I?ve mentioned at various times in teaching about small groups that the optimum group size is probably between 2-12 people. That being said, I?m sure that any of you who have worked with a group of others would agree there are times when it seems the optimum group size is one. Working with others can often be very taxing.
Group relationships can be very complex. In fact, any time you bring a group of people together ? whether it be a work group, a family, a sports team, a civic committee, or even a small group in church ? you create a complex system of relationships that are difficult to maintain, let alone turn into productivity. Furthermore, the more people you bring into the group, the more the complexity of that group increases dramatically. If there are two people in a group, there is only one line of communication ? A to B. If there are three people in a group, there are three lines of communication ? A to B, A to C, and B to C. If you add a fourth person, there are six lines of communication ? A to B, A to C, A to D, B to C, B to D, And C to D. So the complexity of the relationships within a group increases as the group grows in size.
It is my intent to finish our series, “Life in Community” with two messages about relationships in the small group. Next week, I will be talking with you about the relationships we have with one another in the context of a small group. However, this week I would like to share about the leadership in small groups.
The wisdom of generations of group dynamics has brought us to see the value of leadership within a group system. The leader at the center of a group both collects and disseminates much of the information required for the group to function. As the need for members within the group to communicate is minimized, the group becomes more efficient. Of course, even with leadership in place, members of a group still must communicate with one another at some level, which is what we?ll talk about next week. If group members do not interact, information can be logjammed at the leader. When that happens, learning and growth and efficiency are stunted. Obviously, there is a delicate balance for efficiency and for healthy group relationships.
This is how most groups in our culture operate. In a work group, the role of leader is assumed by the boss, manager, or supervisor of the work group. In a family, Biblical or not, this role is most often assumed by the dominant parent. On a baseball team, the coach fills this role. In a civic committee, it would be the chairperson.
Is this model familiar to you? Do you recognize this in the different groups you are a part of?
Because this model is so familiar, it is likely how we view our Koinonia groups. We have Koinonia groups that meet in homes, and each of those groups has a leader. So when we gather, we tend to view the leaders as the relational hub within that group. For example, in Audrey?s group, everyone has a connection with her. She communicates in some way with everyone in that group outside of the gathering just about every week. While everyone in the group might draw some sense of connection with Audrey, they would probably not make the same assertion about their relationship with others in the group. She is the relational hub, and I hope happy to be so. But if any of us are to be great leaders, we must move beyond the group experience we are all familiar with.
Consider the ministry of John the Baptist in Luke 3. Luke?s narrative to this point has been about the birth and early childhood of Jesus. The last thing Luke has told us about Jesus was that he “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52)
Luke 3:1-16 (NIV)
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar–when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene– 2 during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’” 7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 10 “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 11 John answered, “The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely–be content with your pay.” 15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Leadership is influence, and John influenced a lot of people with his message in the desert. Matthew?s account of John?s ministry declares,
Matthew 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
With great leadership, John taught the people who flocked to the desert to hear him to prepare the way for the Lord and make straight paths for him. He told the religious leaders to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. He told the crowd to share their clothing and their food for those who had none. He told the tax collectors to be honest in their dealings. He told the soldiers not to extort money or accuse people falsely. In summary, his message was, “Repent and change your ways!”
Turn with me now to the disciple John?s account of what happened next:
John 1:29-34 (NIV)
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
Jesus? ministry began after John baptized Him. After a while, Jesus was out in the Judean countryside with his disciples baptizing people in the same place as John the Baptist. Some of the people familiar with John?s ministry were really troubled by Jesus? presence.
John 3:26-30 (NIV)
26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan–the one you testified about–well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.
With that, John?s ministry began to fade, and eventually he was beheaded. John prepared the way for Jesus, and then Jesus gathered the group of 12 men around him that had the greatest, most lasting impact on the world than any small group in the history of man. In many ways, this group looked much like the model we are all familiar with. Jesus was the center of the group. Throughout the gospels we are treated to a number of lessons and dialogues between Jesus and the twelve that showed he was the relational hub of this group. He was the teacher. He was the leader. He was the bond between them all.
Of course, in most ways, this is also what John?s ministry looked like and what our Koinonia groups look like as well. It would be easy for us to pat ourselves on the back and say, “Well, looky there! We?re doin? ministry just like John the Baptist and Jesus did ministry.” But may I point out one very simple yet critical fact: The model small group was not the one John led, it was the one Jesus led. There was a difference between the two. We learn that from John?s confession: “He must become greater, I must become less.”
bring those in my influence to a place where their spiritual life is lived vicariously through my relationship with Christ. First of all, I am far too imperfect to be anyone?s model. Second, and most important, that?s not at all what Jesus meant for you when He offered His life on a cross to restore you to the Father.
Make no mistake, Jesus is alive and He wants to have a personal, loving, living, and leading relationship with each and every one of us. He also longs to be present as the center of our gatherings, just as He promised, to be light and to give life. He wants to baptize us in the Holy Spirit and fire, so we can have a spirit of wisdom and revelation, living on a completely different level than we?ve ever lived before. When we gather, He wants to pour out spiritual gifts so that we might edify one another, building one another up and making us holy. He wants to give us prophetic words about who He is, what He is doing, and what He is going to do next in our very lives. He wants us to share those words in our gathering. He wants to give us power to be His witnesses in this city and around the world. He wants us to live in intimacy with Him. But He cannot give us these precious gifts until we look beyond the familiar model where some man or woman is at the center and we come together with an expectation that Jesus is the center of the group.
For it is at the center of our begin that Jesus belongs. After all, we were bought with a price ? the price of his own blood. Through him we have been bought back from slavery to our old ways and we have forgiveness for our sins. Now he also gives us the Spirit of sonship that causes us to cry out: “Abba!” “Father!” “Lord.”
Leadership is critical in the church. We need leaders who will prepare the way for the Lord. We need leaders who will counsel us to repent and change our ways. We need leaders who will help us identify Christ when he comes in our midst. Ultimately, though, we need leaders who will say, “He must become greater, I must become less.”
My prayer for you, just as Paul prayed for the Ephesians, is this:
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Can anything in life be greater than this? Christ dwelling in your hearts, as together with those in your TLC Group you are able to grasp the love of Christ and be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.