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Pitfalls for Growth Groups · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. This is the deep dive where we
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try to pull out the most critical observations from some,
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well, some pretty dense theological analysis.
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And today, we're focusing on a structure that is, I mean, it's
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absolutely central to the way a lot of us live out our faith
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today. The small group.
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The small group, yeah, For decades, they've been seen as,
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you know, these essential engines for growth and
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fellowship. But the sources we're looking at
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today, they issue a pretty serious warning.
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That's right, Topple today is what we're calling the
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horizontal trap. We're analyzing how this
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structure, the Christian small group, which is meant to be a
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vehicle for discipleship, can actually fall into some pretty
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systemic danger when it misaligns its main objective.
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Right, the sources really breakdown how that vital
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fellowship and support which they call the horizontal
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relationships between believers, how that can start to over
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shadow the vertical relationship.
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The main relationship. The main 1 knowing God, growing
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in your union with Christ and submitting to his objective
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word. And when that horizontal part,
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the fellowship, becomes the goal itself instead of the means to
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the goal, well, the small group can end up compromising the
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gospel and even undermining the church itself.
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So our job here is to really distill this concept that the
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group has to stay a means to an end, and that end has to be
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growth in Christ, obedience to God's Word.
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The group isn't the end itself. And we need to understand how it
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happens, not just that it drifts, but what are the
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specific theological points that get threatened when we get, you
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know, a little too comfortable on that horizontal plane.
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OK, so to set the table, let's start by defining what the
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sources mean by these two axis. They seem to be in competition a
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lot of the time, especially in these small group settings.
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Right. So first you have the vertical
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axis. This is pretty straightforward.
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It's your gaze directed upward towards God, towards God.
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It's the pursuit of him. It's about your own spiritual
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growth that you know, diligent work of trying to know God as
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he's revealed himself in Scripture.
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Growing in our union with Christ, understanding salvation,
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all of. That all of that, and then
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there's the horizontal axis. And that's looking around at
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each other. Exactly.
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It points outward toward our neighbors, our brothers and
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sisters in the faith. It's about developing those
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human relationships, finding Christian friends, the support,
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the fellowship, all the things that are part of life in the
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body of Christ. And both are biblical.
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Love God, love your neighbor. Vertical.
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Horizontal. Both are commanded.
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The problem? The tension arises because it's
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just so much easier, so much more natural for us to focus on
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the horizontal. Well, the rewards are immediate,
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aren't they? You feel comfort, You feel
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accepted. It's tangible.
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You leave the meeting feeling good.
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It's emotionally satisfying, whereas the rewards of the
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vertical axis, holiness, theological clarity, patience,
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those things often require sacrifice, discipline, waiting
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on the Lord. It's harder work.
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And the sources are looking at say, this isn't a new problem,
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but the way it's showing up in modern church life.
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Is it? Well, it's very clear.
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It's very clear Ji Packer, who was reflecting on this trend
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over the last generation or so, he noted this really significant
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shift in what people think small groups are.
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For and what was his observation?
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He said. And this phrasing is just
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perfect that these groups are not not so much thought of as a
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way of seeking God as much as seeking Christian friends.
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Wow, that really captures the subtlety of it, doesn't it?
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It's not saying that looking for Christian friends is bad.
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Of course not. It's a good.
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Thing, but it's that it has replaced Seeking God as the
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primary reason the group even exists.
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And that's the core drift. That's the whole thing in a
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nutshell. When you give that horizontal
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axis more weight, the original purpose discipleship, it just
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becomes secondary to the social function.
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So the group stops being, let's say, a classroom for learning
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about God and his will. And starts acting more like a a
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relational support network, a club.
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This changes the entire purpose. So if you ask someone why are
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you in this group, the answer, the vertical answer, should be
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something like to grow in Christ or to know God better.
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To become more obedient to His word.
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But in this horizontal trap, the honest answer becomes something
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different. It becomes to feel accepted or
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to share my problems or to get close to other people.
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And if the purpose changes, then how you measure success has to
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change too. This seems critical.
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It's everything. If the vertical axis is your
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main focus, then success is measured by, well, by objective
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things like is there greater conformity of the scripture in
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your life? Is there genuine repentance from
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sin? Is your understanding of
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theology getting clearer? Are you actually obeying God?
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It's about hearing God's Word and responding to it.
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But if the horizontal axis is dominant, the group's own
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internal dynamics become the main thing.
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Right. The group measures its success
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by these subjective relational criteria.
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We shift to what the source is called horizontal metrics.
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So a successful group meeting isn't 1 where truth was taught,
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it's one where what everyone felt heard.
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Did everyone feel heard? Was there enough vulnerability?
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Did we all feel really close and, you know, express
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forgiveness? And look, these are good things.
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They're good outcomes of true fellowship.
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But they can't be the goal. When they become the goal, they
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almost always happen at the expense of paying serious
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attention to what has actually revealed in His word.
