The Most Frustrating Excuse

“I would love to be in a small group, but I just don’t think I have the time right now.”

I cannot tell you how often I have had someone tell me that!  I stopped counting when the number hit 5,346.  When you are plugged into a small group that you really call home; you understand what community is. Community as God intended it.  As a leader in group ministry I’ve done everything I can to make it easy for people to get into groups. We have even had churchwide campaigns to promote our groups, but still not everyone gets it. So what gives?  How can we help those who do not get it to understand how valuable biblical community is? I think there are three things we can do to help.

Talk To God About It

Before Jesus chose his disciples he prayed. ”One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.” (Luke 6:12-13).  Do we know who He wants us to be in community with?  We should be asking God who He wants us to invite to our groups.  Then actually taking the step to invite them.

Connect With Them

When Jesus found His followers He went to their world. Where they lived, where they worked, He went into their reality. He took the time to invest in a real relationship with the people he built community with.  Without a relationship, without a real connection, without a personal invitation, why would someone join your small group?  I think by not expecting people to come to us and by being more intentional with the way we build relationships, God will provide us with opportunities to extend some very meaningful invitations.  Then, and only then, will we see our groups grow.

Redefine Community

When I study the Bible I do not remember Jesus inviting followers to a meeting. When I see the disciples gathering with their Master, I see Jesus gathering people for a purpose. Our small groups gather for a purpose. When our groups are just a Bible study with questions that are asked, just to simply get a “correct” answer, then our time together becomes meaningless. Our groups should be places where people connect with God and each other. I know that I want to live life with my small group, to be like family, to live in real community.Hopefully we can make our small groups a place where people want to live life together. Each of us, at every gathering, have the opportunity to help someone else find what we have. That supernatural thing that we have to share biblical community.  If we do this together our groups will be busting at the seams!