How effective are our small groups at accomplishing their goal? That depends on what the goal is. If the goal is to talk about college football, then I\u2019ve witnessed a men\u2019s small groups that is thriving. If, on the other hand, your goal is to do things like 1) encourage one another, 2) edify one another, 3) make disciples, 4) pray, 5) study God\u2019s Word, 6) etc., then some small groups aren\u2019t doing it right.<\/p>\n
Here are a few telltale signs that your small group is doing it wrong.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1. You have no plan. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 2. You never study the Bible or pray.<\/strong> <\/p>\n 3. You argue all the time. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 4. You have no idea who’s going through a hard time, having a baby, about to get a divorce, or unable to pay the bills.<\/strong> <\/p>\n 5. You don\u2019t know everyone in your small group. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 6. You rarely interact with each other outside of small group. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 7.\u00a0You’ve\u00a0become a clique. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 8. You just do preaching. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 9. You are forced to awkwardly spill your guts. <\/strong> <\/p>\n 10. All you do is eat. <\/strong> Small groups are a powerful tool of discipleship and growth for churches today. It\u2019s worth the effort to improve small groups to the point that they are advancing your mission. God can use small groups to transform people into his image, and spread His greatness in your community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How effective are our small groups at accomplishing their goal? That depends on what the goal is. If the goal is to talk about college football, then I\u2019ve witnessed a men\u2019s small groups that is thriving. If, on the other hand, your goal is to do things like 1) encourage one another, 2) edify one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2307,4154,4141],"tags":[1402,1937,1400],"class_list":{"0":"post-11140","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-christian-lifestyle","8":"category-church-resources-church-resources","9":"category-church-ministry","10":"tag-discipleship-groups","11":"tag-huddle-groups","12":"tag-small-groups"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogrouting.sharefaith.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/1.13.14_SmallGroup-480a.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nSome churches, enamored of the idea of small groups fall into it without a plan. This is a mistake. A small group needs to be, at the risk of sounding cliche, purpose driven. To be more specific, you should have some idea of what you\u2019re doing when you get seven or eight people meeting in someone\u2019s home on Sunday night. Are you there to shoot the breeze, sing some worship songs, watch some football, or study the book of Philippians? Maybe you should \u201clet the Spirit lead?\u201d By all means, let the Spirit lead, but don\u2019t use that as an excuse for doing absolutely no planning before hand.<\/p>\n
\nInstead, you study Christian living books. Or you talk about health concerns. Or you talk about problems in the church. Or football. All those things are find to talk about, but don\u2019t neglect some of the most crucial things \u2014 prayer and God\u2019s Word! If you drop these from the small group agenda, you\u2019re wasting your time.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve been in some small groups where \u201crobust discussion\u201d was the most important thing. However, \u201crobust discussion\u201d was code word for \u201clet\u2019s argue about really controversial theological topics.\u201d I\u2019m just as eager to wield the theological sword as the next guy. I didn’t spend drop thousands in seminary tuition for nothing. But there\u2019s a point at which seminary swashbuckling must give way to fellowship and encouragement. It\u2019s important to stand one\u2019s ground on crucial theological topics. Don\u2019t use this as an excuse to challenge everyone\u2019s assumptions, prayer request phrasing, and curious expressions of spiritual insight.<\/p>\n
\nA small group is a support network. These are the people that help to fulfill the biblical command to bear one another\u2019s burdens (Galatians 6:2). It\u2019s important to make sure that you find out what those burdens are. Find out where you as a group can help.<\/p>\n
\nThe whole point of a small group is that it\u2019s small. \u201cSmall\u201d is usually less than 15 people, certainly not more than 20. If there are small children involved, this number is fuzzy, but when it comes to the number of adults, it\u2019s hard to have a \u201csmall\u201d group with a crowd of more than 15.<\/p>\n
\nA small group isn\u2019t just for occasional meetings. It\u2019s for life \u2014 for the hardships, trials, joys, and triumphs. That happens more often than just Wednesdays from 7-8pm. As a small group, make an effort to be closely connected on the real life level.<\/p>\n
\nThe great thing about small groups is that they become a very tight-knit group of people. But there\u2019s a risk involved, too. Such a group of people can degenerate into cliquishness, which I\u2019m pretty sure is a violation of the command to love. In spite of the close knit nature of your fellowship, be welcoming to people \u2014 like non-Christian friends, for example \u2014 who may want to discover what this is all about.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m all for preaching, but a small group does something different. There is something going on that\u2019s interactive, not just proclamatory. Small group meetings are most effective when everyone is involved to discover, share, learn, pray, question, respond, contribute, and participate in the process. Save your sermons for another time, and focus on the give-and-take opportunity that the group affords.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m all about transparency, but there is no rule of small groups that you must divulge all your misdeeds and transgressions. I\u2019ve seen some small group experiences that expect such catharsis. Scripture indeed exhorts us to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), but a small group meeting does not always facilitate the best time for this. It\u2019s fine to gently encourage transparency, but do not require that the small group become a therapeutic confessional. Such experiences can be awkward to the point of damaging for some people.<\/p>\n
\nAs good first-world American Christians, we love to eat. Eating is great. But try to do more than just eat during your small group sessions.<\/p>\n