Small Groups: Marketing Gimmick or Means of Grace?

by Ryan McCammack@ http://www.sharperiron.org

Read Part 1 and Part 2

More on the Blessings of Small Groups

Welcome once again to the continuing saga of small-group ministry at Calvary Baptist Church (Joliet, IL). In my previous offerings on this topic, I addressed the motivating factors that led us to begin this type of ministry as well as some of the logistical issues that running this type of program brings about.

The general consensus of the feedback that I received from both articles boiled down to essentially one question—“What does it look like?” Certainly, I do not claim to be an expert on all things small groups; however, the Lord has used this ministry in our local assembly, and if our experience can in any way serve other members of the body of Christ, then I will gladly relate what we have learned. So without any further ado, let me explain what you would see on a typical Wednesday evening at Calvary. (Isn’t this exciting? All two of you who are reading this post can stop holding your breath now)

Before I get into specifics, however, let me lay out a couple of foundational principles that I try to consistently emphasize to those in our church who participate in small groups.

Small Groups Must Be Biblically Driven

This sounds very simple, but it is a critical truth. If this type of ministry is to aid the body of Christ, it must be committed to the application of biblical truth. A small-group ministry will be quite detrimental to a church if it is not governed by good theology. The reason that this warning must be sounded is that there is a tendency for this genre of program to degenerate into “Christian psychologizing.” C.J. Mahaney has well noted this trend:

It is no exaggeration to say that most popular books and guides dealing with the topic of small groups are shockingly deficient in sound doctrine. I don’t say this lightly. I have reviewed them for years and have found a greater emphasis on modern psychology and sociology then on thorough, biblical theology (Why Small Groups, Gaithersburg, MD: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 1996. p. 2).

Later, when speaking about these resources, Mahaney further laments:

Undoubtedly the publishers want to help Christians grow. But without solid biblical content, these materials can actually hinder God’s intentions for us as individual and groups (Mahaney, p. 2).

In our small groups, we do not simply want to vent our frustrations or learn the latest and greatest technique that behaviorism has to offer. We want to be confronted by and instructed from the inerrant, inspired Word of God. For this reason, we need to be regularly reminded that the Scriptures are sufficient and authoritative.

Sanctification Is a Group Effort

The second foundational tenet of small-group ministry that needs to be frequently emphasized is that sanctification is not meant to be pursued alone. In our very independent Western society, this idea cuts across the grain a bit. Because our culture rewards rugged individualism and views the asking for help as a sign of weakness, I believe that the Christian church needs to be vigilant in teaching that believers need one another. Consider the following passages:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (Heb. 3:12-13, NIV).

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:1-2).

Both of these passages emphasize that as a Christian, I should be concerned about my brother’s sanctification and that as a Christian I should welcome the correction of my brothers. In essence, one of the means that God has given us for transformation is the insight of other Christians. Let’s face it; we all have blind spots in our Christians lives, and we would do well to enlist the help of other believers who may see those areas in our lives more clearly. I confess that there have been times in my life when I have entertained thought processes and attitudes that were glaringly sinful to every other Christian within the greater Joliet area (that may be an exaggeration) but to which I was painfully oblivious. Small-group ministry in our church has given us an excellent context for dealing with such issues. I am very thankful for the men in my group who have kindly pointed out my sin and helped me to become more like the Savior. Paul Tripp rightly comments:

Personal insight is the product of community. I need you in order to really see and know myself. Otherwise, I will listen to my own arguments, believe my own lies, and buy into my own delusions. My self-perception is as accurate as a carnival mirror. If I am going to see myself clearly I need you to hold the mirror of God’s Word in front of me (Instruments in the Redeemers Hand, Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Press, 2002, p. 54).

We do not practice small groups because they are popular. We practice them because we believe they are a valid application of biblical principles that are critical to the spiritual vitality of the local church.

Having briefly laid the theological foundation for small groups, we can now get to the nuts and bolts.

