Coming at ya with another blog post inspired by conversations with my awesome friends.
In our Discipleship Training Group, we had a discussion on what it means to get “off topic” in small group conversations, specifically in our Ignite Bible Study meetings. It’s easy to go off on tangents in those types of settings, but they aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
Of course, when we were asked what makes something off topic, my STEM brain went to the definition of a tangent – a line that just touches a curve at a point, matching the curve’s slope there.
Let’s say the function f(x) is the Word of God.
The red line is a tangent line. This line touches the function and continues in the direction of the function. Thus, God’s Word determines the direction and magnitude of the tangent’s slope. In our Ignite small groups, we definitely get “off topic,” but when these tangents truly come from the function that is God’s Word, then it’s fruitful.
Plus, in one function, there is an infinite amount of tangent lines that can be made. In the same way, there is an infinite amount of ways to apply God’s Word to our lives. Everyone in these small groups is at a different place in their journey to holiness and as leaders, we have to know where they are.
This is why tangents are necessary. We have to share our joys, junks, and Jesus. If we don’t know where people are in life, how can we meet them there and walk with them? When we allow the Word to be the function that these tangents stem from, our conversations are fruitful.
So let’s go off on tangents. Talk about the Bible. Talk about life. Let’s walk together.
Comments