IN THE COMMUNITY OF A SMALL GROUP

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”  (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV)

Ecclesiastes provides a visual image of what it means for us to be present in Christian community with a small group of fellow disciples. The first Methodists both believed and practiced that principle.

John and Charles Wesley were engaged in small groups that were designed to counteract the widespread spiritual apathy and casual immorality of the time by promoting holiness of heart and life. Those groups were the first examples of the kinds of small groups that Wesley would later organize into a network of “class meetings,” “bands,” and “societies.” These groups would become the organizational genius of the Methodist movement. When the movement had grown to the point that John Wesley was preaching to thousands of people at a time, he observed that those who were active participants in the small groups continued to grow in their faith, while those who were not engaged in such a group quickly fell away.

That principle is just as true today as it was in eighteenth-century England. The evidence is clear that if an individual’s only contact with the congregation is worship, there is a good chance that he or she either will fall away or will miss out on the concern and care of the church community. Growth to maturity as a disciple is connected to others in the community of a small group.  

-- Adapted from “A Disciple’s Path: Deepening Your Relationship with Christ and the Church” by James A. Harnish

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