What Happens at Small Group

Women Need Biblical Equipping in Christ

Is the church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus? Well, it's true there's no shortage of candy-coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same deceptions that even enticed Eve in the garden? In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women, No Compromise Radio is happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies-only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Abendroth, and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benziger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve. I am your host, Erin Benziger, and it is my goal today to point you to Christ, to point you to God and His Word, which is the only objective truth that we can know for certain is unchanging and inerrant.

That is why we love God's Word, and that is why we study God's Word, because in a world, not even the world, the professing church, in the professing church that is filled with error, we need to know what God's Word says, so that when we are faced with theological nuttiness, we will recognize it as such, because we know the truth so well.

There are a lot of ministries, and they may do good things, say good things, point out very dangerous error, but they are so focused on everything that every false teacher or bad teacher is doing, that they fail to point you back to Christ.

And it is my prayer that we would not do that here at Equipping Eve, that we would not neglect the glories of Christ for the fool's gold of the false teachers, even if we are not calling out error where it's necessary.

May we always point you back to Christ and His Word, because as I've said many times before here on this show, I can point you to false teachers all day long, and it will do no good unless I also point you to Christ.

What good is knowing that something is wrong if you don't know what the truth is, if you don't know where to go to find out what is right? And so ladies, be very mindful of that. It is so easy when you hear people say something about a false teacher, something favorable, you know, oh, I like Joyce Meyer, and it's so easy to jump in and want to point out all the heresy that Joyce Meyer teaches, and I'm not saying that's a wrong thing to do.

Please snatch these people from the fire. However, point them to the truth of God's Word. Make sure that your discernment is always in the context of God's Word. And that's what we try to do here at Equipping Eve.

We certainly don't do it perfectly, but we do it all by God's grace. And I'm very thankful for the venue that He has granted me. So ladies, you can find Equipping Eve on Facebook or on Twitter. Not as active as some other ministries perhaps are, but you know, I just, I don't have a big fancy staff of people running my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

I tried to teach my cats how to do social media, and they just weren't interested. So that's the extent of my staff, is my cats, and my cats don't do anything. So I guess you're just kind of stuck with me and whatever I feel like doing on social media on any given day.

Facebook, Twitter, EquippingEve .com, and you can contact me through any of those means. So ladies, it's another day. It's another great day to talk about God, to talk about Christ, to talk about His Word.

The Danger of the "You're Already Amazing" Theology

But what would an episode of Equipping Eve be without a visit to the You're Already Amazing calendar that I have? I think it's been a few shows since we've visited this. So there's a hashtag that shows up on Twitter once in a while, it's JustBeAwesome.

And I think I have one of my listeners to thank for that. And so thank you, that caught on, at least with me. And this calendar is based on a book by Holly Gerth, and it's called You're Already Amazing.

And it's supposedly Christian, but it's not. It's not. It's not at all. Not unless Christianity's definition has changed to a theology of you. And so what we like to affectionately call this is the JustBeAwesome calendar.

So here we are, I'm flipping through this, and I came across a very inspirational entry that I thought you might enjoy. It says, Go out there and run the race he's got for you, girl. The world is watching and heaven is cheering you on, and I am too.

So aren't you thrilled to know that heaven is cheering you on? I don't know what for, but Holly Gerth seems to think that heaven is cheering you on today. And she is too, even though she doesn't know who you are or what you're doing today.

So you could be looking at this calendar as you're about to go do something that you know is sinful and think, hey, the world is watching and heaven's cheering me on. So I might as well just go ahead and do it.

That is why this calendar is a bad, bad idea. Stay away from the You're Already Amazing calendar and book. So let's see if I flip a couple days further to actually today's date as I tape this. It says, Jesus doesn't want us to be exhausted.

He doesn't expect us to be all things to all people. So take a deep breath, lean back into his love. I don't know what that means, but do it. And ask him what your heart needs to be filled with today, because it is, after all, all about you.

Just be awesome. Hey, all right. What more is there to say? I should just shut down the show right now. Just go be awesome. You know, was it Rick Warren who said once at a TED Talk, and I don't have it in front of me, so if this is not an exact quote, please don't get too angry, but I believe Rick Warren once said something to the effect of, God smiles when you just be you.

I don't know where he got that from. He did not back that up with scripture, but if I'm just being me, I'm a sinner, and I don't think God smiles at that. And so this whole notion of you are amazing, you are awesome, just go out, hey girl, just go out and be you, is so, so dangerous.

