Getting past the biggest plateau in your ministry funnel
There is certainly a place for preaching and mentorship. Preaching is especially useful for those who are still ingesting milk. A weekly sermon is an opportunity to address seekers and to remind disciples of familiar truths, cast vision and develop modest community. Mentorship can be quite valuable, particularly in helping people add some meat to their spiritual diet. But for all of their benefits, each of these is a limited vehicle.
Jesus spoke to the crowds. He spent a lot of time with individuals. He presumably mentored individual disciples. But the bulk of His time in ministry was clearly spent by pouring His life into the 12. Why? Done well, small-group discipleship has most of the strengths of proclamation and mentorship, with less of their limitations.
This assumes effective small groups—“equipping groups” that are centered on discipleship, growth, truth, love, etc. Most churches have small groups. However, without a purpose centered on disciple-making, small groups can easily become social groups, devolve into heresy or small talk, rely on passive lecturing, settle for impersonal or short-term relationships, and so on.
Small-group leadership can easily reduce to polite people who are willing to open their homes, use a good brownie recipe, collect prayer requests about second cousins and neighbors’ dogs, play a DVD, and lead a tepid conversation where people share their opinions, tell long stories and foist arcane Bible knowledge on each other.
Other groups are better by a notch or two. They discuss “hot topics,” socialize and eat, share struggles and pray together, engage in acts of service, offer affirmation without much from God’s word—all ok or even good stuff, but insufficient for robust discipleship.
Here is what is required for effective small groups.
1. Biblical teaching
This must be part of the equation. Putman and Harrington: “It is impossible to overstate the importance of getting into the Word of God for discipleship…Jesus himself clearly demonstrated the value of meditating, memorizing, and metabolizing God’s Word.”
In sum, “it’s the Word of God and the Spirit of God working together with the people of God.” Without the Word and the Spirit, it may be a “small group,” but it won’t be the meaningful discipleship of an “equipping group.”
2. Moving from receiving to discipling
Another key goal is to move from knowledge transfer to the ability to “self-feed” and disciple others. You can sit in a small group for years and absorb some knowledge, but not be much better off in terms of a willingness and ability to share one’s faith—or to answer tough questions about life.
“Equipping groups” need to meet people where they are. But ultimately, the goal is to grow, learn and stretch.
3. Ownership
A disciple is someone who takes some “ownership” in the process. As such, something more than attendance and passivity is required. Once people begin to do something outside of a meeting—e.g., journal about the Bible or read a book, they learn that greater growth is pleasurable and achievable on their own.
As Howard Hendricks puts it: “Christian education today is entirely too passive. And that’s incongruous because Christianity is the most revolutionary force on the planet.” His goal as a teacher? “Tell the learner nothing—and do nothing for him—that he can learn or do for himself.”
Are your small groups effective at equipping the laity? If not, what’s the plan to communicate that vision and get your people thoroughly equipped?
Excerpted fromEnough Horses in the Barnby Kurt Sauder and D. Eric Schansberg © 2017
Photo source: istock
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