What Is Wrong With Small Groups?

[webdog]

Has this verse been mentioned already?

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

 

[TCGreek]

Has this verse been mentioned already?

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the Christ." Acts 5:42

Good text, Webdog. :thumbs:

I might even add Acts 20:20, "and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house."

 

[Jillian]

1. Where I pastor, I spoke about small groups recently, and I was met with some opposition, from some influential members, because where they went to church prior to joining the church where I am, they had some bad experiences with small-grouping.

2. But, frankly speaking, I think small grouping or whatever you want to call it, is the way to rediscover the biblical concept of fellowship, koinonia. The early church was nothing but house-churches, where genuine koinonia took place.

So what is wrong with small-grouping our members?

Small groups CAN be good, but problem is a concept called the CELL GROUP which is infiltrating churches, is something totally different!

One thing to watch out for is if they send the folks off on "retreats" to learn how to be leaders of others.

I am a supporter of house churches and good small bible studies.

Google cell groups and churches, youll see what I mean.

Some are following things like the G-12 movement and other seeker sensitive falsehoods.

 

[TCGreek]

Small groups CAN be good, but problem is a concept called the CELL GROUP which is infiltrating churches, is something totally different!

One thing to watch out for is if they send the folks off on "retreats" to learn how to be leaders of others.

I am a supporter of house churches and good small bible studies.

Google cell groups and churches, youll see what I mean.

Some are following things like the G-12 movement and other seeker sensitive falsehoods.

Good observation, for the devil always attempts to destroy what the Lord has his hands in.

 

[JerryL]

Small groups CAN be good, but problem is a concept called the CELL GROUP which is infiltrating churches, is something totally different!

One thing to watch out for is if they send the folks off on "retreats" to learn how to be leaders of others.

I am a supporter of house churches and good small bible studies.

Google cell groups and churches, youll see what I mean.

Some are following things like the G-12 movement and other seeker sensitive falsehoods.

There is a difference in seeker sensitive and seeker friendly. Seeker sensitive takes away all the stumbling blocks for the unsaved without changing the Gospel, seeker friendly changes the Gospel to suit the seeker.

 

[annsni]

Small groups CAN be good, but problem is a concept called the CELL GROUP which is infiltrating churches, is something totally different!

One thing to watch out for is if they send the folks off on "retreats" to learn how to be leaders of others.

I am a supporter of house churches and good small bible studies.

Google cell groups and churches, youll see what I mean.

Some are following things like the G-12 movement and other seeker sensitive falsehoods.

Well, as I posted earlier, we used to call our groups "cell groups" but recently changed them. We've also had one retreat for cell leaders (just an overnight a bunch of years ago) but we DO have leader training regularly. Of course ALL leaders need to continue training in being a leader - and have accountability to each other and the church leadership.

I don't understand the problem.

 

[PK]

I don't see an issue as long as the Pastor can feed all of the small groups. He is responsible for the feeding of God's people. Im not saying that a Pastor cannot have a guest speaker or something like that but he is still responsible for what the sheep are eating. Many old church started with circuit riding preachers or pastors.

 

[corndogggy]

Nothing! It's the biblical model from Acts 2 on how a church ought to be. Small Groups are the backbone of our church, and I have grown tremendously as a result.

I have no idea why any Bible believing person would have a problem with small groups. Maybe they are stuck on the Sunday School format, where you are taught at instead of interacting with.

I have an issue with small groups because they are so clique-oriented. If you happen to fit in with the others that happen to fit in, they seem great. Otherwise...




The social butterflies in the "in-crowd" will never understand this point of view so there's no point in arguing about it.

 

[Jillian]

Well, as I posted earlier, we used to call our groups "cell groups" but recently changed them. We've also had one retreat for cell leaders (just an overnight a bunch of years ago) but we DO have leader training regularly. Of course ALL leaders need to continue training in being a leader - and have accountability to each other and the church leadership.

I don't understand the problem.

The Bible sets forth who has leadership over another.

Ok lets look at a women's group.

Husbands are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their wives in the home.

Why is another woman {one who got the training} and could even be YOUNGER then the other women, being given a false place of having LEADERSHIP over other women in the church?

This is totally unbiblical.

 

[JerryL]

The Bible sets forth who has leadership over another.

Ok lets look at a women's group.

Husbands are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their wives in the home.

Why is another woman {one who got the training} and could even be YOUNGER then the other women, being given a false place of having LEADERSHIP over other women in the church?

This is totally unbiblical.

I don't know what kind of small groups you've been to or NOT been to, but our small groups aren't church. They are just a place to get together and talk about spiritual stuff and pray together and have dinner and socialize outside of the church enviroment. (Acts 2: 42-47). BTW, we rotate every couple of months to keep down the "cliques". All of our groups have men, women and children and all have spiritual leaders from the Church.

 

[DHK]

But I've been in small groups off and on for 20 years, and they've been nothing but positive. The problems above can be very easily managed by the church leadership.

This is the key point--managed by the church leadership.
The persons who led me to Christ were involved with an interdenominational movement that actually worked against the local church. They taught the right things as far as practical Christian living: devotions, fellowship, Bible Study, witnessing, etc. I became well grounded in the Word as a new Christian, but never baptized, never a member of a local church until two years later when I left that group.
Small study groups are dangerous when they do not fall under the leadership of the local church. They need to have someone who is appointed by the Pastor to oversee what is going on. I have seen some Bible Studies that are nothing more than "pooled ignorance." "I think this, and I think that." It is the local church that God has ordained as his institution that He has chosen to work through in this day and age.