Inductive Bible Study

At 6:30 p.m., when everybody arrives (actually more like 6:35—we are Baptists after all), we all gather in the sanctuary for a short time of inductive Bible study. During this portion of the service, we take about 15 minutes to briefly examine a few verses of Scripture. The text that we consider is a passage that was alluded to in the preceding Sunday’s sermon; it is not the primary text but rather a related passage that was quoted to support one of the major themes brought out in the sermon. I pass out a handout with the Bible study passage on it a week in advance so people can be prepared for our limited discussion time.

Each week, we walk (it’s more like a jog) through the following questions:

Observation—What Does It Say?

Who wrote it? Whom is he writing to? What is the situation? Where does this occur in the context of the book? What do the words mean?

Interpretation—What Does It Mean?

Is there a command to obey? Is there an example to follow? Is there a warning? Is there a basic doctrinal truth to embrace? Is there a promise to believe?

Application—What Should I Do?

What does the Lord want me to do or to stop doing? How do I do it?

Using the opening time of our midweek service for Bible study has been extremely helpful for a number of reasons; here I will mention only two of the most significant impacts. First, it has given me an opportunity to model for our people how to study the Bible. With a dry-erase marker in hand, I have been able to lead our church through a number of significant passages that I would not have otherwise had the forum to discuss. Having now done this for quite some time, our congregation at large is getting quite adept at asking the right questions of the text. The second reason that this has been so beneficial is that it has given occasion for large-group discussion of a particular theme from that week’s sermon. This has done a world of good to assist in the long-term application of truths gleaned from messages.

Accountability Groups

We finish the first portion of our service at 6:45 p.m., and then we break up into our groups which meet in various parts of the building. The following is the basic agenda for this segment of the service. To kick it off, the leader of the group opens in prayer. In this prayer, I encourage our leaders to express dependence on the Lord and to specifically ask for the Spirit’s help. No real and lasting change happens apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. We feel it is important to begin with prayer because we want to confess at the outset of these groups that we are in need of God’s transforming grace. Pragmatically, beginning with prayer is a good idea because it prevents the opening chit-chat from lingering too long.

After prayer, we move into our accountability questions. I would consider this to be the major emphasis of our small-group ministry. During this time, we ask each other a number of questions that relate to the practice of the spiritual disciplines and other matters of personal holiness. The questions are as follows:

For All

Have you had a daily time of systematic Bible reading?

Have you memorized your Scripture passage?

Have you set aside a daily time for prayer?

Have you prayed consistently for at least one unsaved person?

Have you prayed consistently for the members of your group?

Has your use of money honored the Lord?

Have you been involved in Great Commission living?

For Men

Have you listened to or viewed material containing inappropriate or immoral content?

Have you had a serving and considerate attitude toward those closest to you?

For Women

Have you kept your thoughts in submission to the Lord’s will (and to your husband)?

Have you allowed thoughts of worry or fear to linger in you mind?

These questions have really been a great assistance to us. For starters, they have caused us to keep some of the more neglected spiritual disciplines in the forefront of our minds. For instance, we all know that we should be memorizing Scripture, but how many of us are actively involved in a Scripture-memory program? Our church has experienced significant growth in this area because frankly you know Wednesday is coming, and you are going to be asked if you worked on your Scripture-memory passage. These questions have also been great spiritual conversation starters. It is not uncommon for a discussion to begin about Bible reading but quickly morph into a gentle confrontation of bitterness in the life of one of the group members. Accountability is an excellent springboard into dealing with heart issues.

Though the benefits of accountability groups are tremendous, there is one danger about which I would like to quickly comment. When utilizing questions like these, it is important to consistently emphasize that these lists do not serve as law. Yes, we absolutely should read our Bibles; and yes, we should certainly pray, but these activities must be viewed as means of grace, not as meritorious acts. The temptation is to say, “I deserve God’s favor” when we do well on questions and to say, “God cannot love me” when we do poorly. In reality, we never deserve God’s favor no matter how we answer the questions, but at the same time we must realize that God gives His grace to those who do not deserve it. Keeping this truth in perspective protects us from self-righteousness in “good” weeks and discouragement in the “bad” ones.

We always try to conclude our small-group session with a time of intercession for one another. Inevitably a number of significant spiritual needs come to the foreground through the accountability questions, so we encourage our groups to spend some time praying specifically for those needs as they conclude. The Lord has been very kind to us in allowing an atmosphere of mutual love and concern to develop within our groups. I have frequently been encouraged to hear the brothers praying earnestly for the deep needs of their fellow group members.