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So we stop asking the hard questions like is this person
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really making progress in fighting their sin and trusting
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in Christ? And instead we ask, did we have
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a good time? Did we laugh?
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Did we cry? Was the sharing time, you know,
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smooth? And that internal focus is so
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seductive, it makes everyone feel like they're doing a great
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job. But the danger is that the
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group's feeling of solidarity, that warmth, starts to
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substitute for actual individual spiritual growth.
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We mistake feeling warm for the fire of sanctification.
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That's a great way to put it. And this shift in priority is it
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inevitably starts to affect the spiritual disciplines
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themselves. It turns them inward.
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You mean things like prayer and Bible study?
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Prayer and Bible study, the very things that are supposed to be
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the means by which God speaks to us and we speak to Him.
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They get reduced to, well, social tools.
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They're seen less as these authoritative channels of God's
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grace and objective truth and more as just, you know,
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mechanisms to create community. The Bible study part of the
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meeting becomes a prompt for sharing personal feelings.
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Right, it's not about what the text says, it's about what the
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text makes me feel. Exactly, and this is a really
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important distinction for our listeners.
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The difference between exegesis and eyes.
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The Jesus. Explain that.
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Exegesis means you're drawing out of the text what is
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objectively there. You're trying to find out what
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God, the divine author, intended to say.
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It requires hard work, careful study.
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And isogesis. Isogesis is the opposite.
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It's reading your own feelings, your own experiences, your
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modern concerns into the text. And the horizontal trap almost
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forces you into isogesis. It has to.
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If the goal is intimacy, the discussion has to be about our
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personal experiences. So the Bible isn't studied to
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find out what God commands or what he's like.
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It's red to see. How does this make me feel?
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Or what does this make me want to share about my week?
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The authority shifts. It moves from God the Author, to
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the collective emotional temperature of the room.
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And when the Bible is treated as just a conversation starter,
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just a catalyst for human interaction, rather than the
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authoritative, sufficient and objective Word of God, the group
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has already slid deep into that horizontal trap.
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Even if you're still calling it a Bible study.
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So when that objective revelation gets re categorized
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as just a tool for generating closeness between people, you've
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really compromised what Scripture's for.
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You've compromised its primary function as the means of grace.
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OK, so if that horizontal drift defines the structural problem,
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the sources then say the theological danger really shows
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up in how we use certain words. Yes, they identify three key
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buzzwords, community, experience, and mission, and on
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the surface they all sound perfectly fine, even essential.
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But they've become loaded with these new meanings that expose
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some really serious dangers to the heart of the gospel.
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They're sort of the Trojan horses of the horizontal trap.
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They sound orthodox, but their definition has been quietly
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switched out. Let's take them 1 by 1, the
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first danger community and the loss of distinctiveness.
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OK. And we have to start by saying
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there is a correct theological basis for community.
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It's not a bad word. Of course, the Trinity God
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Himself is 3 persons imperfect relationship.
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Right. And our salvation, the gospel
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itself, is God's work of reconciliation.
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It restores community between a holy God and sinful people
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through Christ's cross. That's the foundation.
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We're reconciled to God, which then produces A reconciled
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people. True Christian community is an
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outcome of the gospel. We're bound together because we
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share this identity as children of God through faith in his Son.
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That's the glue. So where does a danger come in?
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The danger enters when when the reason for the group's formation
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isn't the gospel of Jesus's death for sinners.
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When a group comes together based on more superficial things
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like what shared personal needs, maybe political views, your
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stage of life, the young married's group, the empty
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nesters group, or just, you know, you live in the same
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neighborhood. So we're building groups on
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criteria that have nothing to do with our salvation.
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They're secondary at best, and when that happens, you might get
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real human intimacy. You might make great friends,
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but the group itself isn't built on the unique foundation of
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Christian fellowship. So even if everyone in the room
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is a Christian. Even then, the group itself is
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operating on a secular model of human connection.
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The gospel gets assumed it's in the background instead of being
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the confessed active center of the group's identity.
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And this leads to this loss of what the source is called
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distinctiveness. Yes, and this becomes really
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clear when you look at secular parallels.
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There are other groups that do this horizontal stuff really,
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really well. I mean when Christian groups
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make intimacy their main goal and they use the standard tools
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of vulnerability, open sharing, emotional honesty, they stop
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looking unique. You can find incredibly powerful
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feelings of genuine community in completely non Christian
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settings. You're talking about things like
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an Alcoholics Anonymous group. An A A group is a perfect
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example, or a Weight Watchers meeting, or even just a good
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support group for a specific struggle.
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These groups use deep sharing, accountability, empathy,
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affirmation. They create real life changing
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connections. So the question becomes if what
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our small group offers is basically the same thing, you
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could get a really well run secular support group.
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Then where is the Christ in it? Where is the gospel?
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The vertical component has been lost.
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The connection is based on a shared problem or a shared human
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need, not on a shared salvation in Christ and the objective
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truth of His Word. The group's activities become,
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in a way, irrelevant to faith itself.
