Let the Little Ones Come and Throw Water Baloons

I didn't originally intend to give a table group report every week, but it has become unavoidable. Every time our group gathers, things happen that are so significant I can't help but write about them. And when it involves your kids...well, I can't resist the urge!

When we seek out relationships, we often look for things in common: common age or stage of life, common interests, common background, etc. Beneath this tactic is the assumption that sameness is a key to good relationships. Commonality makes us comfortable, gives us something to talk about or common activity to engage in. That's not completely bad, but it does have a dark side. For instance, it might also ensure that we don't learn from the different experiences of others, that we don't gain from the wisdom of older people or share any of that wisdom with younger people. It might just mean that we don't come in contact with people we need to serve.

Our neighborhood tables are organized almost exclusively by location. We're pursuing relationships with people who live near us, regardless of age, stage, color, background, belief, common interest or anything else. This means that adults, students, and kids are all mixing it up together at our table. When you do this, you realize how little the generations interact with each other. Most students, for example, rarely talk with adults other than their parents or children other than their siblings, and this reaps bitter fruit in their lives as they move into adulthood and haven't learned how to communicate with anyone except their peers. On the other hand, adults rarely listen to students or children (even our own). This was definitely the case when our table began several months ago, and we still have a long way to go, but each week there are signs that things are changing. Here's just one from this week.

Sunday afternoon was a beautiful, warm, summer-is-coming kind of day. My kids don't spend days like that indoors. Knowing that our table was gathering Sunday afternoon, our 14-year old, Jacob, decided to plan a little surprise for all the kids coming over (I think 10 kids and youth). He set up the slip-and-slide in the back yard, and filled up our ice chest with water balloons. Then he asked Mom to call all the families and have them secretly bring their kids' swimsuits over to the house. After sharing our meal and talking about our week, Jacob surprised all the kids with water fun in the backyard. They stayed out there until the sun went down, and still didn't want to quit, even though they were wet and shivering. One little girl, who came to our table Sunday for the first time, came up to me before she left and said, "your house is awesome!" What she meant was that a 14-year old had done something pretty uncharacteristic for his age: he had taken it upon himself to plan an afternoon of fun for a bunch of little kids. 14-year olds are supposed to have disdain for all kids, right? It was a proud moment for me.

Students don't ignore the world and play video games all the time by God's design. Neither do adults only interact with each other. I've met several kids over the years who dreaded their parents' involvement in small groups or Bible studies, because the kids had no part in it and were shooed away so the parents could "go deep." There is a place for that, but there is also a place for young and old, male and female, rich and poor, black and brown and white, married and single and divorced, to know each other, communicate with each other, even love each other. "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:28 TNIV.

Core Practice #5: Biblical Community
Creed: I fellowship with other Christ-followers to accomplish God’s purposes in my life, others’ lives and in the world.
Text: Acts 2:42-47 - "All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."