Missional Small Group Philosophy

Introduction The final command Jesus gave to his disciples was that they would “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). It makes sense, therefore, that the primary goal of Jesus’ body, the church (Col. 1:18), should also be to make disciples. One of the main approaches a church can use to make disciples is through relational small groups. This paper will present the author’s philosophy for small groups within the church for discipleship. This paper will also discuss the importance of missional small groups and evaluate the author’s current status of participation in missional small groups.

Philosophy of Small Groups in Discipleship Disciples are made through relationships. Jesus selected twelve disciples that they “would be with
The Bible contains many passages that describe how disciples are to care for “one another.” Gene Getz, in his book Building up One Another, describes twenty-two positive ways in which one disciple is to care for another disciple. Getz states, “These exhortations form a profile for doing the will of God! All Christians are to be involved. We must be committed to looking for opportunities to carry out these positive ‘one another’ injunctions in our personal lives.” The relational small group should demonstrate the kind of care for each other as described by these “one another” commands. For example, according to the book of 1 Thessalonians, disciples within the group should “love one another” (1 Thess. 3:12), “comfort one another” (1 Thess. 4:18), and “live in peace with one another” (1 Thess.
Jesus told his disciples “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Dave Earley and Rod Dempsey, in their book Disciple Making Is . . .: How To Live The Great Commission with Passion And Confidence, comment on Acts 1:8 and explain that, “We can see clearly from this verse that the Lord wants us to go locally and globally. A healthy church is working on a plan to accomplish this goal with the disciples who are in the local church.” Similarly, in Matthew 29:19, Jesus told his followers to “makes disciples of all nations”; not just locally but to make disciples of all people groups. Leon Morris, in his book The Gospel According to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, explains, “They are to make disciples of all the nations, which points to a worldwide scope for their mission.” Relational small groups, therefore, are not for the purpose of sheltering Christians from the world but are for the purpose of equipping Christian disciples to go forth from the group in order to be a light to the world around them(Matt. 5:14-16), locally and globally. Earley and Dempsey emphasize the missional aspect of discipleship in small groups and state that the very first goal of disciple making is, “Win the lost by cooperating