Last month, I boarded a plane only for it to sit on the tarmac for over an hour in the rain. As soon as the passengers were all seated, the stewardess sealed the cabin door and began the pre-flight safety briefing. Most people talked quietly or read a magazine while she demonstrated the use of seat belts, flotation devices, and oxygen masks. I listened, but only half-heartedly. When she was done, the plane began to pull away from the gate but came to an abrupt halt when a passenger, slowly being soaked by a leak in the emergency exit door, called for help. The plane returned to the gate and maintenance was called. Soon, three men, dressed in neon yellow, came aboard to investigate the leak. After taking the emergency door off, checking the seal, and locking the door back in place, the plane was deemed safe. The stewardess sealed the cabin door and, I am sure because of FAA protocol, once again gave us the pre-flight safety briefing. This time, more people seemed to be paying attention - including me. As she neared the end of her rehearsed speech, another man pressed his help button. He was seated next to the other emergency exit and was also getting very wet. Maintenance was called back, and the door was similarly checked and approved. When the cabin door was sealed for the third time, the stewardess, with a wary smile and accelerated speech, once again gave us the pre-flight safety briefing. By this time, we all knew the speech almost by heart, but most of the passengers were paying attention - especially the two men seated by the exit doors. I paid particular attention to the oxygen mask part of the speech in the event that the emergency doors did not fully seal after take-off. We were instructed (three times) to put on our own mask before assisting anyone else.
As a mom, I often find myself helping my children before helping myself, but these directions were making sense. In the event of an emergency, I would not be able to help anyone if I did not first help myself. As it turned out, one of the doors did not seal completely until we were several thousand feet off the ground, making the need to use the oxygen masks a very real possibility. I looked at my ten-year-old daughter and knew that to most effectively help her, I would need to help myself first. I would have to be selfish to best be a servant.
Too often, during a small group meeting, application of God's Word and prayer time seems to relate more to other people than to us. It is far easier to apply the lesson being discussed to a spouse, a friend, or an enemy than to honestly look at our own heart. The same is true for prayer. Too many prayer requests are for extended family members, neighbors, or a friend of a friend.
During the Bible study portion of your small group meeting, emphasize the need for each person to put on his or her own spiritual oxygen mask before attempting to assist others. Try using one or more of the following approaches to making Scripture selfish:
- During discussion, ask the group members, "What is God saying to you right now?"
- Personalize the Scripture you are studying by reprinting the verse(s), inserting a blank every place there is a pronoun. Ask each person to write his or her name in every blank and, sometime during the meeting, read the Scripture out loud. This could be done during discussion or used as a closing prayer time. Encourage each person to hang the personalized verse(s) somewhere where they will see it often during the coming week.
- During prayer time, pray for the needs of the people in your group first; then pray for the needs of extended family members, neighbors, and friends of friends.
- Encourage each person to journal about the personal impact the lesson has had on him or her personally. This can be done during the meeting or during the coming week.
Each week, at the beginning of the meeting, give a spiritual pre-growth safety briefing by reminding your group members to first look at his or her own hearts before assisting others.
