Recently Russell and I have been talking.
This is a good thing considering we're married and all!!
We've been talking about growth within small groups and how the church grows as a whole.
We recently heard someone saying that in order for the church to grow (numbers wise) we need to have our small groups constantly multiplying and changing. Now, I am not against change, and I am not against growth. What I am against, is the way this happens.
I (we) don't think it is helpful in any shape or form to simply change a group of people just because they need a change. I think it is good to be doing life with people. How do you do life with people? Get to know them over a long period of time and to grow together. How can this happen if you never get to that point with people?
We have been in our small group for over 2 years now, and we are now only starting to get to the point where we can be truly honest with each other, and where we can speak into each other's lives! How is it helpful to be constantly changing a group of people and never really connecting to anyone?
I think that if we are to be growing, we should be inviting those who are questioning and curious about God to our small groups. This would be growth! Growing externally rather than just shuffling people around internally. Shuffling people around internally gives off the impression of growth, but it's not real. I view growth as seeing people who don't know Jesus, come to know him!
I have been in that many different small groups throughout my life that I couldn't count the number on 2 hands. I find it really sad. You grow bonds with people and just as you are about to break through to the next step in your relationship, you are split up and placed with a new bunch of people that you have to start over with!
I feel like I am going to be terribly misunderstood here. I am not against people joining small groups and people being invited along, but I think we need to be intentional about the people we invite. I don't think it very wise to just be growing via inviting Christians along. It's kind of like a church who say they have grown 100 members this year, but all they've done is 'stolen' people from another church. How is that growing? It's not! It's fake growth! It's growth that looks good as figures on paper, but it's not the growth that takes possibly 10+ yrs for someone to come to know God. It's not the rewarding growth!
I want to be a part of helping someone to come and know and love the God that I love. I don't want to do constant 'outreach' to people who don't need 'outreach' . I want to actually serve and reach people who don't know and have never experienced God's love.
20.2.08
Growing Inwardly or Outwardly
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6 comments:
Yeah I get what you're saying. It'd be pointless for me to invite a Christian friend to join my church or small group when they're already part of a perfectly good one just so I/we can boast how we're 'growing' or 'multiplying'.
However there are some Christians I'd definitely invite ie. those who have just started coming along to church because they moved from far away and don't know anyone. Or those who have been around for a while but sort of drifted around the fringes and felt excluded because they weren't in the same demographic and majority.
I know what you mean: it's far more exciting to have 10 non Christians come along and give their life to Christ - that's real growth both in numbers and maturity. Numbers growth can be misleading anyway; it doesn't always indicate whether the church is on the right track. It could be full of false teachers and people are coming along because they teach what they want to hear.
I don't want to 'steal' or 'lure' Christians from other churches but if they come, for whatever reason, then I want to welcome them and that may include inviting them to join a small group if they're interested. Even though I'm already Christian, I know I'd feel pretty rotten and disillusioned with these 'people of God' if nobody welcomes me when I move to Dally.
Just wanted to add....I guess your post got me thinking about how much of my time I should spend loving and serving people in the church and those outside (outreach). I'd like to say 50-50 in an ideal world.
I agree with you with inviting new christians along too. Our groups should be discipling too!
I agree about the outreach thing too. At the moment though, it feels like all I've done in a church is outreach to people who are already christians.
Yes, we should be serving each other in the church, but I consider the term 'outreach' as reaching OUT into the community.
church growth also includes indivdual growth in how they mature in Christ...and that definitely can't be measured in %
Church should be inviting anyone they can whether they are Christian or not into small groups. Personally, I would not go to our church or a church if it wasn't for small group and feeling connected. How do Christians in a church stay connected and feel loved if they are not invited to small groups just cause they are already a Christian. I agree with you though that the focus should be on those outside the church and numbers should reflect new people not just those who have shuffled. Everyone deserves to feel loved though and it is important to keep people inchurch as well as bring them in.
Couldn't agree with you more!!
It's really hard to find a balance. We can't completely exclude Christians, God knows where I would be if not for my small group!
It is hard to balance everything.
I think I was just trying to say that if we ONLY invite Christians along, then I don't see where the growth is (other than spriritual growth that is).
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