Birds of a Feather

Just so I can state the obvious, today is Friday and every Friday, I go to Friday Night Fellowship with Harvest Berkeley (check them out, they're really great people). Tonight we focused on Hebrews 10:24-25 :

"and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking ourown assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."

In case you can't speak bible too well, it is basically saying that we should love another in our groups and fellowships and to spur each other on in love and in action. We should be getting to know one another and how we can help them in their daily live.

Doesn't this seem like an easy passage to follow? A big thing for me is application. HOW do we go about spurring one another on. I think today's speaker brought a good point in pointing out that this passage doesn't provide anything like a checklist or 'to-do' list for anybody to follow. Instead it just says to do these things as though it were inherent in our lives. You can see how these subtle yet simple abstract ideas become a problem when translated into an action.

So here's my take: You get to know someone first. I doubt you can generalize an entire group into a single personality (even if they're twins and live and breathe together). If you can just get to know how someone is doing you can formulate a plan to help. In the process, you yourself can share and you get something back. If you think about it this way, the passage isn't just saying that you have to get others to help, it also implies that you probably need or want help as well.

Generalizing this even further, I think it doesn't even have to apply to just biblical believers. This idea isn't for the general purpose of salvation but rather of society (and thus salvation). Don't get me wrong, just doing this isn't going to get you saved and for those of you who don't care about God or Jesus, you could care less then. But just think about this, you can do this even in your own groups. Don't go against this ideal just to be rebellious to some religious repulsion. This idea, I think, could do "community" in general a lot of good.

Study Time

If you ever get to college or are in college or have been to college, you know how fun, distracting, and useful study groups are. A bunch of guys (and girls (maybe (if you have a social life))) get together and, for the most part, try to study together for some upcoming midterm. Yet, at the same time, you have "friendship dynamics" going on that are distracting that by the end, you feel you might have done better by just studying alone. Let me say this one thing: study groups are great but are most effective when everyone is working on different things.

Does this sound contradictory? Maybe, so it would seem but let me explain thoroughly what I mean. When everyone is working together on the same subject, you either want to lag behind to wait for the slower people to catch up (which is the best case scenario, it means you're smart) or you are rushing, trying to catch up (bad). I don't find this to be the best work environment and I really don't like having to work a pace other than my own (yes, I'm self-centered). With people working on all different subjects, you aren't pressured at what pace you're working at. Rather, you're pressured just to do some type of work. You feel that you have to get something done or you would just be setting a bad example. Work with the peer pressure to get your own work done.

There is one problem though, if you study with a group that you have awesome "dynamics" with, you might just end up goofing off and seriously wasting time. The moral now is, pick your study groups effectively and wisely. Don't look for people who are just distracting. Being a freshman now, working with seniors is pretty good unless they decide to goof off too.