Book Discussion

After nearly an hour in our break-out groups, everyone returns to the auditorium. During this phase of the meeting, I lead a large group discussion on a book that we have been reading as a church family. Once again, we utilize a worksheet that I pass out a week in advance covering a chapter of material in our selected resource. Here are some of the books we have read through this ministry: Winning the Inner War by Erwin Lutzer, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Don Whitney, The Enemy Within by Kris Lungaard, The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, God is the Gospel and Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper, Praying Backwards by Bryan Chappell, and Humility by C.J. Mahaney.

The benefits of this portion of our meeting cannot be overstated. First, the discussion time is almost always quite encouraging. God has used this segment to help us to be more careful thinkers and more rigorous appliers of the Word. Second, a good portion of our church body is consistently reading good Christian books. I have had several people say things to me like, “I said I would never read a book after college, but I really enjoy reading these books.” Not only is my teaching ministry often reinforced by these books, but it is also enhanced and expanded. Third, it has helped to create a culture of learning in our church. When new people become a part of our fellowship, they immediately see that we take learning and spiritual growth very seriously. It has been such a blessing to be able to immediately put a good resource in a new believer’s hand and to watch him jump right in and grow with the rest of the congregation. This ministry has helped to make reading and study a normal part of the Christian life at Calvary.

I praise the Lord for what He has done in our church through the small-group ministry, and I look forward to His continued working through this ministry in our church body. We have not attempted to reinvent the wheel in this program but rather sought to design a ministry based on biblical principles that we feel are central to church life. What we do at Calvary certainly will not be a fit for every church (it may not be a fit for any other church); however, it is my hope that our experience at Calvary will, in a small way, provoke local churches to be more careful and systematic in their application of the Word.

Ryan McCammack graduated from Northland Baptist Bible College (Dunbar, WI) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He is senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church (Joliet, IL). He is pursuing the M.Div. degree from Baptist Bible College (Clarks Summit, PA). God has blessed him and his wife, Tricia, with two sons: Ian and Calvin.

Small Groups: Marketing Gimmick or Means of Grace?

by Ryan McCammack @ http://www.sharperiron.org

More on the Blessings of Small Groups

In my last article, I sought to address some of the reasons that led us to begin a small-group ministry at our church. In this offering, my initial plan was to attempt to explain what a typical midweek service (Wednesday evenings for us) looks like at Calvary. However, the plans of men are plans at best. So as I considered ordus small groupus (not real Latin), I realized that there were a few logistical questions that probably needed to be dealt with before I explain what we do in our services. To be sure, we certainly still have much to learn about in this area; however, after being involved in this ministry for a couple of years, we have by God’s grace managed to work out a few of the kinks. It is my hope that this discussion will be a help to those interested in fostering a greater sense of community in their church body through the use of small groups. Lord willing, those reading will both glean from our successes and learn from our failures (which have been many). As you read, bear in mind that this is by no means a theological treatise but simply an attempt to address some of the practical issues that may arise with those involved in a small-group ministry.

When Do You Meet?

For those of you already “waist deep” in a small-group ministry, you have probably experienced what I began to observe; namely, this type of ministry takes a good deal of time. This is particularly true when you are getting started, for those leading the groups are just beginning to hone their skills in discipleship and biblical counseling. When I started at Calvary, our Wednesday evening service began at 6:30 p.m. and ended between 7:30 and 7:45 p.m. However, after the first few weeks of meeting on this schedule, our small groups leaders were nearly unanimously saying, “Pastor, we just don’t have enough time!” (Some said this with the exclamation point; others without.) These comments made me realize that if these groups were going to fly, we needed to extend our service times. In our situation, we found that we needed, at the very least, a full hour and a half to accomplish our desired goals. As a result, we now meet from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. There is no question that we could easily and profitably fill more time, but in order to be sensitive to parents of small children, to those working in our children’s ministries, and to those who work early in the morning, we seek earnestly to be done before the clock strikes 8.

Where Do You Meet?