Of course, we do not need to clean ourselves up before God will save us. But ladies, if we've been saved, there will be a change in us, because we've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, granted a new heart, granted new desires, a renewed mind.

And so, we will seek holiness and righteousness. But when Rick Warren or anybody sits in front of a room full of unbelievers and says, God smiles when you just be you, no, no he does not. His wrath abides on those who are not his.

And so, it's a lie, it's false, and it's damning, and it's sad that so many professing churches teach this kind of narcissistic, self-centered theology. But you know, that kind of teaching comes out of a misunderstanding of scripture, and a misunderstanding of scripture occurs when you are not reading scripture rightly.

We have to read scripture in its context, and we have to read scripture knowing that it is God's word to his people. And we have to read scripture knowing that not everything is about us. Step back, step out of yourself, and realize that scripture is about Christ.

Scripture offers you the means to salvation. Scripture is not all about you. Contrary to what some of these Bible versions may tell you, did you know you can order Bibles where they go through and you give them your name and you order it, and it comes to you, and wherever the word you is, it puts your name in, so that scripture is really all about you?

It's really scary that things like this exist, and people don't see a problem with it. And so that's why I say, yes, point out error, but point people back to the truth. So misunderstandings of scripture, misreadings of scripture, reading it out of context, and turning scripture into narcissistic truths that aren't actually true, and turning scripture into, there's no easier way to say this, turning scripture into frivolity.

These are pitfalls that I have seen professing Christians fall into. And so what I wanted to share with you today is an incident that happened many years ago at small group. Yes, small group. I'm not a particular fan of small groups, as they are typically used in the typical megachurch, or maybe not so megachurch, but at one point in time, when I was a new believer, I was a member of a, well, I was not a member, I was attending a megachurch, I was guilted into joining a small group, and the notion of small groups is a topic for another day, and we'll circle back here at the end of the show for a brief time, but what happens at small group is not always theologically sound.

And that is because in many, many churches, the leaders of small groups are people, you and me, anybody who decides to go to a Saturday morning session to train to be a small group leader, and congratulations, you can now lead a group of other people and be responsible for their spiritual and theological growth and knowledge.

Because you know, many of these churches claim that, well, you know, the real deep ministry happens at small group, you know, church is, we like to reach out and do church for the unchurched, and then all of our members and regular attenders, they attend a small group, and that's where the real growth happens.

Well, I fail to see how real growth can happen when the person leading the small group is someone who is only, has only been trained in quote unquote, leadership for an hour on a Saturday morning, they have no theological background, they have no concept of the responsibility that comes with being a type of shepherd of the small group of individuals, but I joined a small group.

And so, it was this group of girls, and we were studying through 1 Peter, and this is what happens when women get together and study scripture and don't have a leader or anyone who is trained to study it rightly.

And what happens is things turn into, the study of scripture turns into frivolity, and that's exactly what happened. I was digging through some boxes down in the basement a few days ago, and I came across a red apron, and this red apron had some puffy paint on it, spelling out the word humility, and at the bottom of the apron it said 1 Peter 5 .5, and I remembered.

Humility in 1 Peter 5 and the Problem with Small-Group Crafts

What happens at small group? You see, ladies, we were studying 1 Peter, and we came to 1 Peter 5, and my small group leader must have read something about verse 5, some sort of commentary, and decided that we needed to make humility aprons, that this would be a fun activity for our small group.

And so we all went to Hobby Lobby, bought our apron and our puffy paint, and we all sat down and made humility aprons, which in my defense I thought was a really stupid idea because I'm not a crafty person anyway.

I didn't really see the connection with studying scripture, but I was trying not to be that person, you know? You don't like to always be that person. And as I said, I was a very new believer, and I suppose there's nothing wrong with doing something a little less deep once in a while, but I just didn't really see the purpose.

I didn't need an apron, and I'm not a crafty person, I'm not an artsy person, which is why my humility apron just has the word humility and verse and that's it, and other people were doing all kinds of flowers and designs and whatnot.

And so on one hand, it did help me to remember that particular small group meeting. On the other hand, it didn't teach me anything about the scripture. All it taught me was that women can really do some stupid stuff when they get together and study scripture in an untrained, unorganized manner.

