Community – Small Group Benefits

Last week I wrote about ‘Biblical Community – Why It’s So Important’ and touched on the the biblical reasons why we need each other in our spiritual walk. Part of my post last week was about Small Groups and I wrote the following:

“Small groups are a place of mutual ministry among members. Each member uses spiritual gifts to serve other members in the body. Mutual ministry is a trademark of a Christ-following community or small group. A small group gathers together to provide fellowship and mutual support so that the church can have an impact in their community. They encourage and build up one another so that the body of Christ can be cared for and the world can be influenced through their good deeds. Small groups exist to teach the truth and develop future leaders who can shop for others and disciple them in the faith. For this purpose, each leader, or coach, as an apprentice he or she is developing toward greater responsibility and leadership.”

This is my focus for this week – Small Groups and their importance in developing our relationships with Christ, and with one another. Here are some ‘One Anothers’ that the Bible speaks of:

Be at peace with one another [Mark 9:50]; Love one another [John 13:34]; Be devoted to one another [Romans 12:10]; Honour one another [Romans 12:10]; Live in harmony with one another [Romans 12:16]; Stop passing judgment on one another [Romans 14:13]; Serve one another [Galatians 5:13]; Carry one another’s burden [Galatians 6:2]; Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ [Ephesians 5:21]; Teach one another [Colossians 3:16]; Build one another up [1 Thessalonians 5:11]; Do not slander one another [James 4:11]; Confess your sins to one another [James 5:16]; Pray for one another [James 5:16]; and finally, Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another [1Peter 5:5]

See any themes? I see a few common themes within scripture that tell us to stop judging others, stop gossiping about others, help others, and teach others through humility. I would like to take a few of these and apply them to Small Groups, specifically how Small Groups can help on achieve these easier than the larger Church gathering.

The first two I’ll group together and they are “Be at peace with one another [Mark 9:50]; Love one another [John 13:34]“ Bottom line is that most of us (or at least the ones that admit it) have conflicts with others whether it be at home, work, or Church. Conflict when dealt with quickly, and biblically, can exist in out lives without disastrous results. Mark tells us to ‘be at peace with on another’ which is very difficult when we are holding resentment towards another. John says we are to ” love one another” which again is hard to do while angry with another. In the larger Church format  one could still attend holding bitterness toward a brother and manage to ‘avoid’ dealing with the conflict. However; in a Small Group setting it is much more difficult to ‘avoid’ and usually results in one of two events: 1) the person deals with their hurt, or 2) they quit attending the small group. Naturally the first is the desirable solution; however, if the later was to take place their absence would be noticed and hopefully the small group leader would contact them to ask why they have stopped attending, which hopefully could lead to the conflict be revealed and ‘worked through’ with the involved parties. This leads me to the next groups of ‘one anothers’ that has the power to tear apart a small group, or even a Church if left unresolved.

This next group of ‘on anothers’ are about gossip, truly a tool of the enemy to divide us. “Stop passing judgment on one another [Romans 14:13]; Do not slander one another [James 4:11]” Both Paul and James tell us to stop doing what is not of right, judging others. Christ did not come to earth as a human to pass judgement on us, but rather to fulfill The Law and bring to us a new covenant based on His grace. So where do we feel that we are greater than Christ, and have the right to judge on another; moreover, to spew words of hurt toward on another? Tomorrow I am finishing a year of Small Group study that deals with our hurts, Hang-ups, and habits. Lots has been learned of how hurts within us when left unresolved, can create a character Satan would be proud of. Christ wants us to “Live in harmony with one another [Romans 12:16]” as Paul wrote, yet the enemy wants us to divide amongst each other, deceive one another, discourage one another, doubt Christ and one another, discourage us, and distract of from “The Truth.” We need to remember that when we hold a resentment toward another, it is ‘us hurting us’ over and over again when the perpetrator probably has long forgotten about the hurt they caused us. Resentment is re-living, re-feeling, and re-hurting over and over. Small Groups provide the ‘close’ forum for us the take a chance and try working through some of our relational hurts, rather than running from them.

The last one I would like to discuss is “Confess your sins to one another [James 5:16];” which Small Groups provide an optimum forum for working this through. We have heard Pastor Rob speak to the fact that showing up for Church each week and doing nothing else will get you, well, a partial relationship with God. Those who show up each week for Church and participate in some form of Service can have a bit more; however, those who wish to build a strong relationship with our Lord, they immerse themselves in constant prayer and worship each an every day,  show up for Church weekly, get involved in Service, and participate in a Small Group that allows us the forum to confess our sins to one another, will find that being accountable to each other will springboard them into the new ‘way of life’ Christ wants for us all. Have you every noticed that we can have the greatest intent to change some behaviour in our lives; yet we never take the action to do it?  This is where have ‘others’ to hold us accountable comes in. First we must build the trust needed to speak openly about our ongoing sins, then we find one of more others that we ‘confess our sins’ explaining that we know them, own them; moreover, want to change them and walk in Christ’s image.

Christ came to give us a new life; however, it takes much effort on our parts to follow His guidance in scripture. We cannot find this life anew through osmosis! Small Groups provide a forum where the intimacy needed to find our new way of life can be learned, taught, and welcomed.

Godspeed,
Lo-Boy