This is another important question in relationship to small groups. Basically, when this question is asked, two answers are put forward: in homes or at the church. Both of these suggestions have their merits and their difficulties. Certainly, meeting in homes brings with it a dynamic that is difficult to replicate on a church facility. There is something disarming about talking across a coffee table, particularly when cookies are involved. However, for our purposes, we thought it best for the groups to meet in our church building. We made this decision based on two primary factors: ease of childcare and fellowship of the whole church.

Having all our groups meet at a central location alleviates the need for our church members to organize care for the children from week to week. I have heard a number of stories where child-care plans went awry and made the group ministry as a whole a veritable nightmare. One group host from another ministry related to me that her daughter used to ask if she could hide a couple of her favorite toys on the nights when the groups came over. It seems that a number of her play things often fell prey to other youngsters who were less careful than she. Meeting at the church alleviates individual families from concerns such as this. We have a nursery every Wednesday night as well as a program for grade-school children—a program headed up by our associate pastor and his wife. They, along with the teens and a couple of other adults, staff this ministry, which frees the parents to be involved in the groups. In a church such as ours with a number of small children, child care was a major consideration when determining where to meet.

Another advantage of meeting in a central location is interaction that occurs between the different groups. At Calvary, our whole evening is not devoted exclusively to communication within the groups; there are also times when the entire church body discusses material. (I will say more about this in future articles.) Along with this, we feel that the times before and after the services are also critical for community building. It is quite common for a number of people to stick around after church and talk, primarily about spiritual matters, although there may be an occasional reference to our beloved Cubs and Bears. (Oh, the pain. The wound is still fresh.) In fact, it is not unusual for my wife and me to be at the church chatting with people until after 10 p.m. It does make for a late night, but this is certainly an aspect of the ministry we enjoy and also, I think, an indication of church health.

Who Meets in the Groups?

Since we began this ministry, our groups have been gender specific; that is, men meet with men, and women meet with women. This arrangement has proven to be a tremendous help for spiritual growth. We have found that a woman is much more likely to be open and transparent in a group when her husband is not present. For us, separating the men and women has allowed us to have a practical way to follow the instructions laid out in Titus 2 and 2 Timothy 2.

Though this arrangement has remained consistent since the inception of the groups at our church, we have made a significant change in the groups since we started the ministry. When we started, the groups were age-graded. This meant that those involved would meet with others around their age and stage of life. Unquestionably, this situation had some benefits, for it is true that a 27-year-old with a newborn does not quickly identify with a senior saint struggling to properly respond to the daily pain of arthritis. However, in spite of the obvious advantages of age-specific groups, we also felt that there would be an even more significant benefit in making the groups mixed in age.

When we proposed that the groups get “mixed up,” we did run into a few bumps in the road, for at that point we had already been meeting with age-specific groups for nearly two years. A few of the older members said things such as, “I’m not sure I can share my spiritual struggles with people as young as my children in the room,” and some of the younger ones said, “I don’t know if I have that much in common with someone twice my age.”

However, we pressed on, primarily because we were convinced of two key ideas: First, we desired that the scriptural dynamic of the older teaching the younger be taking place in our church. With our Sunday school classes already being split up by age, we did not want to create cliques and cut off our younger members from the wisdom of more mature believers who have walked with the Lord for a longer period of time.

The second reason for making this change was this: We desired that our church be a place where unity in Christ is not just talked about but lived. Speaking about the body of Christ, Paul wrote: “Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Col. 3:11, NIV). What the apostle is arguing here is that the normal social barriers and classes that prevent close fellowship in secular society should not exist within the church. The idea is that all prejudices should be absent from the body of Christ; there should not be sinful tension between differing ages or genders within the church. In our small-group ministry, we really wanted to model this. In essence, we wanted the thought process of our group members to be, “In my stage of life, I have very little in common with Bill; however, I am thankful that he is in my group because we share a greater bond than any common hobby or life experience could ever bring. Bill is my brother in Christ.” There should be a unity among Christians that is far greater than any commonness that the world has to offer, and it was our desire that our midweek services be a practical way for the members of our church to demonstrate this.

