Why Do We Sit In Circles?

Christi sometimes talks about how we want you to move from rows to circles. I often talk about the table as a piece of furniture and how it makes us sit face to face, creating a circle.

They are “sitting around him” in this passage. The word “around” is a preposition, peri, from which we get the word “periscope.” A periscope looks around in a 360 circle. That is the word here.

The word translated “circle” in verse 34 is the word that means “on all sides.” Some people think this Greek word, pronounced kuklo, is the root of our English word “cycle.” Some even think it is behind the English word “circle.”

One of our five core values is this: we teach to transform. Jesus certainly taught people so that they would be transformed. When we teach the gospel that is our goal as well. We are not just transferring data. We are seeking a life change.

The circle is one way in which information becomes transformation. Let me clarify my use of the word “circle.” I am not saying that the physical circle of persons is necessary for life transformation, for getting to know others or them getting to know you. I am saying that the circle is the geometric configuration that often happens when people come together to talk and learn. And I am focusing upon the sharing, the knowing one another and being known by them, as the thing that is necessary to spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.

• Collecting shells on Ponte Vedra Beach—oyster shells from beds, coral from reefs, and hundreds of other varieties from their various clusters. From beds, to reefs to flocks to herds to schools, life forms often cluster. Individuals break away from the cluster usually due to some violence like a storm or death.

 

The Circle Requires Proximity:

 “Sit next to me.”

“Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him…”

I have to sit by someone if I am going to be in the circle.

Sitting side by side is not unique to circles. It is also shared by pews. Even now we are sitting beside each other.

The circle, however, unlike the classroom, shrinks and grows according to the number of people in it. If more people come, we can spread the circle. If fewer people are present we can pull our chairs closer together.

 

The Circle Draws Me In:

“I want to know you and be known by you.”

• We did outdoor evangelistic meetings after nightfall in Mexico. We would light up an area for the meeting. Always there were some people who stood at the periphery of the light. They did not want to come into the circle of light. They did not want to be known. They were curious but uncommitted.

The Circle facilitates connection: “Introduce yourself.”

• It turns us face to face. This is how we learn about each other. We make eye contact naturally in a circle.

• I am visible to all in the circle. I may decide to take a nap when the preacher is preaching. But I am not likely to do so when I am sitting in a circle and everyone can see me.

The engagement is a form of accountability. I have chosen to be part of this circle, maybe reluctantly.

• I was invited to a politician’s breakfast. I decided to go and hear what he had to say. They say me down at the right hand. That was a surprise. And in a little bit they said, “Let’s all get in a circle.” And while we are circled up, facing each other, the organizer of the breakfast challenged us to endorse the candidate. I was hoping then that no one was snapping pictures for the press. I was right in the middle of something I had not intended to join—the inaugural launch for a campaign.

We are soon talking about intimate connections.

• Brother, sister and mother are not casual relationships. They are some of the most profound relationships humans have.

• Jesus looks around the circle to identify his family members—those who are like brothers and sisters to him.

• The Passover Meal had a limit on how many people could sit at the table. It had to be a relatively small group. The Lord’s Supper is patterned after the Passover. And that first Lord’s Supper had only a dozen participants who knew each other well and reclined in a circle around the table.
• The circle is designed to help us “open up” to one another. The most natural setting for this is at a meal table or in a living room.

• I will be starting back a home group that I have been doing in our neighborhood. We will meet weekly for about a dozen weeks this semester. We sing. We pray. And we talk about the scriptures. Mostly, we learn about one another and how we can pray for each other.

 

The Circle Encourages Dialogue:

“Ask your questions and tell us your story.”

The circle encourages a discussion. My ears are at maximum efficiency when I am looking at you. Your speech is at maximum efficiency when you are looking at me.

The circle does not assume you know anything unless it is a circle closed to some and open to others.

Your questions are welcomed in the circle. The rabbis were not primarily lecturing.

Jesus as a 12-year-old amazed the teachers, not with his lectures, but with his questions.

• The rabbis taught with questions. You can see Jesus doing this over and over in his interactions with people. He does not generally turn a conversation into a speech unless and until he is asked to do so. Even then he is likely to interject a question for the hearer as the conclusion.

• You can ask your questions in the circle. We are all close enough to hear each other.

You can tell your story in the circle. The circles are not about how much you know. The breadth of knowledge varies greatly in most circles. The circle is more about you being encouraged to help us know you, you telling your own personal story. Concerning your own story, you are the expert. And when I hear your story, or pieces of it, I am learning who you are.

• We have a number of breakfast groups for men, and we are encouraging the development of more. We want every man in our church to be part of a weekly meeting with other men. In that meeting we pray together, share a bit of ourselves, and learn some more about others. It is one of the most encouraging practices of my ministry, being part of that breakfast circle.

 

The Circle Has a Focus:

"A crowd was sitting around him" - Mark 3:32

My first memory of a small group meeting happened in El Paso in the home of one of our friends. We met in the living room. We sang a little bit. Then Dad opened his Bible, along with everyone else, and we read through a passage of scripture and discussed it. I was maybe 10 years old, but it was impressive to me. And I remember being secure and welcome in that small group. And I remember that Dad was the focus of the cluster.

Jesus is the focus of this circle at the house. People have created this circle around Him. They want to hear what he has to say. They want to ask their questions.

The focus of a circle may be material rather than a person. But still the circle needs a person. That person must indicate where the circle will form. He or she may need to be the first to sit down or the one who arranges the chairs in a circle.

You can be the focus of a circle. You are equipped and competent to call together your brothers and sisters for a conversation about Christ and his word. You do not have to know the material. You just have to be willing to form the circle.

The Circle Brings a Change:

“We teach to transform”