 

[webdog]

I have an issue with small groups because they are so clique-oriented. If you happen to fit in with the others that happen to fit in, they seem great. Otherwise...




The social butterflies in the "in-crowd" will never understand this point of view so there's no point in arguing about it.

If they are "clique oriented", they are not what true small groups should be. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

 

[TCGreek]

For example, I believe in the several house-churches in Colossae there would have been elders overseeing each house-church (Phlm 2; Col 4:15).

 

[annsni]

The Bible sets forth who has leadership over another.

Ok lets look at a women's group.

Husbands are supposed to be the spiritual leaders of their wives in the home.

Why is another woman {one who got the training} and could even be YOUNGER then the other women, being given a false place of having LEADERSHIP over other women in the church?

This is totally unbiblical.

Well, I don't see where age has anything to do with leadership. I don't think a 20 year old should be in charge of a women's ministry but it also doesn't discount a 40 year old from being in leadership over the older women in the church. What makes a difference is giftings, God's calling, maturity in the Lord and such.

In small groups, however, it's always a COUPLE who are in the leadership - and the leadership is not saying that they're spiritual leaders but just the ones who do the coordination, are the people between the church leadership and the group members (for administrative stuff), and who TEND to lead the group or manage the passing around of the responsibilities. In our group, my DH and I are the leaders and I'll schedule who's houses the group meets at and DH will make sure someone is responsible for leading the group discussion (we try to share this responsibility) and he'll lead worship (he IS the worship leader at church so it's natural that he'd do this - although he HAS passed this to others in the group since there are 3 others from his worship team in our small group). It's not that we're spiritual authorities because of us being small group leaders (although my DH IS a spiritual authority because he's a pastor), but in all the groups, there's a mutuality of spiritual accountability as there SHOULD be in a church. That's pretty Biblical to me!

Can you show me Scripture that says that someone in leadership needs to be older than all those that they're in leadership over? Because other than maturity (not meaning age), I don't see anything like that in Scripture.

 

[christianyouth]

Well, I don't see where age has anything to do with leadership. I don't think a 20 year old should be in charge of a women's ministry but it also doesn't discount a 40 year old from being in leadership over the older women in the church. What makes a difference is giftings, God's calling, maturity in the Lord and such. ...............
Can you show me Scripture that says that someone in leadership needs to be older than all those that they're in leadership over? Because other than maturity (not meaning age), I don't see anything like that in Scripture.

This is one of those religious things. People who are young are assumed to be impetuous and unwise by most. But I have met young people(not saying myself), who had more biblical wisdom and fervent zeal then a lot of the old 'upstanding' members of the church.

BUT, with each year I live I gain more wisdom. So I hope that old people are much more a long in their faith then us young people. But sometimes old people can become complacent, like any of us, and their spiritual growth stagnates.

EDIT: If we used the Acts model for small groups, what verse would we draw on to have laypeople teaching themselves in small groups?

 

[Alex Quackenbush]

This is the key point--managed by the church leadership.
The persons who led me to Christ were involved with an interdenominational movement that actually worked against the local church. They taught the right things as far as practical Christian living: devotions, fellowship, Bible Study, witnessing, etc. I became well grounded in the Word as a new Christian, but never baptized, never a member of a local church until two years later when I left that group.
Small study groups are dangerous when they do not fall under the leadership of the local church. They need to have someone who is appointed by the Pastor to oversee what is going on. I have seen some Bible Studies that are nothing more than "pooled ignorance." "I think this, and I think that." It is the local church that God has ordained as his institution that He has chosen to work through in this day and age.

Allow me not only to echo this but to do so through A BLARING sound system. Excellent post.

 

[TCGreek]

This is one of those religious things. People who are young are assumed to be impetuous and unwise by most. But I have met young people(not saying myself), who had more biblical wisdom and fervent zeal then a lot of the old 'upstanding' members of the church.

1. An unfortunate stereotyping, I might add.

BUT, with each year I live I gain more wisdom. So I hope that old people are much more a long in their faith then us young people. But sometimes old people can become complacent, like any of us, and their spiritual growth stagnates.

2. The Scripture should put us all on a level plain field, but oftentimes we have to contend with traditions.

EDIT: If we used the Acts model for small groups, what verse would we draw on to have laypeople teaching themselves in small groups?

3. The leadership would have appointed ordained leaders over these small groups/house churches.

 

[kmichael]

They can be dangerous places where false teaching is hard to control, where schism develop when like-minded disgruntled people get in the same group, etc. It can be that people are simply uncomfortable with change. It might be that it is just not their preference, and that is fine as well. They are not a biblical mandate, but they are a way in which the biblical mandate can be carried out.

If I were you and were going to do it (as we have considered), I would start with optional small groups. Don't make them mandatory for everyone all at once. Continue the "traditional way" for those who desire and allow those who desire to start cell groups.

This is not something worth splitting the church over.

Larry,

I completely agree. But the manner in which small groups are carried out is the issue. Small groups should always be temporal. They shoud change every 3-6 months. The leader (facilitator) must be trained to keep the group focused and to stem the tide of false abstract thought--keeping the focus of the group grounded in concrete biblical principles. The idea of small groups is blending biblical training with edification and fellowship. Some Sunday School teachers are very good at this. In my SS class, I have to find a balance. I lecture over material which I feel MUST be taught in the overall focus of the passage/lesson/quarterly theme, but I include discussion time in an effort to apply the truths and contextualize the main points. (Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I have more fun than a barrel of monkeys teaching!)

Small Groups v. SS Model does not have to be an either/or, but rather SHOULD be a both/and. We cannot force member to be apart of such things, but we promote the Spiritual discipline of bible intake in all forms biblical.

K