And so I'm thankful for the grace of God, I'm thankful for the patience of God, and I'm thankful for the knowledge that God has given me in the time that has passed. So ladies, while I may have a humility apron to demonstrate that what happens at small group really ought to just stay at small group, I thought it might behoove us to study that verse a little bit and see exactly what my small group leader was thinking when she had us make humility aprons and what she was basing this off of, and see the truth of this passage of scripture and what it teaches about humility and the importance of that character trait for Christians.

So ladies, turn with me to 1 Peter 5, and we'll start in verse 1. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders, and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

So here, Peter exhorts the elders of the church. He exhorts younger men to be subject to their elders. And then in the second part of verse 5 says, all of you, his entire audience, which certainly included women, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.

And this is where my small group leader decided we should make humility aprons. Now, why did she settle on this idea of a humility apron? Well, she must have read a commentary that spoke about this word in verse 5, clothe.

The word clothe, John MacArthur says of this verse that the word clothe is a very interesting word and not as general as it appears. He says literally in Greek that the word means to tie something on yourself with a knot or a bow.

He says it's a very specific word. And he says the word was used of an apron, which was tied on with a knot or a bow and had in mind a work apron. A work apron such that a slave would put on over his clothes to keep them clean.

And he says that the word became the word for putting on humble service. Garment yourself in the one-size-fits-all garment of humble service. Put on the apron of the slave is what he says. Alexander McLaren, not Brian McLaren, Alexander McLaren talks about this verse as well.

And he says, service coming from humility and humility manifested in service. In service are the requirements laid down in the text. Humility is the preparation for service and service is the test of humility.

If a man does not feel himself to be needy and low, he will never be able and never be willing to help those that are. You must go down if you would lift up. Laces and velvets and the fine feathers of the peacocks of self-conceit in this world strut about in are terribly in the way of Christian work.

Rough work needs rough dress and the only garb in which we shall be able to do the deeds of self-sacrifice that are needed in order to help our brethren is humility, the preparation for all service. He goes on and he says that further service is the test of humility.

Plenty of people will say, I know I have nothing to boast of and so forth, but they never do any work. And this is very interesting. So we've seen, ladies, that this verse rightly does kind of describe a slave's apron, but it's giving the connotation of putting on the apron of humility, hence the humility aprons we were making.

But you don't have to make some stupid apron that says the word humility on it to remember this. That's not what this is about. When I see an apron with puffy paint on it, I think of baking. Well, now I think of bad small groups, but, you know, I see an apron, I think of baking cookies.

I don't think of a slave's work. You know, the aprons we think of today are not the same as what's being described here. You know, this is a garment for lowly, humble service. And as Alexander McLaren says, service is the test of humility.

And he makes such a good point here. How often do we hear people say, you know, oh, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. I have nothing to boast of, he says, but they never do any work. Too many of us are very humble, says McLaren, when there is anything to be done and never at any other time, as far as anybody can see.

And that sort of humility, the apostle does not commend. It is unfortunately very frequent amongst professing Christians. Christian humility is not particular about the sort of work it does for Jesus.

Never mind whether you're on the quarterdeck with gold lace on your coat or whether you are a cabin boy doing the humblest duties or a stoker working way down 50 feet below daylight. As long as the work is done for the great admiral, that is enough.

And whoever does any work for him will never want for a reward. There are some of us who like to be officers, but do not like carrying a musket in the ranks. Humility is the preparation for service and service is the test of humility.

I love that picture. Don't you, ladies? As long as the work is done for a great admiral, for our Lord Jesus Christ, that is enough. It doesn't matter if you get to be the captain of the ship or if you are working down in the furnace, in the boiler room.

Are you doing your work well? Because you're doing it unto the Lord. Are you willing to do the humble work that is required? The humble work that might not be noticed by others, might never be noticed by anybody else.

But the Lord sees. The Lord sees what is done in secret. Lord sees what his people do, what his children are doing to serve him. He will reward. He talks about this, and Jesus talks about this in the Sermon on the Mount.

Your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. It's a slightly different context, but it still reigns true. And so what we see in this verse is the importance of humility. And mark this, ladies, humility toward one another.

This is humility toward others. I think it's fair to say that this is not considered a virtue in our world today. Am I right? Ultimately, the world would see a humble person as kind of a loser. You know, clearly you don't want to climb your way to the top.

