If the depths of relationships and our commitment
to one another are so important to God, then small groups must also be important as it is only in small groups that close
relationships can develop. During the first two centuries of the Christian era church buildings did not exist, so it was necessary
that people met in their homes. of the third century.
In the early "house churches", pictured vividly by Paul
in Romans 16, fellowship would, no doubt, often be over a meal. There are few things more effective for building fellowship
than sharing meals. It is no doubt partly due to this natural creating of close relationships that the early church grew so
fast, even in times of persecution. Eddie Gibbs, in I Believe in Church Growth, says: In all my eleven years
of itinerant ministry I cannot recall any growing church which does not encourage small groups.
Small groups,
where all the members participate as directly as possible, are more effective for changing attitudes and behaviour than is
the lecture method. This has been shown by "a whole series of studies", according to Paul Hore in the Handbook
of Small Group Studies. One lady told how she took her granddaughter to church for the first time. As they knelt in the
tall-sided pew, the little girl whispered, "Who are we hiding from?" It is harder to hide from ourselves or from
one another in the smaller group, than in the crowd. John Stott wrote in One People: Clergy and Laity in God's Church:
I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that small groups, Christian family or fellowship groups, are indispensable
for our growth into spiritual maturity.
His Magazine, November 1968, reported an in-depth study done by Inter-Varsity
Christian Fellowship staff in North America on the rate of growth of their various University groups compared to the size
of their gatherings. They described the problems found by any group as it grows and how the growth rate invariably slows as
size increases. Problems included a drop in personalness, sense of mission and evangelistic work achieved, and an immense
rise in demands on leaders. From this they devised an effective strategy which included the following: "The big meeting
should serve the small group rather than vica versa." I wonder if this is what Jesus had in mind when he declared, "Whenever
two or three of you come together in my name, I am there with you" (Matthew 18:20). I used to think he meant, "Even
if only a few of you gather I am still there." I now tend to think he meant, "When just two or three gather in my
name, I am there in a special kind of way." In other words, the basic building block of the church is the small group
in which the members are committed to one another as to Christ. We tend to think of the small group as only being a part
of the church. The New Testament does not make this distinction. It is the church.
John A. T. Robinson, in On Being
the Church in the World, wrote: I believe that the theological recovery of this idea of 'the church of the house'
is one of the most important tasks of our generation. Whereas the organisation is an optional extra...the cellular structure
of the church will be rediscovered as a necessity of its life..."
After all, the original small group was
Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
