Small groups are increasingly a big deal today. Pam and I love our small group, led by College@Southeastern student Trevor Forbis. We might be the senior adult department in the group, but we feel loved and appreciated. Here are 10 ways you might lead your small group to be what God calls us be: holy.
- Enlist godly leaders. God will hold small group leaders to high standards (James 3:1), so our churches must do that as well. Ungodly leaders lead to ungodly groups.
- Teach God’s standards. Do a survey of your small group’s curriculum, and see how much attention is given to God’s call to be holy (Lev 20:7, 1 Pet 1:15-16). If we never teach this standard, we can’t expect God’s people to be holy.
- Develop mentoring relationships, preferably with older and younger believers. A mentoring relationship provides both accountability and modeling. All of us need both.
- Make sure you have time for men and women to have personal discussions. I like groups made up of both genders, but each gender needs some opportunities to talk openly.
- Stifle ungodly speech in the group. Especially as the group gets emotionally closer, it’s easy to lower our guard with our talk. Not only do we sometimes judge others verbally, but we also use unchristian humor. Don’t let that happen.
- Keep watch on each other. When group members stop attending, go after them. Too often, a sporadic attender is making unhealthy choices in some area of his or her life.
- Pray for at least one other group member each day. Think about following Jesus’ lead here, and pray, “Father, guard group member’s name from temptation today.”
- Ask the group to meditate on these questions each week: “In what area of your life do you need to walk more closely with God? What sin must you give up? What step of obedience must you take?” Just the questions themselves will lead a group to consider their holiness.
- Be sure to share the gospel at every meeting. You never know when a non-believer will be in your group. Even if your group is all believers, hearing the gospel recurrently should produce gratitude and obedience.
- Repent yourself. Your small group will be godlier if you are godlier. That’s an easy place to begin.
What would you add to this list?
I love this list! One thing I would add is this: Be on mission with God together. Sharing the gospel together and loving the hurting together for the sake of the gospel can bring a community/small group together – and teach people what it looks like to live on mission!
I agree, Justin. Thanks!