Clue: Week 1

Devotional

What do you think is more exciting?

• To play in the NFL and make millions of dollars to play football or to watch a football game?
• Win an Oscar for best motion picture or just watch the movie?
• To have thousands of followers and a career on social media or just be one of the followers?

What about these, is it better to?

• Hang out with your friends or see on social media that they hung out without you?
• Graduate with the rest of your class or watch them all graduate without you?
• If you are at a pool and it’s 110 degrees outside is it better to jump in the pool or just stand outside and watch?

I guess my ultimate question is this:

Would you rather be a bystander or an active participant?

This weekend we read about two bystanders who watched Jesus’ death. Simon of Cyrene and a Roman Centurion. Let’s recap what we read.

This is what we know about Simon.

Mark 15:21 says, “A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross.”

That’s all we know. He was standing by and watching and he ended up being dragged into the action.

This is what we know about the centurion Matt 27:54

Both these men were bystanders. Standing by and watching the action, forced to come to a conclusion about Jesus. Now we don’t know what Simon’s conclusion was. We don’t know if he walked away thinking, this is the Son of God I am going to follow Him. Or “this is just another crazy guy being put to death” and went on his way. We don’t know if this is the day that changed Simon’s life or if he just carried on like normal.

With the Roman Centurion we know the conclusion he came to. He said “Surely he was the Son of God.” He saw all that happened and couldn’t deny who Jesus truly was.

These men both faced the same moment in their lives, that we will all face in our own. The moment where we have to decide what we want to do with this whole Jesus thing. Do we want to be bystanders and let it all pass us by? Or do we want to say Jesus really is the Son of God and I want to actively follow Him? Again bystander or active participant?

You might be wondering, what’s the difference?

When it comes to the bible a bystander only knows what they hear in sermons at church and that’s IF they decide to pay attention. They don’t know the Word of God and when other people challenge it, bystanders can’t defend it because they don’t know what’s true.

Active participants however, make it a goal to know the Bible better. They spend time studying God’s Word. They ask questions and try to understand what it says. They don’t rely on their student pastor to get all their knowledge but they try to learn on their own.

In small groups, a bystander doesn’t participate. They act uninterested and don’t share anything with the group. They are constantly on their phone or distracting from the main point of the group. IF they are in a small group at all.

But a participant realizes the benefit that can come from a small group. They realize that this is the kind of place where they can find lifelong friendships. This is the kind of place where they could really start to learn and grow in their faith, so they take it seriously. They listen when other people are talking, they share their thoughts and questions with the group. Being here matters to them and they don’t waste it.

An active participant prays regularly. They believe in the power of prayer and they use it to grow closer to the Lord. A bystander barely prays.

The biggest difference between an active participant and a bystander is one of them experiences life change. One of them experiences a life that is full and abundant while the other feels like everything stays the same. In John 10:10 Jesus says,

and in Ephesians 3:20 it says that God is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.

The bystander misses out on all that.

So the question is, who are you going to be? We all start as bystanders but the question is will you choose to dive in deeper and become an active participant in your faith. Or will you let it pass you by and waste the life God has given you.

Break the ice

If you could have free season passes to one sport for the rest of your life, but you can ONLY watch that sport for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Small group questions

1. In your own words what is the difference between a bystander and an active participant?
2. What do you think keeps people from moving from bystander to active follower of Jesus?
3. Looking at your life over the last year, would you say you were mostly a bystander or an active participant when it comes to following Jesus?
4. What do you think holds you back from moving past bystander?
5. Together let’s read Colossians 3:12-17. From these verses what are the marks of an active participant in life with Jesus?

1. Out of these things which ones do you feel strong in? Which ones are you missing?
2. What action steps will you take to start living more like the person described in Colossians 3 and less like a bystander?

Moving forward

An active participant has a desire to follow Jesus and acts on that desire. They are not perfect but they are making a conscious choice to live life with Jesus. The goal of this small group is to help each other move past bystanders and into fully devoted followers of Jesus. Sometimes the fear of doing it alone is what holds students back from fully committing to following Jesus. Decide on an action step to take together as a group and hold each other accountable to that step for the next week.

Some of your group will probably be really good at whatever action step you choose, while others will struggle. Encourage the ones who do well to help out the ones who are having a harder time.