One of the distinguishing marks of the Christian church is that its members are to have love for one another (John 13:35). As a pastor, I wanted this love to be evident in our church body, particularly among those who were not alike. It is exactly this type of love that makes the unity offered in Christ unique. After all, even unbelievers can demonstrate fondness for those who are just like them. Christian unity should be inexplicable apart from divine intervention. It was our hope that our small groups would be a way where this type of unity in diversity is modeled. We wanted those new to our church to say, “What is going on here? This is odd. It’s wonderful, but it is odd.” As Paul continued his admonition to the Colossians, he added these appropriate words: “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Col. 3:14). Since the divisions that were so prevalent in the world were erased by Christians’ common union with Christ, Paul encourages the Colossians to love in a dramatically countercultural way so the superior unity that is to be found in Jesus Christ is showcased.

As I now look back on the “great mix up,” I am thankful for the fruit the Lord has been causing to grow in our small group ministry. We are seeing a greater intergenerational unity in our church because strong spiritual bonds are being forged between the younger and the older through shared spiritual struggles. The culture of our church is also gradually transforming as more and more believers (particularly the more mature ones) are developing as loving and theologically accurate biblical counselors.

For instance, I can recall several occasions during small groups when one of our new believers has shared a difficulty he is experiencing in his life. Perhaps it’s neglecting Bible study or relating to his unsaved family or battling lust. What has been so encouraging to me is that without any cue, one or two or even three of the other men in the group will rally around this young Christian. They may pray for him. They may open the Word and share a verse, or they may offer him a practical suggestion from their own experience. Whatever the case, as a pastor, my heart leaps for joy because I believe this is the body functioning as God intended it (Rom. 12:3-8).

Who Leads the Groups?

In our setting, we have sought to choose spiritually sensitive individuals who appear to possess a robust understanding of sanctification and who evidence a good degree of spiritual fruit in their lives. When we first started out, I will admit that I was just figuring things out, and I, in a sense, “threw our leaders to the wolves.” I put them into the fray without having a clear picture of how things were going to work out. Thankfully, the Lord in His grace allowed us to muddle through in spite of our lack of clarity. Since that time, I have tried to remedy that situation by meeting on a monthly basis with the leaders and hearing reports, answering questions, and providing some training. The field of biblical counseling has been fertile ground in providing instructional material for the leaders. If you are interested in doing more work in this area, here are a few recommended resources:

Faith Baptist Counseling Ministries—This church has an extensive counseling ministry and offers a yearly training conference in biblical counseling.

Christian Counseling and Education Foundation—We have used both books and DVDs from this organization.

Peacemakers—This ministry focuses on reconciling and maintaining relationships using biblical principles.

As far as books, the following have been foundational:

• Christian Living in the Home by Jay Adams
• Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hand by Paul David Tripp
• The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard
• Winning the Inner War by Erwin Lutzer (Just a reminder, “This book will change your life”—for those of you who attended NBBC during the Herron era.).

These observations are merely that—observations. They are in no way intended to be dogma, but rather to serve those who may be seeking to think through issues related to small groups. I hope in some small way our process will help brothers and sister in Christ relate to one another more biblically and bring the Lord greater glory as we live out our lives together.

I am so thankful that the Lord has taught me through these groups that I do not need to be the one always offering the counsel, but I need to be striving “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:12). I am grateful to have any part in this process, and as I grow in leading and developing these ministries, I am becoming more and more convinced that followers of Christ are indeed “competent to instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14).

More to come. . . .

Ryan McCammack graduated from Northland Baptist Bible College (Dunbar, WI) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He is senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church (Joliet, IL). He is pursuing the M.Div. degree from Baptist Bible College (Clarks Summit, PA). God has blessed him and his wife, Tricia, with two

Small Groups: Marketing Gimmick or Means of Grace?

