Structured Life Groups

1 Timothy 2:8–15 (ESV)

⁸I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

⁹likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire,

¹⁰but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.

¹¹Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

¹²I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve;

¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

¹⁵Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

So, after a little break, I’ve resumed going through First Timothy in an attempt to draw from that letter some principles for Life Group leadership. I’ve got to admit though: when I came to this passage, I seriously thought about scrapping the whole project!

Simply put, this is a sticky passage. No matter how you slice it, Paul is saying some things that are plain ol’ hard to understand, let alone to apply to Life Group leadership. But, since it is God’s Word, and all Scripture is useful to us, I’ve decided not to pass over it. And I’m glad. Because, this passage gives us a very important lesson to hold onto as we seek to lead God’s people.

The lesson has to do with order.

How orderly is your Life Group? What I mean is, does your group have a healthy structure to it that reflects what God is like and reflects how he desires things to be done? Or, does your group just sort-of…happen? Because that is what Paul is talking about in these verses. Regardless of how we interpret the apostle’s statements about men and women in the church, at the core of what he is saying is that there should be a thoughtful, organized, God-honoring way we go about our ministries.

This is difficult to accomplish in an age of busyness and in an era that prizes spontaneity over structure. We often simply lack the time to prepare well and, quite frankly, many of us are resistant to defined ways of doing things. But, as Paul points out in this passage, from the very beginning God has been a God of order. And at least in some sense, God’s ordering of things at creation becomes a template for us in terms of ordering our ministries today.

So, does your Life Group have order to it? Not rigid inflexibility, but a thoughtfulness that lays a foundation for growth? If so, then this is reflective of the God who made all things. If not, why not begin to think through fresh ways in which to bring a divinely patterned structure to your group so that it can thrive, bearing fruit to God and bringing blessing to those around you?