In John 6, Jesus begins to reveal who He really was and the full substance of what His ministry was all about. "Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (John 6:53-58)
If you knew nothing of Jesus and were to read this verse only, you might think that He was a demented cult leader, advocating cannibalism. Such bizarre statements tell you one of two things: "Run away!" Or "OK, what's the deep hidden meaning here?" Well, as you might already know, there was a very deep hidden meaning to what Jesus was referring. Basically Jesus is trying to convince His followers that they needed to learn to rely on Him 100%, without any expectations of being provided for by other sources. He alone was their sustenance and sufficiency, to the point that He referred to the two things that sustain life more than anything else: food and drink. Those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, find their fulfillment in Christ alone and what better analogy could Jesus have used to illustrate complete communion with God?
Well, some of His followers took His words literally and scripture tells us that "On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?....From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him." (John 6:60 & 66) It's also possible that they just realized the true cost of following Jesus was getting too high, and could not accept what it really meant. Either way, they left the group of those called to follow Christ, and more than likely settled back into life as usual.
What does this have to do with facilitating a new Life Group? Well, at this point, you may have had some people drop out. In fact, I know this has in fact happened to some of you. If not, there is a good chance it will happen eventually. Life situations change and you may have begun to see changes in peoples' schedules as well. It's frustrating, but a very normal part of starting a new Life Group. Don't let it discourage you. Building real community together is not always easy. People begin to realize that being part of a community requires sacrifice and dedication. Some might see it as a waste of time and not worth prioritizing. Some might see being part of a Life Group as simply a social gathering, with no deeper spiritual meaning. And these might be the ones that turn back and no longer follow.
But then Jesus turned to the twelve disciples and said, "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." These are the ones that will hang in for the long haul. In the last few weeks, you will begin to see that you all are beginning to understand the real value of community and the deep hidden meanings of why you meet together. Life Groups are gatherings of Christ followers. Small pictures of the Body of Christ. You are His disciples, following Him even when it gets difficult, strange and maybe a little scary. But be encouraged! This is only the beginning of an awesome journey!
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