By Ryan McCammack @ http://www.sharperiron.org

Within broad Evangelicalism today, words like community and small group are fired around with unprecedented frequency. For instance, Rick Warren and company are now following up their “40 Days of Purpose” program with “40 Days of Community.” On the website introducing the program, Warren says, “You cannot be what God made you to be, you cannot do what God created you to do . . . without other people. . . . We were made for each other, God made us for a family. Small groups provide such a family” (link here). In response to this statement, churches have often taken one of two approaches. The first is to embrace all things small groups carte blanche. They see concept of community as the deliverer of the church, the key to giving the church the impact in the world God intended it to have. Unfortunately, in many of these scenarios, community is not defined theologically; therefore, soon the small group degenerates into nothing more than a pop-psychology session. Far too often, in this type of environment, the use of Scripture is replaced with statements prefaced with “Oprah said . . .” or “I read in People magazine . . .” Sadly, this brand of counsel does little to biblically solve the problems of the sobbing couple sitting on the love seat.

The second typical reaction to these “Christian buzzwords” (and probably much more common to those among this website’s readership) is to heartily reject the notion of small groups altogether. In an attempt to decry anything remotely tainted with the smell of the church growth pundits (often a noble pursuit, in my opinion), some have sought to make small groups another victim to be notched on their spiritual gun. But should this be the case? Is this taking guilt by association a bit too far? Or is this method, not the particular application of it, something those in the seeker-sensitive camp have gotten right?

How should Christians, particularly those serving in leadership positions, think about small groups? Are they just a passing fad that should be avoided? Or are they a helpful methodology based on Scriptural principles?

These were questions I wrestled with about two and a half years ago shortly into my pastorate of Calvary Baptist Church (Joliet, IL). When I accepted the call to Calvary, I knew my role would be to seek to right a ship that had recently gone through some fairly treacherous waters. The pastor who preceded me had fallen into serious sin and had been rightfully dismissed from the ministry. This sin was of such a severe nature that the pastor was incarcerated, and the church was exposed to news coverage by major media outlets in the area. And in case you were wondering, they were not putting a positive spin on the story. However, in all this the Lord was gracious in allowing the men serving on the church board at that time to handle the situation admirably. They labored long hours together praying, planning, and sorting through mountains of paperwork. I am honored to now serve as these men’s pastor, and I am eternally grateful to the Lord for their work of love during this time.

As I began to get to know the church body at Calvary, one area I saw we needed to grow in was unity. It wasn’t that there was any open conflict in the church; in fact, the situation was just the opposite. The cordiality of the people toward one another was palpable. The harmony that existed in the church, however, was not necessarily based on shared doctrinal convictions or on the common pursuit of godly living but rather on mutual hobbies and on just knowing each other for a long time. The congregation had suffered under a lack of instruction for at least three years. This was how long the pastor had been living in sin during which time he had fed the flock only with Internet sermon downloads. As a result, the body was spiritually starving and somewhat confused.

The first and crucial method employed to deepen the unity of the church was simply to begin to consistently teach the Bible. In our morning services, I started working through books expositionally; thus far, we’ve covered Philippians, a series on the life of Abraham from Genesis, a series on the church at Antioch in Acts, 1 John, and Haggai (just in case you were curious). In the evenings, I’ve been teaching a systematic theology from day one. Within a period of months, the Spirit’s work in the life of our congregation was evident. People were sticking around after services, and they were chatting about—would you believe it?—doctrine. Not only that but requests for additional reading material were regularly coming across my desk. God was faithful, and the church as a whole was certainly growing in their depth of knowledge.

It was at this point that my questions about small groups came to the forefront. The church certainly was starting to show signs of health, but when I talked to people individually, I found that there was a general lack of personal pursuit of God. Corporate worship was thriving but individual devotion seemed stinted. Yes, people were discussing inspiration and the sovereignty of God with much more clarity, but they were simultaneously struggling to read their Bibles, to memorize Scripture, and to spend time in prayer on a regular basis.

In order to address these issues and thereby deepen the unity in practical Christianity at our church, I proposed a small group ministry that would take place during our midweek service. Two primary considerations led me to the conclusion that small groups may be the pony to ride.

First, the body of Christ has an extremely significant role in the pursuit of personal sanctification.

This was a conviction that was steadily deepening in my heart. As I read the Scriptures and came across passages like, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24, NIV), the idea that “You are not made to live alone. You are not made to live alone” kept beating in my head with the regularity of a drum (a non-syncopated beat, of course). This notion starkly cuts across the individualistic air we breathe, which perhaps is why it stood out so glaringly to me as I saw it in the Bible.

