Vulnerability

This year for some reason I keep having difficulties in getting my Sunday school class' attention. They come, but they are not really listening. They're far more interested in gadgets and new cell phones than the bible. And because I have really watched them grow up, I really haven't had that much "authority" anymore... they already know how soft I am with them... and they definitely are not afraid of me.

Finally today I had a huge lecture for them. I couldn't help it. The lesson was on James (Ch 2, favoritism) - with this being a more "practical" passage I really wanted them to apply the passage in their own lives. So I started asking different questions. I didn't get that much response... and then I asked them how they greeted newcomers... and I asked about how many newcomers they have got in their Friday fellowships. And then I started getting some response. The fellowship seems to be in "depression", one said. Apparently they have sort of lost direction in the group and didn't seem to have commitment to the group anymore.

But from their words, what I actually saw was not really apathy - it was a lot of hurt waiting to be exploded. There had been problems within the group that originated a long time ago that never got solved. So the problems lingered and with the group being so emotional, the personal issues eventually divided people and really eat into the fellowship...

I still remember that the first sunday school I shared with them about the value of vulnerability in a small group. How much that can bind a group together and how much that enables people to support each other. Because the true self comes out--the weakness, the hurt, the everything--there's no pretense, no hypocrisy anymore. Without that, people will come to fellowship every Fri, but go away with their hearts even more hardened... and they are not getting anything out of it at all.

I kinda know some of the things that are going on--and I have a huge burden to help them. I don't know what to do except to pray for them. I really pray that God will help them see the Bible (gospel) in a different light - that the Bible is real and can help them - if they are willing and if their heart opens up! I don't know what the best way to approach this is. All I know is that something needs to be done, or else the group will not survive.

And it's the last thing I want to see.