Blog

Here is the second part to why you should be in a small group: 

God calls us together in community so that the Word of Christ can dwell richly in our midst and grow us to be like him.

The reason God calls us together in community is so that the Word of Christ can dwell richly in our midst and grow us to be like him. This happens as we love each other by patiently, kindly and humbly speaking that word to each other in any way we can.

Colossians 3 mentions a number of ways we can do this—it speaks of teaching and admonishing and singing and giving thanks. We could easily flesh that list out with other speaking verbs like reminding, encouraging, exhorting, discussing, chewing over, and asking-the-kind-of-dumb-but-obvious-question-that-helps-everyone.

Whatever mode of speech is involved, the content is ‘the Word of Christ’ and the purpose is to help one another grow to be like Christ.

Now there’s a why to get us out the door on small group nights.

Small groups aren’t about helping me feel part of things, or helping me to connect with people, or even expressing my commitment to church. In fact, they are not really about me at all. The reason to go to a small group is that God has called me to love you and be an agent of your growth in Christ. I go because you need me to speak the Word of Christ to you (and because I need to hear it from you).

The how of belonging to a small group flows straight out of this why, and is not very hard to figure out. It would include things like this:

• We should turn up every week, unless there is some important other reason—because is there really anything more important in your life than the job God has given us to do with each other in a small group?
• We should come ready to speak in love. Read and prepare the passage in advance if that helps, and take the initiative to speak in any way you can to help others understand and apply this part of God’s word. Ask questions. Answer questions. Grapple hard with the text in front of you. Share what you see. Look out for people who were just about to speak but got cut off, and invite them to contribute. Open up about your own struggles to put the word into practice. There are scads of opportunities to allow the ‘word to dwell richly’ in your group—and that’s your task.
• This why also generates a copious list of don’ts that I find very easy to compile (by thinking back over my own thoughtless, self-oriented behavior in small groups over the years). Don’t sit on your hands during the discussion. Don’t try to save face or protect yourself. Don’t leave it to everyone else. Don’t jump on your hobby horses when they pass by. Don’t stick tenaciously to your point in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Don’t try to make yourself look good. Don’t give the lazy pat answer that you could have given without even looking at the text. Don’t take the group off to some other interesting passage that you like, unless it is vital for understanding the passage you’re actually reading. Don’t be afraid to open up and be honest about your struggles.

I’ll leave you to figure out your own specific list of how-tos, because it will be a little different for each person in each different group and  circumstance. But if you can grasp why God wants to you go to small group this small group night, then how is not so difficult.

At least, it’s not difficult to understand. Doing it consistently and lovingly? Well, that’s that the challenge the word of Christ brings us as we start a new of small group life together.

TheGospelCoalition. Why Be a Small Group Member. February 20, 2022. Tony Payne.

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-be-a-small-group-member/