by Pastor Patrick Cho

One of the things that I have always been encouraged by at LBC is the members’ commitment to one another to build deep relationships and have meaningful conversations. I know this is happening because more and more new people tell me that it is one of the reasons why they want to join as members. They tell me that the conversations they have with members at LBC are spiritual. At lunch on Sundays, people are often heard talking about the Sunday sermon or what they read the past week. One time I joined a group for lunch and ironically it short-circuited these conversations because the group was sheepish about discussing the sermon with me there. But it was nice to know that they had grown accustomed to having those conversations.

I’m really appreciative of these conversations because the Bible calls us to invest in each other in this way. In Ephesians 4:15 and 4:25, Paul encourages the church to speak the truth to each other in love. There are many various applications to this command, but one way to do it is to initiate spiritual, meaningful conversations with one another. My hope is that these kinds of conversations would continue to permeate the church. It would be great if eventually these conversations would not be awkward, but that it would seem out of place if these conversations didn’t take place.

In College Life and Single Life, we occasionally have what are called RAP groups to discuss the Friday night sermons in small groups. RAP is an acronym for Reflection, Application, and Prayer. I have always enjoyed these conversations because I want to know how people think in response to the messages. In Grace Life, this is the reason why we have assigned the weekly homework, to promote spiritual discussion in the home, and help to make those interactions customary.

Colin Marshall and Tony Payne elaborate on the need of these spiritual conversations in The Trellis and the Vine. This is how we build one another up in the faith. Sunday sermons are necessary and helpful, but they are not sufficient. Using a military analogy, sermons are like spiritual bombs that minister to large groups of people at a time. They are necessary because they bring much needed instruction and understanding to the text. But the spiritual conversations that take place throughout the week are like spiritual snipers that target and minister to individuals in a personal way.

There is no way that any one pastor is going to be able to adequately minister to an entire congregation in this deeply personal way. It is going to require a commitment by the members to one another to speak truth to each other, praying for one another, encouraging one another, and building each other up in the faith. But as each member commits to doing this, the church as a whole will be strengthened. And as we have seen in the past, and hopefully will continue to see, people will be drawn to the church if its members keep speaking truth to one another in love.