Growing a Bigger Clique by Eric Bryant

I’m delighted that Eric Bryant has responded to my request to Guest Post here at johnnylaird.net.

LA-based Eric has often been quoted here, is a man I consider a friend and part of a faith community – Mosaic LA - that I am continually impressed and positively influenced by.

Amongst other things Eric is an author, Pastor….and standup comedian.

“Not Like Me – a Field Guide for Influencing a Diverse World” is Eric’s latest book, realised this month is a reworked and expanded version of the earlier Peppermint Filled Piñatas book , and I gave this endorsement of the retitled work on the Not Like Me site.

Check out Eric’s post:

Recently I joined with my high school class for a 20th year reunion. In many ways everyone looked just the same just a bit bigger or balder.

One of most interesting moments in the experience came when I found myself in the midst of a long conversation with our homecoming queen and head cheerleader. You see, I was part of a large graduating class. Almost 700 students went to my school, and while I was there a caste system existed. The jocks and cheerleaders were obviously the top of ladder. Much lower down the ladder was the Ropers (those who were involved in Rodeo – I was in a high school in Texas), Wavers (those into music like Depeche Mode), the Nerds (those who were better friends with the teachers than other students), and then the kids who hung out in the Fine Arts building – those of us in Drama, Choir, or Band. I was in the band. Rarely did anyone venture beyond their clique – their group of friends, and rarely did we allow anyone into ours.

Something remarkable happened 20 years after we graduated – the cliques disappeared. The boundaries between us seemed to be eliminated. Had we forgotten who was in which clique due to our advanced ages? Were we desperate to talk with people from other groups because so many of our group didn’t show up? I think the real reason lies in the fact we are all more mature. Somehow those boundaries which seemed so important were no longer necessary.

As those of us who follow Jesus mature, we should become more willing to remove the boundaries between ourselves and the world. Too often, the opposite seems to be true. We begin to equate maturity with the number of years we have followed Jesus or the amount of knowledge we have about the Bible rather than by our willingness to obey God. True maturity should be measured by the speed it takes us to do what we know God wants us to do. The faster we do it, the more mature we are.

In Acts 10, Cornelius saw a vision of an angel and immediately responded by doing what was asked of him. In the same passage, Peter had a vision from God letting him know it was ok to spend time with Gentiles. Peter had to see the vision three different times before he obeyed. Cornelius showed more maturity in that moment than Peter. Peter was allowing religion to keep him from doing what God actually wanted him to do.

When we follow Jesus, He takes us to places we might have been too afraid to go. If God so loved the world that He sent Jesus, then we should be willing to go into the world too. We need to remove the barriers and become part of growing a bigger clique – a clique where people can connect no matter what they might look like, believe, or how they live their life. In the process, we will have the opportunity to serve, love, and even influence them.

Or maybe, we shouldn’t be part of a clique at all…

• Eric’s blog
• Not Like Me site
• Follow Eric on Twitter
• Mosaic
• More on Eric Bryant at johnnylaird.net