01.30.2022 | FORTUNE COOKIE WISDOM | Wk 4: “Your Group Will Be Right”
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Breaking Ground
Everyone has a good friend who is wildly different from themselves. Share about who that is for you. What drew you to them? How did that friendship positively impact you?
The Dig
This week, we continue Fortune Cookie Wisdom by exploring the need for diversity in the pursuit of divine wisdom.
Share about a time when a diverse perspective (one different from your own) challenged & changed your understanding of a situation, event, or aspect of how our world works. Who was it? How did it challenge & change your perspective or worldview?
Read Genesis 1:26-29 & 3:6-7. Here we find two critical biblical concepts. First, that every human being is made in the Image of God & created to participate in God’s work to grow life in the world. The second is the human temptation to rely on our own, limited wisdom for how things should work (over & against God’s).
Reflect on how these concepts relate to the topic of diversity.
How does our vision of God change when we recognize that all people (in all of their diversity) are reflections of God at the same time? That is, how God is reflected by all of humanity simultaneously, never by any one group of people.
Where do you most often see people confusing their cultural, ethnic, political, & social perspective with God’s perspective?
Where do you project your worldview/perspective onto God, instead of embracing this diverse, relational understanding of God?
How does this impact how we understand the pursuit of divine wisdom? Why is the engagement of diverse perspectives critical to our pursuit of wisdom?
Close by reflecting on what this means for the Church. In Revelation 7:9-10 & 21, we see the ultimate image of God’s People when God restores all things. In it, the diversity found in God’s People isn’t erased, but rather fully present, embraced, accepted, & celebrated. It is depicted as a feature of God’s restored people, not a bug in the system.
How does the fact that God’s restoration of humanity includes, not erases, diversity impact how we think about diversity?
The Church, as the Body of Christ, is meant to be a foretaste of this final diverse, relational reality in the present.
Do you feel that American churches often reflect this final image? If not, why do you think that is?
What does the Church lose & what dangers does it face when it lacks diversity? How does the lack of diversity inhibit our pursuit of divine wisdom & keep us from discovering a fuller, more complete understanding of God?
How should this change how we understand & seek to build the Church in our present context?
Getting Out of the Hole
This week, Pastor Scott challenged us to engage a diverse perspective (one different from our own) by Thursday. Take time this week to reflect on the below prompts:
- Who & what sources do you rely on most often to inform & reinforce your current perspective, worldview, & opinions on various world issues?
- Who do you know or what sources might challenge that perspective? Take time to meet with that person or seek out those other sources this week. Attempt to stay open-minded & reflect on how they might positively challenge you to view a current issue or our world with more complexity & nuance.
- How might your conversation with that person or those sources change if you start by recognizing that they are image bearers of God & that God’s wisdom requires diverse perspectives beyond our own limited one?
Journal & reflect on how God speaks to you through Sunday’s teaching & this week’s challenge. Share your experience with your growth group next week!
Additional Resources*
The Wisdom Books by Robert Alter
The Wisdom of Proverbs, Job, & Ecclesiastes by Derek Kidner
TheBibleProject.com
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, February 6th: Join us next Sunday for week 5 of our new series Fortune Cookie Wisdom, where we will be hearing from a panel of E3ers as we further explore diversity’s role in the pursuit of wisdom & capturing a fuller understanding of God!* Please see mye3.org for details.