I thought about Paul’s imagery of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:17-18, “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” At least part of what Paul is communicating here is that the members of the body are dependent upon each another. The foot needs the eye, and the eye needs the brain, and the brain needs the heart, and so on. The body not only needs each part to be individually healthy, but each part must also contribute to the health of the other parts.

Then came the kicker. I did a brief study on the “one another” language in the New Testament. This led me to passages that said things like “instruct one another” (Rom. 15:14, NIV), “submit to one another” (Eph. 5:21), “bear with each other and forgive . . . one another” (Col. 3:12), “admonish one another” (Col. 3:16), “encourage one another” (1 Thess. 5:11), “spur one another on” (Heb. 10:24), and—the piece de resistance—“confess your sins to each other and pray for each other” (James 5:16). And, as you know, there are many more.

It became increasingly apparent to me that one of the tools God uses to make us more like His Son is other believers, and the Scriptural emphasis indicates that this is a well-worn one at that.

We grow in holiness by taking God’s Word and applying it to our lives. Clearly, any time a believer experiences a sanctified growth spurt, it is because the Holy Spirit is active within his heart. However, God often uses human agency to bring about this growth. It may be in the form of a brother teaching us the meaning of a passage that we stumbled over for years, or it may be through a fellow believer confronting us about a sin in our lives, to which we were blind. Whatever the case, undeniably other Christians have a significant role in helping us become more like the Savior.

Experientially, we know this fact to be the case. All of us could list many fellow believers who have had a profound impact on our lives and contributed to our personal sanctification. In fact, as I look at some of the names involved with this website, I can say that I have benefited from your teaching, encouragement, or admonition.

The point is that the Bible teaches we are not made to live alone. In my setting, I realized that if Calvary was to be healthy, then there needed to be a unity based on this biblical version of “one-anotherness” (I’m confident this isn’t a word, so don’t bother to spell check it, but you may want to try to say it five times fast). This fact led me to my second conclusion.

Second, churches are often ill-equipped programmatically to allow the body to function in the way God intended it.

This fact certainly described the boat we were in. It seemed the church body was beginning to enjoy expositional preaching and actually to anticipate doctrinal studies, but this dynamic of being involved in one another’s sanctification seemed largely lacking. Our services all basically entailed that I stood and taught for the lion’s share of the session. I began to realize that we had not intentionally built any time into the church schedule that would be conducive to this mutual instruction and encouragement of which I had become scripturally convinced. Sure, there was natural confrontation and encouragement taking place in the hallways and in homes—which is terrific—but I felt that if our church were to develop a thick biblical unity, we needed to systematically give the members of the body time to talk to one another about spiritual matters.

Once I was convinced that small groups were not just a marketing gimmick designed by the church-growth gurus but rather a sound application of a noteworthy biblical principle, I had no trouble embracing the idea. At this point, I started to design in earnest what has become the mainstay of our midweek service, and the results have been tremendous.

God has used this weekly time of accountability, prayer, and encouragement significantly in the life of our church. In some ways, I think we are realizing what it means to be a body. The unity that now exists at Calvary is of a different quality than it was before. Believers are increasingly united in their common pursuit of Christ; they are war buddies, who day after day are learning to fight their flesh and follow their commander TOGETHER! It really is a glorious thing to watch. One of our small-group leaders recently said to me, “I’ve known some of these same ladies for twenty years, but I’ve grown closer to them in six months as a result of our accountability groups.”

Small groups are by no means a wonder cure for disunity and cannot be divorced from biblical preaching or sound theology. However, because this method can be a valid application of a biblical principle, it has the potential to bear fruit, and in our setting it certainly has. God has ordained that believers impact the growth of other believers. I believe the church should try to create an atmosphere in which this biblical “one-anotherness” (there’s that word again) can readily occur.

In future offerings, I will continue this semi-biographical sketch and address specifically what we do in our small groups.

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^{Ryan McCammack graduated from Northland Baptist Bible College (Dunbar, WI) with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He is senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church (Joliet, IL). He is pursuing the M.Div. degree from Baptist Bible College (Clarks Summit, PA). God has blessed him and his wife, Tricia, with two sons: Ian and Calvin.}