Many Churches (right or wrong) are boiling groups down to three values. Churches sometimge give these three values different names, but they typically represent the following words: Community, Discipleship, Mission.
When I’m talking to these churches I find that they feel like they do community and discipleship pretty well but don’t do mission very well. They say things like “We have great curriculum and our people have wonderful fellowship, but I can’t get them off the couch.” This is because curriculum and brownies don’t make truly great small groups.
This pigeon-holing mentality neatly categorizes and silos Community, Discipleship, and Mission. And that is why I believe so many churches struggle to have more than 30 or 40 percent of their congregations involved in small groups. Truth is, you can’t do community and discipleship well without mission because the three can’t be separated out.
Consider Jesus and his small group for a minute. Jesus called the 12 to a mission (“I will make you fishers of men”), and it was following Jesus on the mission that made them disciples. They came from all walks of life and socio-economic levels, yet those barriers were broken and they experienced community because of their mission. Mission was the bonding and growing agent in Jesus’ small group.
If you and your church have not started making the shift already, start now. Begin thinking and praying about how you can aim your group ministry at mission. When you learn how to begin with Mission you’ll find that Community and Discipleship will more naturally occur in your small groups.