In SoulCare, Don't Stop Short of Christ

A few weeks ago I met with a few Christian brothers. We gathered for the sake of addressing some issues in the life of a mutual friend. The details aren’t important – but the conversation was. Some highlights from the night that I think might be helpful even in our SoulCare Communities.

1. We were men and we acted like men. This is not to ignore the ladies who gather for Soul Care, but men, do you know that the Bible calls us to act like men? Literally.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Cor. 16:13-14)

Maybe that surprises you. Or maybe it offends you. In our culture, being a man is either seen as chauvinistic and sexist or is scoffed and dismissed as a relic of the past. We’re far too progressive and sophisticated to think that there is actually a difference in gender that goes beyond biology, between masculinity and femininity. Surely we’ve outgrown such a primitive idea.

What was right about this night was that the four men who gathered acted like men. That didn’t mean we pretended to be tough guys with little compassion. In fact, isn’t it great that right after Paul calls men to act like men, he says, Let all that you do be done in love. Being loving is not antithetical to masculinity. Surely Jesus is an example of that!

We confronted sin honestly. We spoke openly. We spoke compassionately. We were generous with encouragement and kind words. We didn’t hide in fear of what the other person might think. We didn’t get defensive when someone spoke a hard but necessary word. We were humble with one another. Somehow, there was a beautiful balance of grace and truth.

Seven Mile Road men, act like men. When you gather in your Soul Care community – be watchful for your soul and the souls of your brothers. Stand firm in the faith. Be strong. Let all that you say and do be done in love. Act like men.

2. We didn’t stop short of Christ.When you’re confessing sin or exposing the condition of your heart, it’s so easy to stop there. One of the men challenged us to push through and let Christ be the final word in each of our situations. The gospel does not end with death, but with life. After the cross there is resurrection. There is new life. So if our times of exposing sin end with just confession, we’ve stopped short of Christ. We’ve focused on ourselves but we haven’t fixed our eyes upon Jesus.

In SoulCare, we need to bring our times of sharing all the way through to the good news that we have in Jesus. This doesn’t mean to short-cut repentance, but rather to remember that the point of repentance is to turn from sin and turn to Christ. Remind one another of the forgiveness we have in Christ. Point to the hope that is in Him. Preach the truth that we are covered in His righteousness and His blood has cleansed us from our sin. Show how the Gospel addresses our sin and frees us from it and empowers us to live differently.

Remember that the Holy Spirit’s work is not to convict us of sin, period. But rather to convict us of sin so thatwe might look to Christ. The Holy Spirit makes us see our sin so thatwe might lift our eyes to Jesus. If SoulCare becomes just a place where we each share how we’ve messed up throughout the week, we will have stopped short of the gospel. We’ll either slip into legalism and come up with techniques (that don’t work) and practical advice (aka: human wisdom) on how to fix ourselves – all the while ignoring the heart and the unbelief that lies within; or we’ll fall into license and just go around the room thinking we all sin so it’s no big deal. No one’s lives will be changed. No one will experience transformation. And the whole thing will feel like a lousy support group. Don’t stop short of Christ and the good news we have in Him.