So good Tim! I love Small Groups, but I hadn’t looked at it like that. I think the idea of any method can become idolatry if we become to focused on the method and not the outcome. Good stuff!

Your brilliance again on display. I may have to make an idolatrous method out of your blog.

i’m glad you bring that up, i recently spent a lot of time at a church trying to navigate through their “small groups” mentality, and it never worked

meanwhile they are touted as one of the biggest and best churches in America today…sadly, i moved out of the city and yet they still push this idea that smaller groups are the best thing to come to christianity

Very good word sir.

When the method comes before the vision then the method almost always becomes the vision.

I believe it wasn’t too long ago Willow Creek said something about how their system (which was largely ‘seeker’/pragmatic and small group oriented) was not producing growing disciples. They have based all of their chips on this method. And I believe (but definitely could be wrong) that they measure their effectiveness largely by how many are in a small group, and by how many are new believers. Thus, I think the question I’ve been hearing around as well: “How can I get more people into small groups?”

They do have quite a large number attending, and as one church planter recently pointed out, “Willow Creek will impact more people’s lives if they only lasted 10 years than 300 small churches would in a lifetime.” (Of course, that church planter was rebutting a church’s fear that “we’ll get too big to be personal.”)

Your point is well taken. Thanks for challenging our mentality and spirituality. Are the numbers in small groups the metric to live by? Is that how we can measure a church’s community growing disciples? And does the metric take on a life of it’s own so that we lose the vision?

Great post.

I think, at least for me, the reason it’s been hard for me to join a small group is because of time. I have a desire to grow in my relationship with Christ and really want to meet new people but like many people in today’s society, I have overbooked myself. After working my full time job, and my part time job, spending time with my family, date nights, etc there just aren’t very nights I have free. And I don’t have kids yet, so when that happens I’ll get even more busy.
I think Christians are crying out for more community, but we just have to prioritize it.

Tim,

Good insights yet again. Sometimes I think we veil our real goals with programming language. I would guess those people who want more people in small groups are actually looking for transformation in the lives of the people in their church, yet they don’t state that as the goal. The sets the ministry up for big problems down the road: small groups as the end rather than the means, small group leaders who may not be properly trained to lead the group in a way that facilitates growth that leads to transformation, & obviously a misunderstanding by the larger group of what the goal really is. Thanks for challenging & asking probing questions.

Thanks for calling this out. Small groups are great, but seem to be more of a forced activity then one that a lot of members of the congregation want to be apart of.
I think you are exactly right that it comes down to methodology and that looking outside the box instead of trying to make the box bigger to fit what you want is very important. Once again i am not bashing small groups but it seems it is a very easy way to get out of truly looking at the problem and then possible solution.

I’m the one who asked the question at Blue Sky and would like to add my perspective to this discussion. First of all, as Tim suggested, I was asking a question about an intermediate goal. Our ultimate goal is NOT to get people into small groups. Our goal is to see people grow in Christ and experience genuine Christian community (Acts 2:42). Jesus Christ led the first Christian small group and reinforced the important of Christian community in the context of groups.

In my opinion, groups themselves are not a method, it’s part of our social fabric as people, it’s HOW we do groups that is the method. Methods do change, and they should, but authentic community is not a method, it’s called the body of Christ. After 17 years of ministry, I personally haven’t seen a better approach of discipleship than groups or one on one mentoring to help people live out what they learn through Biblical teaching and preaching. As Tim said, perhaps there IS something that we haven’t thought of yet, but groups are what we have right now and they work! So, why shouldn’t we ask about how to make them better, more attractive to people and more effective? They work in my life and life of countless others including the first disciples. I would like to suggest Andy Stanley’s talk from Saturday’s Group Life Conference at Willow Creek to get another perspective. Andy really surprised me, because he talked about the fact that he is an introvert and all the reasons groups aren’t natural to him, but he then explained a number of reasons that he is committed to groups. It was very compelling.

There is another angle here. Why do we want more people to come to church or to serve in the church? Tim could make the same comments about Sunday morning service or serving. Either one can become idolatry in a believers life. Why do we want more people to come to service? It’s not so we can count bodies, but so they can find Christ, grow in the Word and worship God together! Most of us believe that corporate worship and teaching is an effective tool to draw people to Christ. We already know that and we don’t usually ask that question again. What we ask ourselves is how do make our services more effective? We ask ourselves how do we remain biblicaly grounded yet stay relevant to the culture so that we can remove any barriers that people have in coming to Christ!

