Small groups have become something of a fad in the past 20-30 years in the US.  Before small groups, Sunday school ruled the day.  The church I attended while growing up had Sunday school before the main service, and my parents made sure that I always attended.  I wonder if people were having this same thought – why Sunday school – when it was still relatively new…  Regardless, small groups have become popular all across the nation.  And while some churches have both Sunday school and small groups, small groups have generally supplanted Sunday school on Sunday mornings. 

Some of the reasons that this change occurred are cultural, and isn’t important for the purpose of this blog that I go into all of the reasons in depth.  Suffice to say that people in our day crave a connection with others who share their same values, which they used to be able to get in other ways, which today are no longer available.  If you think back to the 50s and 60s you can probably remember that people used to sit on their porches and talk to their neighbors.  These days we spend most of our time inside, or in our backyards.  As I said, there are other reasons for small groups being popular now, but this is one good example of why they are.

You may ask yourself, “If small groups are just a fad right now, why should I commit to them?”  This seems like a legitimate question, but it is built on a couple of faulty assumptions.  The first one is that because small groups are popular right now, they are a fad and they are useless.  Yes they are popular right now, but in church terms, that means that they will probably be around for at least 100-150 years, if not longer.  Depending on whom you ask, Sunday school was invented in the very late 1700s or early to mid 1800s, and it is still used today.  That should give you an idea of how long useful methods are used in the church.  As to small groups being useless, ask anyone who has been actively involved in their small group if it has been useless and prepare to get an earful.  The second assumption is that you really have the option to commit to them or not.  This may sound strange to some of you, so think about it like this:  Romans 6:16 says “Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”  To summarize – we are a slave to sin, or a slave to God.  We follow our own desires or we follow God’s.  Now I’m not suggesting that we should buy into whatever the church is presenting just because the church is presenting it.  I am the first one to argue about something if it doesn’t sound right – just ask my wife!  However, small groups have been around since the dawn of the church.  Jesus himself had a small group, the 12 disciples.  And this leads me into my final point for this blog; small groups have their roots back in the 1^st century church, a long time before they became popular here in the US.

Small groups combined with corporate worship is how the church functioned in the time Acts was written.  Here are a few noteworthy texts:

Acts 2:42-47 - ⁴² All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper^[i]), and to prayer.

 ⁴³ A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. ⁴⁶ They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity^[j]—⁴⁷ all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

Acts 5:12 - ¹² The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

Acts 5:41-42 - ⁴¹ The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.^{[y] 42} And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.”

You can see from these passages that while the believers met in the temple to worship together, they also regularly met in their homes for the Lord’s Supper, or communion.  You may be under the assumption that this means they met in their homes for communion, but they did their actual worship at the temple.  Honestly, I wasn’t sure that the part about their homes had any major significance when I first read this passage; I just figured that they wouldn’t want to have communion in the temple around all the regular Jews.  Once I understood what the original Lord’s Supper entailed, I had to change my opinion.  When the Bible says that the 1^st century church had the Lord’s Supper, it means that they had a meal and finished it by taking communion together.  When I first heard this I knew that we are on the right track with small groups.  You can imagine the early church meeting together for a meal; there would be a lot of conversation, encouragement and support.  They would end their time together by remembering Christ’s sacrifice – together.  That is what small groups are all about; meeting with others who share your intentions to love and be love, serve and be served, celebrate and be celebrated, and know and be known.

My next post will go more in depth about why everyone, I repeat, EVERYONE, should be involved in a small group.