Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns church leaders around the world have identified two key strategic areas that the church needs to focus on as pastors, ministers, officers lead out of this period of crisis that we have been living in;
One which we have been exploring over the past few weeks or so, the importance of discipleship.
The other is in the area of small groups, cell groups, life groups, cell meetings, house churches – call it what you will! Small groups are vital to the health of the church and I believe that Discipleship and Small Groups are intrinsically linked.
Steve Murrell in his book ‘WikiChurch’ writes that he is “convinced that the most efficient and effective way to make disciples is in small groups.” Obviously it is possible to make and grow disciples outside of small groups as we looked at last week 1:1 Discipleship is extremely important. It is one of a variety of ways in which we can start and be journeying with others in their faith and traverse life with them over a period of time. And maybe 1:1 Discipleship is pertinent to where some people are at in life, they can’t or won’t suit group settings, or they need some in-depth guidance and encouragement which is best suited to one-on-one direction. We need a ‘both and‘ approach to discipleship.
As Rick Warren espouses, we were designed for relationships, formed for fellowship, created for community and God intends for us to experience life with others together.
It is not God’s will that we would go through life by ourselves (or just with a select few) – we need others to journey with us.
We need to be in a small group where we can love and be loved, serve and be served, and share what we are learning and learn from others. We can’t do that in isolation and we can’t do that in a crowd, we need to be doing it in small groups.
The coming together of Christians in smaller (restricted sized) gatherings throughout the pandemic has been absolutely vital for the survival of many churches over the past couple of years. Many recognising that they had no other option than to reimagine what the meeting together in their homes referred to in Acts 2:42-47 meant for us in this day and age.
As Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho writes in his book ‘Successful Home Cell Groups’;
“when a home cell meeting is full of life, and when people are happy and sharing their faith and witnessing to what the Lord has done in their lives, other people are drawn to them. Unbelievers become curious. They want to know why this little group of Christians is so joyful when all around them there are so many troubles.“
Dr. Paul Yonggi Cho had identified in the 1960’s & 70’s that the traditional models of church growth and leadership simply did not work. But God has a method that does, and He wants every church to have it.
“Home cell groups give every church member an opportunity to participate in the ministry of their church and to bring revival to their neighbourhood.“
Maybe we, as the universal church, have to a certain extent been a bit slow on the uptake of this, especially in some settings, there are those for which small groups have worked extremely well. Or maybe the priority around small group development and the importance of it has over the years been squashed by the demands of the myriad of other areas of the church ministry, such as service and worship.
But the thing is during the pandemic that has swept our world and due to governmental restrictions of faith based gathering sizes, many church leaders had to grasp the reality that “this is not the time to pull away and neglect meeting together, as some have formed the habit of doing. In fact, we should come together even more frequently, eager to encourage and urge each other onward as we anticipate that day dawning.“
Hebrews 10:25 (The Passion Version)
They recognised that they needed to revert to New Testament Church principles found in Acts and the Epistles, and develop ways in which the church could continue to meet and grow in smaller groups. Not being reliant on a form of church that had become predominantly attractional and dare I say it entertainment driven. But encouraging their congregants to be doing life together in small groups – for this is where meaningful community and transformation happens, this is where people can experience a closeness with their brothers and sisters in Christ that can’t be found attending a church service once a week.
I love how the Message puts the above verse; “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on…” Hebrews 10:22-25 (The Message)
You see, Small Groups are vitally important to the health of the church and we need to be inventive in the way that we approach them, ensuring that we don’t lose sight of the holistic aspects of what they should be about, especially going forward as we return to in-person services.
It is not enough to have a group regardless of size running that is solely about attracting others to be a part of it, or a group that solely meets a need in one way or another, they all need to be about Kingdom growth principles; pasturing, developing, training and utilising its people in God’s service. For according to General John Larsson in his book ‘How Your Corps can Grow: The Salvation Army and Church Growth‘ we each need to be;
- Growing UP – to maturity in Christ.
- Growing TOGETHER – in Christian fellowship.
- Growing OUT – in service and outreach.
- Growing MORE – seeking numerical growth.
So, as we return to in-person services we need to have and maintain an holistic approach to our small groups, and not lose sight of the importance that these have for His people.
Next week, we will touch on the importance of reorganizing our churches into a church of small groups, rather than being a church with small groups.
The life and times of Perry... 