There's Nothing Magical About Small Groups

Dr. James Scott says at his blog:

There's nothing magical about small groups!

What?!?! Seriously. Many people believe that small groups are some kind of magic bullet that can cure every ill known to man and the church. They aren't. In fact, I would go a step further and say that there is NOTHING in and of small groups themselves that makes them special. However, small groups with the right perspective can be a different story. Here's what Scott say in the rest of his post:

Simply getting a group of people to meet together regularly doesn't, by itself, transform the church, result in revival, instantly produce mature Christians, or meet the needs of those meeting together. What does make small groups vital parts of the church that impact congregations and communities is the motive of the group participants.

When Christians come together to share life as the body of Christ on earth, as the early Christians we read about in the Book of Acts did, then we see the powerful results of transformed lives and met needs. But that often is not the motive for many small groups.

Lots of groups meet to study the Bible. They greet each other warmly, open with a prayer, have a lively intellectual discussion about a passage of scripture, close with prayer, exchange additional pleasantries, and then go home until their next meeting the following week. They don't "share life."

Other groups have a greater focus on prayer. Still others spend their time discussing what it means to be a "man" or "woman," others focus on leadership topics, and some are more socially oriented. But they don't really share life together.

The missing motive?

Jesus said this in John 13:34-35, "³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

When the children of God come together to share (or unleash) the love of God, the result will be the power of God and the blessing of God displayed in and through the the lives of the lovers of God!

Small groups that impact the lives of participants, the church, communities and the world, are those groups whose primary motive is to share the love of God with each other. Other motives, such as study, prayer, leadership development, team building, etc., are best achieved when this primary motive is in place.

Source: Extraordinary Living by Dr. James Scott

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