Stay Close to Your People and Rise Together!

The Positive Impact of Proximity: Stay Close to Your People and Rise Together

Posted on by Michele Morin

“Can you teach me how to make biscuits, Bam?”

Blue eyes smiled the question with guarded hope, because even five-year-olds recognize the potential of no. Then, with feet firmly planted on the step stool, she measured and mixed while I coached and advised:

“Mix in the shortening till all you can see is crumbs all the way to the bottom.”
“Stir lightly once you’ve added the milk, or the biscuits will be tough!”
“Try to roll the dough to the same thickness every time.”

And then came the words that hung in the air for me to hear after I had said them…
“Make sure the biscuits on the pan are touching so they can help each other rise.”

What?

Yes, it’s true that if the biscuits are placed side by side, touching, on the pan, they will rise higher in the oven as they bake. They take longer to bake, but the results are more pleasing and, therefore, worth the wait.

And it turns out that the same thing is true of people in the body of Christ.

A Change in Posture and a Change in Attitude

Have you noticed the positive impact of proximity, too? We were separated for so long because of pandemic restrictions, but now that we can worship together, pray in the same room, meet for coffee, or gather around Scripture, we can actually SEE how others are doing. We can stand side by side in this process called sanctification.

It’s quite possible that my biscuit-making lesson struck home in my own heart because I had been reading Deborah’s song and thinking about the impact of her leadership:

The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel.”

Judges 5:7

Deborah repeats the word arose, which, in Hebrew parlance, means “to stand up, to accomplish, to become existent.” She became visible. She stood up, and she stood out.

Was it a comfortable choice for her? We don’t know, but we do know that she must have risen up in her spirit before she rose up to lead her people.

Her willingness to take the risk of leadership turned the tide for Israel in her day. Deborah stood side-by-side with her people, but she didn’t wait for someone else to go first. Her change of posture, change of position, change of attitude, and change of role meant that others stood as well.

Grumpy About Group Process

Of course, standing alongside someone else, helping them to rise, requires a commitment from me. Just as those biscuits on the pan require longer to bake when they’re touching and just as a batch of biscuits takes MUCH longer and is MUCH messier with a five-year-old baker involved, we might not be as efficient when we’re available to other believers.

It’s understandable why we get grumpy about group process. After all, I can plan a children’s event, assign roles, arrange for refreshments, and whip up a Bible lesson all by myself, and it will look exactly the way I expect it to. Or… I can sit through a 90-minute committee meeting while we plan the same children’s event collaboratively.

Group process requires that I compromise. I may not get my own way on everything, but the end result–an event that involves and uses the giftings of a dozen or more faithful workers–is a definite win! We all rise together because we are standing side-by-side in purpose and in ministry.

Group process requires that I compromise. I may not get my own way, but we all rise together because we are standing side-by-side in purpose and in ministry.

Stay Close to Your People and Rise Together

My granddaughter’s biscuits were perfect. We packed them up with a jar of jam, and they were the foundation for that day’s picnic lunch. They were also a light and fluffy reminder of the choices we make in the Body of Christ.

I can stop reaching out, stop following up with friends, go it alone, and make productivity and efficiency my goal (and my god). Or I can rise up from my comfort zone, (waste a little flour), invest a little time into an uncertain outcome, and then trust the Lord with the results.

What will YOU do?
How do you sense God calling you to rise?
Whom will you stand beside in the process?

Holding You in the Light,

Here’s the choice: I can stop reaching out, stop following up with friends, go it alone, and make efficiency my goal (and my god). Or I can rise up from my comfort zone, invest in an uncertain outcome, and trust God with the results.

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Published by Michele Morin

Michele Morin is a Bible teacher, writer, reader, and gardener committed to the truth that women can become confident Christ-followers and students of God's Word. She has been married to an unreasonably patient husband for thirty-plus years, and together they have four married sons and a growing fleet of adorable grandchildren. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks, and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.” She blogs at Living Our Days, and you can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

24 thoughts on “The Positive Impact of Proximity: Stay Close to Your People and Rise Together”

  1. I’ve always been better at doing things without help but I do know the multi-fasciated value of group effort. This caused a flashback to a time when I was helping with a funding drive for my grandkids’ elementary school. The young woman sitting next to me asked, almost as though she was just thinking out loud, why don’t ‘they’ just ask for donations instead of going to all the trouble to get parents involved in making an event? Given that I had been volunteering in schools since the mid 70s, I had a very immediate and practical answer for her. I said, “It would be easier to solicit donations but when you get parents involved in a group effort project, you engage their motivation to make it successful.” She shrugged slightly, as though she sort of got it.

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  5. I understand the analogy. It is like the menorah, the lampstand or candlestick, used in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and in the Temple in Jerusalem. My guess is that the light was very bright because of its seven branches.

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  6. Michele: This post makes me think that each believer in Christ must be involved in some form of ministry at their church, if they are able. I have been involved in a prayer group. I have had some physical challenges and some other health issues that keep me more or less homebound. Peace and blessings to you and yours.

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  7. What a great analogy. I can get frustrated with group projects due to being let down when the others involved don’t hold up their end. I’m thinking of a particular instance putting up a church bulletin board with another lady when in the season of often nursing a young baby. I asked that we have all our materials cut out and ready so all we had to do at the church was put everything on the bulletin board. But . . . she didn’t, so I had to help her and take more time than I wanted. Those kinds of frustrations make me tend toward solo projects. But then, there were so many more bulletin board collaborations that resulted in good conversation and creative stimulation the couple of years I was on that committee. Some of the best parenting advice I ever received concerning teens was given by an older mom while working on a different bulletin board. Life can get messy in groups, but that’s what the admonition to forbear one another in love is for.

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  8. “If the biscuits are placed side by side, touching, on the pan, they will rise higher in the oven as they bake. They take longer to bake, but the results are more pleasing and, therefore, worth the wait.” It takes longer to stay connected too. We may feel we’re being slowed down. What a wonderful analogy. The results are better and worth the wait!

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  9. At the risk of mixing metaphors here, I’m reminded of Proverbs 27:17 about iron sharpens iron. We do indeed need each other. I love the idea of helping each other bake up fluffy! Maybe I’ll make that a part of my prayers as I interact with others. Help us bake up fluffy together, Lord!

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  10. What a wonderful analogy, Michele. I suppose I knew biscuits rise higher when they are closer together, but I never thought about why! I’m working on a project right now that depends on the participation of others, and your words are giving me a new perspective on the beauty that comes when we work together.

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  11. I never knew why we bake biscuits touching each other. What a great analogy for all the times we work with others on projects and need patience and a humble spirit!

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  12. Standing side by side in the process of sanctification. I love that! I often forget what a privilege that truly is! Reading your reminder and encouragement today reminds be how grateful I am for “my people” – including my church family and others that regularly stand side by side with me!!

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