Its that time of the year that I begin to think a little about the future of CCF and this year I have been asking myself a unique question.
“What would happen without CCF?”
First off, CCF is not going anywhere… well as far as I know it’s not. I have just been asking this question to myself because I have really been thinking about how we “do” things at CCF. Is our vision spreading? Are people jumping on board and taking hold of it or are they simply coming because we are creating it. So here is how the question has played out. Without CCF would people still gather and talk about the Word in their apartments and dorms? Without CCF would people still be intentional? Without CCF would the heart of a hundred or so students still be broken for campus? Some times I just wrestle with this question because I wonder if we are doing too much creating. When I look at the book of Acts I wonder if this things just happened with natural leaders even appointed leaders. Take for instance small groups. Weren’t small groups what happened between people in the same neighborhoods and occupations. Interesting now how it is all so organized and structured for us. Some times I wonder if this structure and organization actually disables our students and congregations by doing it all for them. Instead of a group of people with common interests, jobs, and proximity gathering it has become at times forced and borderline awkward. There is no doubt God still works gracefully through all sorts of models but I just wonder what it looked like if groups were placed more in the hands of the students and congregations than from “the top.” If this sounds scary or you think everything would fall apart maybe we are doing something wrong. Maybe some things need change. Maybe…
i think that what you are talking about in acts worked well for them because people did not travel as they do now. if all of us ccf-ers had grown up in tallahassee/had been friends our whole lives then we probably would have grouped together naturally in terms of interest and stuff. but what i think is awesome about what we have now is how we embrace diversity and learning about life through other people who are a little bit different than us. the idea of college is a new one in terms of how old God is and i think, considering the fact that most of us will only be here for 4 years (…i say MOST of us…) it is almost detrimental that we have some sort of organization leading the direction of our lives in terms of growth. by the time we sought out people on campus who believe as we do and organized some sort of worship/bible study, it would be junior/senior year before we know it. and in terms of you placing it from “the top” .. you guys dont put us in our small groups, we sign up for them according to what days we have in common to meet. which is more of creating opportunity rather than creating the desire itself. but those are just my thoughts as i am trying to procrastinate studying
enjoy the duke game!
I’ve been reading a book lately that challenges the assumption that small groups magically equal true community. I’ve found it very thought provoking! It’s called “The Search to Belong”.
[...] ask this all-important question (via Michael Mears) [...]