In this issue of Ministry Matters I want to wrestle with practical ways we as pastors, small group leaders, etc. can strategically move to “attack mode” against a culture of forced isolation. Simply put: how do we, in Jesus’ matchless name, reach a nation behind masks? Our nation has moved a step beyond needing urgent care. In fact, we are a people who now have grown in need of desperate care. It will take people who now more than at any time since World War II aggressively adopt “Good Shepherd” lifestyles. “Go and share” must replace the “come and worship” mantra (by cultural mandate) that has served American Christianity from inception to present. Talk about a forced agenda! Who signs up for that tour of duty? Desperate measures for desperate times.

As a person who has spent nearly half of a century either enrolled in, employed by, or living adjacent to some Christian institution of higher learning, I can hear the plea of imagined voices from colleagues loudly imploring me—in fact begging me—not to jump into the abyss of statistics regarding our pandemic culture. Why? Because that exercise is the downer of all downers! Divorce rate: up; physical abuse and domestic abuse: up; narcotic and alcohol abuse: up; catastrophic financial failure in business: up; suicide: up; people in mental crises: up; church attendance: down!

Worse, in a creepy way, it feels as if the pandemic can’t beat you, the cancel culture will! Resorting to a litany of lamentable trends, by unanimous acclaim, soon will get you an invitation to be the new director of the Morbid Tabernacle Choir! But hold on! Smile; breathe; now reflect. Has the mask shifted from serving as an anti-COVID deterrent measure (yes, I faithfully wear mine) to an emblem of the growing isolation that is a blight on our churches and nation? I wonder, is the mask an iconic two-edged sword? It deters COVID, but it becomes a catalyst to an isolated culture that must be overcome if Christ’s Church is to move forward healthily. So, while the mask might be successful for lowering the spread of a viral disease, it has become emblematic of several growing social disorders that simply must be addressed by Christ’s ministers and laity—post haste!

So, how can we begin a decisive and deliberate shift to make a determinative difference? First, break your isolation with results-oriented strides. Second, re-engage the established means of grace via planned small group fellowship, study, prayer, accountability, and service. Third, choose topics of study that offset the current liabilities of the culture. Fourth and finally, find a way to evaluate the results of your venture and find ways to improve your approach.

Break Your Isolation

We should break our isolation in two ways: methodically and intentionally. Choose a few people that you want as part of your small group. Find a way to meet safely in a socially appropriate setting conducive to study, fellowship, and prayer. Ensure participants are committed to attend as an absolute priority.

Re-establish the Means of Grace

If your church can’t meet for worship, recognize that there are many ways to use means through which God promises to impart grace. Here are a few: Bible study, prayer, fellowship and accountability, service, outreach in love and witness. Since we are saved by grace and we also grow in grace, pursue the ways God has promised to impart grace, such as the ways defined here.

Choose Topics that Offset the Current Cultural Challenges

In your small group, endeavor to study in such a way that it equips people to defeat the liabilities of the culture. For instance, study a work that strengthens the family or contributes to a wholistic approach for strong mental health. One example would be David Seamands’ classic Healing for Damaged Emotions (I recognize this work is dated, but it is also timeless). Consider topics like marriage, abuse, financial struggles, strengthening mental health, coping with or preventing suicide, addictions, etc. None of these studies should be done devoid of Bible study and prayer—all of which impart more grace. It can make a difference!

Evaluate Group Effectiveness

Remember, success is measured by the effort’s effectiveness in the lives of its participants. Are prayers being answered? Are you learning more? Is the Bible being studied? Are you serving the Lord and loving others? Are you growing more victorious in your daily walk with God?

One of the principal leaders who helped plant Willow Creek Community Church along with Bill Hybels has written about the vitality of forming community based on small group effectiveness:

It is in small groups that people can get close enough to know each other, to care and share, to challenge and support, to confide and confess, to forgive and be forgiven, to laugh and weep together, to be accountable to each other, to watch over each other and to grow together. Personal growth does not happen in isolation. It is the result of interactive relationships. Small groups are God’s gift to foster changes in character and spiritual growth.

Gilbert Bilezikian, Community 101 (1997)

In conclusion, will you re-orient to help stop the isolation? Will you step forward and begin afresh the venture of small group discipleship? Will you attack the challenges we are facing? Will you seek God’s grace? The result will be measurable, valuable, and will produce new and greater victory for life behind the masks.