The bottom line is that we have a lot of people who experience Sunday morning and nothing beyond that. Sunday service is vitally important, and a good start for them, but we need to help them get connected in community. Groups are where they find personal care, opportunities for service, and partners in their spiritual journey. I realize that for some people it happens organically, but the vast majority of the people will fall through the cracks if we don’t help provide a path for them. Part of the problem with the discussion at Blue Sky is that ‘small group’ means many different things to different people. Most of us realize that, but it wasn’t the time or place to make that point. Chip was just sharing his framework with us, and I thought it was pretty cool and helpful. People with previous bad group experiences, or hang ups, or introverted personalities probably don’t realize that there are small group experiences that the would enjoy and thrive in, but they never give it a chance, because of previous experience or preconceived notions which just aren’t true.

Building a community of believers IS our goal, and small groups are only part of the solution. There is nothing wrong with asking how we get more people in small groups! However, at the same time, we should also be asking ourselves how to make those groups better, more relevant and more attractive to people. I am trying with all my heart to do that. One Pastor came up to me after the session and suggested the book ‘Activate’. I read it on the plane home Friday night and there is some good stuff there on helping remove the barriers to getting people plugged into groups.

Methods will continue to change, and we should also. Ministry approaches should never become idolatry. I once heard that the only thing a sacred cow is good for is a barbecue. However, as long as our groups are relevant and healthy, we should do all we can to help people get plugged into them.

GGGGREAT question Tim! Great question! Great question!

I personally, agree w/ David’s comment above and disagree.

I agree that groups are important. I disagree that the sunday ra-ra pep-rally meeting is important. I don’t think it’s changing people’s lives. Tim, I think we must apply the question you posed to all of what we’re doing as a church – which I think is colossally failing to produce effective disciples of Christ that love God and love their neighbor, that are conspicuously missing the fruit of the Spirit and act a lot like the world (selfish, worried, comfort-seeking, impatient, unkind, etc – myself included).

This is not an attack. It’s an invitation to ask that same question about all that we’re doing. LOVE the question, tho I know my words will probably be ignored as heresy – ironic considering the initial question posed.

A large church w/ large attendence, people making emotional decisions coming forward then settling into a comfortable weekly attendance rhythm, and volunteering in parking ministry – is that our goal? I don’t think it’s God’s goal. Those things are fine, but not necessary or sufficient in reaching our true goal – which I think is something like training and discipling Christians to be like Christ and winning tons of lost people.

Unfortunately, I fear we simplify this to “get lots of people to come down the aisle, make a ‘commitment’ and tithe to our organization so we can have a cool stage and $10,000 projectors”

This is great, except we’re not really discipling them to be like Christ – and the rest of the world knows it. The only way we can get them to come is by putting on a good show and teaching them how to handle money. They should be coming b/c they’re drawn to people who are loving, patient, kind, worry-free, etc.

I don’t think Willow Creek measures based on #s in small group. Rather they use attendance at the main show on Sunday and participation in their classes and other programs.

I don’t believe real life change happens by attending church on Sunday. I haven’t seen it in my own life or in the lives of many of my Christian friends. Nor do I think it’s biblical – on the contrary I think the bible gives us examples and implies a more relational, discipleship oriented process for life change. Such a thing seems basically non-existent in the Church.

Probably b/c it’s not as easy or comfortable as just showing-up on Sunday to listen to a pep-talk and get just enough conviction to think “man, I really need to do x,y,z” and never do it.

I feel strongly that “Life Change” happens daily as we obey the word and leading of the Holy spirit in our walk with Christ. It happens at work, with our family, our friends, when a loved on dies, when we struggle with temptation, when a spouse dies or leaves, when children leave home, when parents divorce, when we experience a victory and stuf like that. Not sitting in church on Sunday nor Saturday night in a small group.

Tim, I couldn’t agree more.

Thanks again for another thought provoking post.

David – thanks for taking the time to jump in on the discussion…and for letting your “case study” spur on such great dialogue. You’ve made some great points here!

Such good thoughts coming from someone named “anon.” I totally agree with you: We should ask the same question regarding weekend services. They are, after all, also a method.

However, I don’t know any church leaders who desire commitment so they can buy expensive equipment. I assume your statement is hyperbole based on your own experience…but most leaders truly believe what they are doing will produce life change.