One day a few weeks ago, the night before we left for a camping trip, my wife proudly showed off some new fruit that she had picked up for the trip. They were handsome looking fruit, dark bluish-purple and about the size of a small peach and almost perfectly round. They didn’t look like any fruit I had ever seen, but on top of each one was a small white oval label that announced that it was a “pluot.”

A what?

“You know,” my wife said with that tone of superior intellect usually reserved for deeper subjects than fruit, “a cross between a plum and an apricot. It’s a hybrid that takes the best qualities of each.”

That got me thinking.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could cross people and dogs? You’d have friends for life that you could train to do what you wanted and all you’d have to do is feed ‘em. And, they’d never change. Boy, would that be a cool small group.

And then I realized. Some small groups are already thinking along those lines. They’d open up their group to new members if they could just order some peogs who would think like they do, act like they do and basically be just like them. In fact, now that we’re dreaming here, wouldn’t it be great if you could custom order peogs that would be of the same age, had the same political affiliation, the same economic status, and just for good measure, had cars that were at least of equal value to the rest of the group.

Now that would be worth a trip to Ralphs. Or would it?

The problem with peogs.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) the peog theory breaks down because God designed people uniquely. He created the people who inhabit the earth as part of a plan for diversity. So, unlike a plum or an apricot, most of which are pretty much like any other plum or apricot, sometimes with people you get a turkey, a porcupine or even a prune. And that’s the way God planned it.

Our small group has been blessed by each new person who joins. Each one came to us on what we were sure was a holy assignment - to give us something we needed, and to get something from the group that they needed. Some were like diamonds in the rough, only needing others in the group to shine the light of God’s love on them and recognize their God-given qualities in order to shine from every facet like stars.

So, what has your small group been missing? 40 Days of Love will encourage thousands of people to get into groups. Consider that each person that expresses interest in your small group is being sent by God. Welcome them with excitement, see them through God’s eyes, and then look expectantly for what God is going to do in your group because of them.

By the way, the pluots were pretty good. Which got me thinking. What would you get if you crossed a prune, a peach and a watermelon?

We have two staff positions open on the administrative team of the small groups ministry team, one full-time and one part-time. These roles provide the administrative support that keeps this ministry of thousands of small groups going. If you have administrative gifts, love small groups, would like to be on a fun team, and want more information, go to the Saddleback employment opportunities page by clicking here and fill out an application.  

We also have a full-time community specialist position for an individual who knows how to use all of the tools to build community, including blogs, eNewsletters, videos, online social networking and events. If this sounds like you, and would like more information, go to the Saddleback employment opportunities page by clicking here and fill out an application.