What's wrong with you? And so it is the noisier people who make their way up. That's okay. Because we are called to be humble, and we are called to be humble toward one another. And this was not considered a virtue back at the time that Peter was writing, and it is not considered a virtue in the world now either.

But it is considered a virtue for a Christian. And what is the ultimate example of humility? Well, of course, that is our Lord Jesus Christ. Ladies, if you'll turn with me to Philippians. Philippians 2.

Paul writes,. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Do nothing, verse 3, from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Right there, Paul is calling us to the same thing Peter is calling us to.

Verse 4, Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The ultimate example of humility is our Lord Jesus Christ, and we are called to exhibit humility as Christ exhibited humility, and we are called to be humble toward one another.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. With humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Wow, do we do that? Do we do that consistently?

Ladies, if I can be honest for a moment, no, I don't do that consistently, because it goes against our fallen nature. It is not our first inclination to necessarily regard one another as more important than ourselves.

It is our first thought to take care of ourselves. How convicting are these verses? And so putting on the apron of humility is so much more than covering your clothes so you don't get flour on it when you bake a batch of cookies, even if you're taking that batch of cookies to somebody else.

Wow, humble yourself the way Christ humbled himself. As McLaren said, rough work needs rough dress and the only garb in which we shall be able to do the deeds of self-sacrifice that are needed in order to help our brethren is humility, the preparation for all service.

Several of the commentaries I looked at for this verse talked about the fact that perhaps Peter, if we go back to 1 Peter 5, 5, when he was writing this, may have been reflecting on his time spent with the Lord and that evening in the upper room when Christ celebrated the Passover with his disciples before his crucifixion.

In John 13, verse 5,. Then he, Jesus, poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. So he came to Simon Peter, he said to him, Lord, do you wash my feet?

And Jesus answered and said to him, What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter. Peter said to him, Never shall you wash my feet. And Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. And Jesus said to him, He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you.

For he knew the one who was betraying him, and for this reason he said, Not all of you are clean. So when he had washed their feet and taken his garments and reclined at the table again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you?

You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you.

Truly, truly, I say to you, A slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. Now, of course, we could get into a discussion of foot washing here.

That's not the point of this particular discussion today, but we see here an example of the humility of Christ, the creator, the Lord of the universe. The one who was going to, in a few hours, be crucified for the sins of his people, humbled himself, girded himself with a towel, and washed the feet of his disciples.

That, ladies, no doubt, might have been in Peter's mind when he wrote this, when he wrote these verses, talking about clothe yourselves with humility. Regard one another as more important than yourself.

This does not come naturally, but ladies, you join me in praying that God would make this more of a first inclination for you, that as he sanctifies us, and as he conforms us more and more to the image of Christ, that we would regard one another as more important than ourselves.

There are so many temptations in the world today to put ourselves first. There are temptations in professing Christendom. We've talked about some of them already today. Hey, order this Bible so it's all about you.

You're already amazing. Just be awesome. It's all about you. Ask God what he wants to fill your heart with today. It's all about you, you, you, you, you, you, you. No, no, no, no, no. It's about Christ, and it's about his church, and we serve him by serving one another.

So why do we wear this apron, this apron of humility? Peter gives us the answer right there in verse 5, 1 Peter 5, 5. He's quoting Proverbs 3, verse 34 there, and he's not the only one who quotes this verse from Proverbs.

James, in his epistle, quotes the exact same proverb in James 4, 6. But he, God, gives a greater grace. Therefore, it says God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. We are called to lives of humble service before God and men.

John Calvin wrote about 1 Peter 5, 5. It is the most grievous threatening when he says that all who seek to elevate themselves shall have God as their enemy who will lay them low. But on the contrary, he says of the humble that God will be propitious and favorable to them.

We are to imagine that God has two hands. The one which like a hammer beats down and breaks in pieces those who raise up themselves, and the other which raises up the humble who willingly let down themselves and is like a firm prop to sustain them.

Were we really convinced of this and had it deeply fixed on our minds, who of us would dare by pride to urge war with God? But the hope of impunity now makes us fearlessly to raise up our horn to heaven.

Let, then, this declaration of Peter be as a celestial thunderbolt to make men humble. But he calls those humble who, being emptied of every confidence in their own power, wisdom, and righteousness, seek every good from God alone.

Since there is no coming to God except in this way, who, having lost his own glory, ought not willingly to humble himself. There is no coming to God except in humility. And so now we've gone from humble service to men to humility before God.

