I Don't Want to Go to Group...and I'm the Leader

Team D-- the NCC Discipleship Team-- is writing a series of blogs about things that no one ever told us about small group leadership. Today, I acknowledge that there are times that I really don't want to go to my group.

Let's be honest. Every now and then we just don't want to go to small group. Even though we are the leader. Especially because we are the leader. Maybe it's been a long day and we are tired. Maybe we just don't have the relational capacity to deal with the long talker, the weird talker, and the person that lingers for an hour after everyone else leaves. There are nights when we just don't care about that prayer request for Aunt Beulah. Or...we didn't have time to do our homework that week.

If you haven't experienced this yet, you probably haven't been leading for more than a few months. Or you are a much better person than I.

What do you do when the last place you want to be is your own group? It's time for a motivation check.

There are a lot of reasons we step into small group leadership. For some of us, it is a genuine love for people and desire to see them grow. For others, it is an opportunity to invest their gifts. Some see a need and want to fill it. There are a few that simply cannot not lead. But at the end of the day, there is only one viable and valid reason for doing what we do--

To see God’s named honored and glorified in our generation.

Our love for people will fade every now and then. There will come a situation when we question our giftedness and a day when our passion will wane. The cost/benefits of meeting the need we see will not add up. We must do it for God and God alone.