Three Is Enough

Guidelines for Participation in a TiE Group

A Three is Enough Group is meant to be relaxed, even fun. It is an adventure of discovery about the profound inner life which exists in all of us; it is about learning to notice others; and most importantly it is about discovering a life derived from and lived in the Kingdom of God.

Make sure you have a vision larger than participation in a TiE Group. A TiE Group is simply the means for carrying out one’s vision and intention to be humanity as God intended, to be a follower of Jesus for the sake of others.

The crucial points of participation are:

• Try out new ways to pray: if you have a quiet time, but still find that it does not carry forward in the attitudes and actions of your life, begin to experiment with a situational and “conversational” form of prayer that is rooted in the people and events of your life. Though I pray most mornings (simply orienting myself to God as his cooperative friend and dedicating my day to him) and almost every evening, I do very simple things throughout the day that have revolutionized my life.

  If I am about to pick up the phone for a conference call, I often pray “may the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable to you in this conversation.”

  If I have an appointment with someone I’ll often pray “may I be really present to this person…Lord use me in any way…give me gifts of discernment, wisdom and knowledge…”

  Before most any activity of my life I’ve learned to pray “may your Kingdom come and may your will be done…”

  I know this sounds like anyone can do it—and they can! That and the fact that it actually connects to you God and his purposes for you is what make it real and vibrant.

• Read and interact: This should only take a few minutes a day and then 30 – 60 minutes per week with your TiE Group. Remember: the point of this not to be in TiE Group. Neither is the point to see how much you can read or how long a time you meet with your TiE Group. The point is spiritual transformation into Christlikness for the sake of others.

  The group could mutually agree to read something together or each member could read in way that is targeted to their needs or curiosity. Each person would then report back to the group how their reading is helping them follow Jesus for the sake of others.

  Let’s be real: we all already know way more about ourselves, others and God than we can apply. That is part of the frustration about being a Christian—and it is part of what the watching world struggles with, or is even the basis by which the watching world judges us. So don’t pressure your self to read large amounts. Read smaller, but consistently targeted material. If you are working on patience, then focus on authors and writings that help you with that point of personal growth. Don’t feel any need to “move on to the next thing”—even if someone in the group seems to be going faster.

  Keep in mind the learning curve of the disciples (“…Is Jesus mad because we forgot bread again…” or “why couldn’t we cast this demon out?”); they all stumbled and fell; they learned at different rates—and as the cooperative friends of Jesus, they, continuing the work of Jesus through the presence and power of the Spirit, changed the course of history!

• Serve others in creative, in out of sight, but genuinely helpful ways. A TiE Group may decide to go dig wells for clean water in Africa—that is great! But the more immediate goal is to learn to be the kind of person who would do such a thing by practicing in our actual lives.

  This is done by training, not by mere trying. No one would “try” to run a marathon who has been a couch potato for decades—it simple can’t be done. But, one could train one’s self to run the race. Starting little by little, first walking around the block, then five times around, then a walk-jog combination, then running, etc, one could become a different person. Through God’s grace and the power of the Spirit, spiritual transformation works in a similar manner.

  What we are looking for in the TiE process are ways to practice serving others in the routines of our actual existing life. You don’t need to get on an airplane or a boat to be missionary. Start with being present to the regular people and events of your life. Begin by simply noticing them, by taking them into your heart and mind. Then wide vistas of opportunity and calling will present themselves to you.