jesus for what He had done, what does that say about the one? What does it say about the other nine? And what light does this shine on who I am? What is the one key practice in my life that will bring the healing I need?
Lifegroup Discussion questions up next!
If you are the discussion leader, please have everyone open to this page on their device. Take turns reading and discussing together. OH, and I am really sorry for not getting the podcast or questions up last week… I just spent a week sick in bed. Today is my first day back “up and around,” and now I am trying to catch up with everything. Thank you for your understanding!
Has your group planned your approach to your Tower Road family? Mine is coordinating on our closed, private Facebook page this week about it. Go ahead and take care of any details on that first, before tackling these questions.
This week’s discussion questions are going to take on somewhat of a different form… Just go with it and let me know if it works for you.
On Sunday, Jason Turner did a great job with the message again. In telling the story of Jesus and the 10 lepers, he talked about how their healing was a process, as opposed to an event. Basically, Jason’s thesis could be oversimplified to:
“Good things are worth the wait.”
And, the thing is.. He was talking about me and you! He was saying that it is going to take a process in my life, and in your life for us to become the “good thing.”
How did Jason illustrate this idea at the very beginning of his message? Do you agree with his premise?
Romans 12:2 NLT
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
How is this a long process, rather than an event in our lives?
Okay, for the sake of this discussion, let’s define a few terms. These aren’t absolute definitions, but they will really work well within the context of this discussion… Someone read the following four terms out loud for your group, and see if they are acceptable. Talk them out a little, if you need to.
- sin: Pretending something is true, when it is not.
- idolatry: Pretending something is divine, and worthy of our devotion, when it is not.
- confession: Agreeing with God that you have been in some way living a lie, and that what He says is true.
- repentance: choosing to turn from deception to truth
A Key Thought About Repentance
So, on Sunday, Jason described repentance as a gift.
Doesn’t this go against our pop culture view? Imagine a summer blockbuster movie about repentance. No? What about Hip Hop artist Drake rapping about getting caught with another woman, and deciding to stop cheating, and to live on the straight and narrow? Right. That’s how men and women’s roles are portrayed in pop music today. <insert sarcasm here.>
Imagine this one: What about Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper of CNN looking at the recent election results, and saying “the country clearly doesn’t buy what I am selling here… I am going to stop casting such a disparaging light on the conservative candidates and start reporting about the change Americans really want now about to dawn on our nation?
Seriously.. Have you seen any of the presidential transition coverage since the election?
Our culture, our experience, and our instinct all inform us to reject this gift… To do the opposite of repentance… Instead, to run away from our sins… Our transgressions.
We are taught to lie, deny, cover, hide, blame, deflect, minimize. To take little or no responsibility for our actions, and to pretend to be victims. Right?
The truth is, we can lie to everyone about it… Even ourselves. But all we are doing is loading ourselves up with heavier and heavier baggage.
So, when you take all that guilt, pain, grief, and deception, and you carry it around for months, years, decades… What happens to you? What happens to your soul? How does it change you? How does it affect those around you?
Back to the Key Thought
Okay… Now this is where we get back to the question… Jason described repentance as a GIFT… And here is why:
Biblical repentance insists that we do the exact opposite of carrying that stinking old baggage. Repentance insists that we run TOWARD our sin, claiming full responsibility. Then, in confession and repentance, God removes the guilt from us. What??
1 John 1:8-9 NLT
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
THEN what happens to us? How would THAT affect your soul? How would that affect those around you? Contrast this result to that of carrying that nasty baggage around all our life.
WHAT AN INCREDIBLE GIFT!!!!
Ezekiel 18:30-32
Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!
We really blew this.
Somehow, in Christianland, we have turned this gift of repentance into simply an event, rather than an ongoing process in our lives. We actually say things like, “I have repented of my sins, and now I am good.”
As if somehow we could go from point A, straight to point Z, without ever having to see point B, C, D, and so forth! We basically talk like “I have repented, so now I am perfect.” Right? Is that true in your experience?
EVEN WORSE than that, Christians often seem trained to spotlight those that didn’t make the full leap, like we did. They didn’t make it all the way to perfection… They sinned. (gasp) AGAIN!!
So what do we do? As good Christians, we hold them accountable for what they have done! Make them pay! Kick them out! Have nothing to do with them! They need to be accountable for their actions! <did you insert the sarcasm here?>
Seriously.. Stop and think about this: Wouldn’t we be much better family members if we held our brothers and sisters accountable all along this journey together, rather than after they wandered off alone and fell off a cliff? What would that look like?
Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Repentance is the opposite of this… The gift of repentance insists you be fully accountable, and insists that there is a clear way back.
Celebrate Recovery gets this really right. They are all about unpacking our hurts, habits, and hangups… CR helps us walk through them, take responsibility, then let go of them to find healing and freedom. What? You haven’t tried it yet?