God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. We must come to the end of ourselves to be saved. And that's all a work of God. That's all a work of God to bring us to a point where we realize that we cannot save ourselves.

Our good works that we have allowed to puff us up cannot save us. And so he brings us to the point of recognition of our sinfulness and brings us to repentance and grants us repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and the work that he did to save his own.

And that is why we are called to live lives of humble service, service to our master who purchased us with his blood. Quoting Alexander McLaren again, he says, If we gird ourselves with the slave's dress of humility, then we shall one day have to say, My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, and he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with his ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels, from the apron of a slave to robes of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.

What a thought, huh? What a thought. And so as I studied this verse in preparation for this show, and this verse which I've no doubt read many, many times since that horrible, weird, small group meeting.

As I studied it again, I was so thankful for the truth of God's word and so thankful for the deep meaning of this verse, of this passage. And so while that ridiculous apron tucked away in a box in the basement did bring me back to this passage, which as I said, I know I've read many, many times since that particular small group meeting, but brought me back to study it a little more deeply in preparation for the show.

I was so thankful for the truth that's here in the word, but I was so angry that time was wasted in a small group meeting putting puffy paint on a piece of cloth when we could have been studying the word the way that you and I just have, ladies.

It didn't take us long to get to the truth of this verse, to talk about the apron of humility, if you will. And I can guarantee you that I will never forget that picture of a slave's apron and that understanding of humble service to the brethren and therefore humble service to our Lord.

I'll never forget that picture. I don't need an apron with puffy paint to remember it. An apron with puffy paint that has turned this wonderful passage into a frivolous craft activity. This is what happens at small group.

And this is the problem with small group. You have leaders who are not trained, leading people who do not know how to study the scripture. They have no concept of reading the scripture in context. They have no concept of what resources to use to study the scripture.

They trust that leader who has no training because that person is their leader. How many of us have sat in a small group and gone around in a circle talking about what a verse means to you? What does this mean to you?

Well, to me, it means this. And to me, it means that. And oh, that's so interesting. I never thought about it meaning that. Nobody cares what it means to you. And nobody cares about your apron with puffy paint on it.

What matters is what the verse means in context so that you can rightly understand the word of God. But when we let the small groups take over the church, and when we trust the primary teaching in our church to be done in small groups so that we can reach out to the unsaved people on Sunday morning with our rock band and our shallow teaching and our cussing pastor, you're leaving people to, you're leaving them completely naked and defenseless because they have no grasp of the word.

But they think they do. It's so deceiving because you sit in a small group with a leader who you trust and you go around the circle and you all say dumb things and there's nobody there to reign you in.

And there's nobody there who understands how to study scripture so that scripture can reign you in. And it's dangerous because, hey, I'm in a small group. I must be doing okay. I must be a Christian. I'm in a small group.

I must be studying the Bible. We talk about the Bible. We made humility aprons. Of course we study the Bible. Oh, sure, you made a humility apron, but you ignored the word of God. And you know what's going to happen to that humility apron with puffy paint on it?

It'll go in the trash because it's frivolous and it's ridiculous and it's absurd. But it's what happens at small group. Now, ladies, I will say again, I will say again, I am not opposed to small groups, for lack of a better descriptor, getting together and studying the word.

But ladies, study it rightly. If your church has Bible studies available to you, you should be participating in those. And when you study on your own, seek out good resources, seek out a good study Bible, good commentaries, and perhaps base your study off of a sermon from a trusted pastor.

Ladies, I get emails saying, what Bible study should I do? I do not typically recommend these prepackaged Bible studies. I don't know what to recommend to you other than to go back to the word. And then you say, well, I don't know where to start.

Find a sound pastor who preaches the word in an expository manner. Pick a book of the Bible that you want to study that he has preached on. Listen to the sermon and study along with him. Find a good commentary and dig a little deeper.

Get a good study Bible. Study the word. Do not go make a humility apron. Study the word. We don't need tchotchkes. We need the word. Okay, ladies, that's all for today. Until the next show, get in your Bibles, get on your knees, and get equipped.

Thanks for listening.

Closing Encouragement and Show Sign-Off

You've been listening to Equipping Eve, a no-compromise radio production. If you'd like to get a hold of Erin, you can reach her at equippingeve at gmail .com, or you can check out one of our two websites. DoNotBeSurprised .com or equippingeve .org.

Thanks for listening.