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"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." - Proverbs 27:17, NLT
Our desire is to simply follow the Way of Jesus every day. Our choices, thoughts, dreams, failures, successes, and actions are a direct result of whom or what we follow. If our hearts and minds are focused on our relationship with Jesus Christ, He will live through us, bringing the Light of His power into the lives of those we care about: friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, etc.
One great tool for helping our hearts focus on the One we love and serve is the Life Transformation Group (LTG). As you will see, this tool gives us an organic structure for reading Scripture, praying for those God has placed in our lives, and confessing our deepest struggles and sins with people we can trust.
What is an LTG?
The LTG is a strategic yet very organic tool that can be used to help Christ followers to mature and grow. It is a “grassroots” concept that empowers “ordinary” Christians to become disciple-makers. The LTG leverages the power of real relationships for accountability and fuels internal motivation through the Word of God rather than employing external, programmatic pressures and tactics. The LTG releases the simple, yet essential, elements that are vital for true spiritual change and growth into the lives of people who desperately need Jesus.
What is done in an LTG?
As Proverbs 27:17 illustrates, we need other people. Mutual accountability is the “glue” that holds the group together. The group meets once a week for about an hour, and has no “official” leader. There is no curriculum, workbooks, or prior training needed or involved. Three simple tasks are accomplished each week:
1. Sin is confessed within this mutual, accountable, and safe relationship.
2. Scripture is read repetitively in context throughout the week.
3. Souls are prayed for strategically, specifically, and continuously.
The ultimate goals of the LTG are:
1) To see lives transformed by the power of God’s Word internalized and applied and
2) To multiply the group into many other groups over time.
Who can meet in an LTG?
The groups are not co-ed, but are gender specific. The group is limited to two or three in order to increase confidentiality, make it easier to schedule the meeting time, and to encourage multiplication. The addition of a fourth person in the process is considered the beginning of the next group. In other words, whereas there was one group of three, now there are two groups of two that seek to add one more person each.
There are only two suggested qualifications for starting or joining an LTG:
1. A desperate need for Jesus Christ: Luke 5:29-32
Later, Levi held a banquet in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests also ate with them. But the Pharisees and their teachers of religious law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (NLT)
2. Faithfulness in the process itself: 2 Timothy 2:2
You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.(NLT)
These two criteria balance one another to keep the group on track both with healing for hurting people and health for helping people. To compromise either of these principles will slow down or derail the effectiveness of the group.
How is accountability maintained?
Accountability is maintained through open character conversations within the weekly meeting using very pointed and straightforward questions. These questions will be given during your training session however a real simple list is:
What is God telling you?
What are you doing about it?
Each person shares answers openly and honestly within the safe environment of the group which commits itself to honesty, vulnerability, confidentiality, and grace.
What do you read?
THE BIBLE!This process doesn’t use lesson books, outlines, imposed structures, or a program. Each week the group decides what to read in the Bible.
The point is not so much what you read, it is that you read and listen for God to speak through His Word into your life situation. Each week, each person will have the opportunity to share what God has revealed to them through Scripture. This process trusts that the Holy Spirit of God will lead into all Truth (John 16:13).
Who do you pray for?
Other people that are in desperate need of Jesus! Everyone should know someone by name that needs a relationship with Jesus Christ. Each person in the group brings 2 to 3 names to the group. Everyone prays for each person everyday of the week. The hope is that you will have the opportunity to share Christ with those whom you are praying for everyday. When that person is open to joining your LTG, you have begun the process of multiplication!
This is a simple, yet powerful, tool that can help transform your life forever.
Benefits of the LTG System
The benefits of the LTG system include:
- Community. It is easier to get open and honest in a very small group.
- Accountability. A group of two or three has a greater degree of strength in accountability
- Confidentiality. Since confessing of sin is necessary for cleansing and preparing ones self for a life of service, a safe place for it is essential.
- Communication. It is easier to communicate with fewer people.
- Flexibility. Ever try to coordinate the calendars of half a dozen people for a meeting? Meeting with two or three is much easier. Groups can meet anytime, anywhere.
- Reproducibility. By building reproducibility at this base level, we lay the foundation for the reproduction of small groups and churches.
- God-like. Even the Godhead exists in a group of three.
Interested in starting or joining a group?
Contact John Bender jbender@fbccenter.org or call the church office.