My second problem with the modern small group phenomenon is this:  you
cannot fake life.

In the small group promotional materials, we are frequently told how "real
fellowship" manifests itself in caring, intimate groups, whose members
support one another and take care of one another, thus fulfilling
scripture's commands to us as brethren. This is all well and good and, I
think, probably true when applied to the naturally developing "small groups"
about which the comments are made. I absolutely believe that the Christian
life, seriously approached, does result in individuals developing
relationships with one another that often evolve into little "cells" of
people who are supportive and whose spiritual walk is enhanced thereby.

But you cannot fake life. And these naturally evolving "cells" exist for
that very reason: they naturally evolve. They receive impetus from the work
of God in the lives of people, they are empowered by the fruit of the Spirit
expressing itself in the lives of people. They have a natural life and
cohesion as a result of God's working.

These naturally occurring small groups are like apples on a tree, they are
an expression of the life within the tree. When I see a church where such
groups have evolved, I am encouraged because I know that the fellowship and
brotherhood manifested in those groups is an expression of life.

However, you cannot fake life. You cannot tie apples on a dead tree and give
it life, nor can you glue blooms on a dormant tree and make it spring.

The "small group" emphasis often ignores this difference. I have been in
several churches that have gone through their "small group" phase. Each
time, there is a great promise about how wonderful it will be when we are
all in small groups. But, and this is important, the "small groups" that are
created are false. They do not evolve naturally from the working of God in
the hearts of his people, but are imposed by the leadership based on a plan.

There is a fundamental and very important difference between a "small group"
that evolves naturally through God's working and a "small group" that is
artificially created. In the natural case, no one has "planned" it or caused
it, it just happened. Like friendship, you  do not plan it but suddenly wake
up one day and finds that you are involved in the lives of people who care
about you and about whom you care.

When churches "institute small groups," they have to short circuit this
process. They "create" the groups, usually based on age, marital status, and
geography. When the groups meet, they are often strangers to one another (or
barely know one another) and are really more of a home Bible study group
than a real "cell" of caring people. It is common to see churches with
"Young Married" small groups and "Senior" small groups and the "West Town"
small group. In other words, when we artificially create the groups, we do
so on artificial grounds. We assign people based on fleshly similarities
(age, sex, marital status, location) and then expect spiritual relationships
to form around those fleshly similarities.

I think this is wrong-headed. When we act this way, we (1) create divisions
in our church and (2) are usually disappointed. We create divisions when we
tell someone "you can't go to that group, but must go to this one." Often,
our assigned divisions ignore real relationships that have already begun to
spring up, by separating people who have started to have real fellowship.
The small groups are not expressions of unity but of division and do not
have the healthy "older/younger" dynamic of the church (see Titus 2).

I think effective personal fellowships are an important and highly desired
evidence of God's working in our lives and churches, just as apples are an
important and highly desired evidence of life in an apple tree. But just as
tying apples to a tree cannot put life in the tree, so creating artificial
small groups cannot put life in a church.

My experience has been that when a "small group program" is announced, there
is usually great fanfare and promises of the wonders that will result. The
program is presented as an "exciting opportunity" to "experience true
fellowship." The idea is that having small groups will "energize our
church."

 At first, there is great excitement and pretty high attendance. But the
false fellowships (and most will be false because they were created on false
premises) fall apart quickly. Within six months, there is much less
excitement and much lower attendance and, within a year, most of the groups
have quit meeting at all. Usually, one or two groups will survive and
prosper or, perhaps, a smaller version of a failed group will survive and
prosper. Sometimes, out of a whole group, what you end up with is two or
three guys who meet for breakfast every week.

And, ultimately, the program is seen as a failure because it did not live up
to its promise.

I think churches should encourage individuals and groups to meet and pursue
fellowship together (even to the point of reducing "church" meetings to
allow more time for personal fellowship), but I am not convinced that
artificially trying to recreate the "small group" NT plan ever really brings
life to a church where such life does not already exist.

You cannot fake life or create life by pretending it exists already. You can
make it easier for the true life to express itself, however, by being open
to doing whatever you can to support the natural development of personal
fellowships in your church.

James W. Allen
jallen@...