you say you want a revolution...

in the musical version of victor hugo's Les Miserables, there is a lot about revolution. a lot of angry young citizens planning to overthrow a corrupt government in response to gross injustice that is gripping the country- indeed, the whole world:

It is time for us all to decide who we are
Do we fight for the right to a night at the opera now?
Have you asked of yourselves what's the price you might pay?
Is it simply a game for rich young boys to play?
The color of the world is changing day by day...

Red - the blood of angry men!
Black - the dark of ages past!
Red - a world about to dawn!
Black - the night that ends at last!
(Boublil/Kretzmer)

and yet, because this scene and song are as passionate as they are, most of us fail to recognize any similarity between them and our small group bible study/fellowship experiences.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (hebrews 10.24)

it's a simple little verse, but if we dig into the words of paul in hebrews 10.22-25, we might see more comparison... perhaps not to what our gatherings are but to what they could/should be. paul, writing in greek, uses three key words in shaping this verse. although i'm not any kind of greek scholar (in fact, i looked these up using pradis6 on my computer) i was blown away by the intensity and implication of the words used.

• paroxusmos (par-rOX-soos-MOS): to stir up, spur on, incite, irritate
• kalos (ka-LOS): beautiful, excellent in its nature, pure and genuine
• ergon (AIR-gon): resultant action

in other words, paul is urging us to become so stirred up together that we are driven through relationship to beautiful action… to actively love others; to be missional; to get so worked up over injustice and the needs surrounding us that our coming together is paroxysmic. this is the effect we are to have upon one another.

a church, whether a big group or small one, is to offer catalytic connection. being part of this should not only be spiritual, neither should it only be social, but it should be both socially and spiritually impactive- leveraging the commonality and natural affinity that exists among its members in order to foster relationships that, in their deepening, are- as our communion liturgy words it-

one with Christ,
one with each other,
united in service to the world.

Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. (hebrews 10.24-25- The Message)