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And the sources also point out that this intense focus on
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community makes groups turn inward.
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They become introverted and problem centered.
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Yes, all the energy goes inward toward fixing the immediate
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hurts and needs within the group, and this sets up a
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conflict between focusing on growth and focusing on problems.
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We should care about each other's problems, though.
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That's a Christian duty. Absolutely.
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But the primary focus of a Christian group has to be on
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growth, on knowing God and obeying Him.
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That larger vertical framework is what gives us the tools to
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handle the problems correctly. So the moment the problems start
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dictating the theology. Or worse, replace the theology
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all together. You've swapped out divine grace
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for just, you know, human solutions and a shoulder to cry
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on. The sources use an example about
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unemployment. I think walking through that
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would make this distinction really clear.
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Yeah, it's a great illustration. Let's say you're in a group
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that's fallen into this horizontal trap.
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It's problem centered. It's all about community.
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A member loses their job. How does the group respond?
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Well, they'll offer really good human care.
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They'll listen. They'll empathize with the fear
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and the shame. They might help with a resume,
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give some job leads, maybe even pull some money to help with
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bills. And all of that is good and
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necessary. That's Christian charity, but
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it's not distinctly Christian. A secular social club could do
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all of that. So what does the distinctly
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Christian, the growth centered approach look like?
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It does all of that practical horizontal care, but it anchors
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it vertically. It doesn't just offer practical
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help, it actively strengthens the person in the great
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objective truths of God's Providence.
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So you're reminding them that their identity is not
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unemployed, their identity is in Christ.
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Exactly. You're reminding them that God
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is sovereign over their circumstances, that this
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hardship isn't random, it's been filtered through the hands of a
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loving Father for their ultimate good.
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And the group's prayers would be different to.
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The prayers would shift. You'd be praying for specific
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theological virtues. You pray for their faith in
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Christ, to hold firm for patience and endurance through
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the trial, for grace to fight off self pity or bitterness.
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The goal isn't just to get them a new job.
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The goal is to help them grow as a Christian through this trial.
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By seeing their situation through the lens of God's
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revealed character and promises. The human care becomes the
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vehicle for applying vertical truth.
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So the moment the group stops teaching God's sovereignty and
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just offers general empathy and practical tips, it's lost its
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reason for being a Christian group.
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It's become irrelevant to the saving and sanctifying work of
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Christ. It's just a nice social service.
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OK, that brings us to the second big buzzword, a second danger
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experience. Right.
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And the appeal here is so powerful, especially in our kind
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of fractured, lonely society. The idea that the group
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experienced the intimacy of the closeness is the very thing that
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brings you closer to God and offers spiritual healing.
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It's emotionally compelling, but the sources say it's a huge
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theological danger because it moves the goal posts on truth.
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It completely changes the standard of truth.
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If the feeling in the group is what determines what is true,
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then truth is no longer objective.
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Revelation in Scripture becomes the subjective feeling of the
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group, the emotional consensus. So if the members are depending
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on that emotional high from the group to know what God is like.
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They will inevitably create what the sources call their own small
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group God. And what does this God look
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like? Well, it's a God that's designed
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the group's comfort. It's going to be incredibly
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welcoming, overwhelmingly affirming, totally non
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judgmental. Because those are the qualities
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you need to keep the horizontal intimacy going.
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You can't have conflict. Right.
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And so this God will systematically reject or just
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ignore the parts of the one true God revealed in Scripture that
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are, well, discomforting. It sounds like a direct assault
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on God's holiness and his justice It.
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Is if your highest value is comfort, you have to throw out
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the attributes of God that make us uncomfortable, like his
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righteous wrath against sin. Think about God's acts of
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judgement in the Bible. The flood wiping out Pharaoh's
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army. The destruction of Sodom, or
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even in the New Testament, the immediate terrifying judgement
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on Ananias and Sapphira in the early church.
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Those are biblical facts, historical events that reveal
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God's character, but they're considered too harsh, too
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negative for a warm, fuzzy small group experience.
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So they get ignored or they get rationalized away.
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As you know, that was the Old Testament God.
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The group decides they're irrelevant for us today and.
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When our feelings and our need for acceptance become the source
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for defining who God is, we've moved away from submitting to
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Christian revelation from sola scriptura.
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And we've drifted into mysticism.
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The atmosphere in the room dictates God's character, not
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the other way around. This must also have huge
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implications for the role of Christ as our mediator.
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Absolutely. I mean, think about it, if the
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group experience is the thing that makes God feel real to you
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and brings you closer to Him, then your faith is ultimately in
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the quality of the group. Not in the finished work of
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Jesus Christ. Yes, the small group starts to
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take the place of Christ as the one mediator between God and
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man. If feeling close to God depends
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on how good the fellowship was this week, then your assurance
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of salvation rests on that collective feeling, not on the
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cross. That's a long way from the
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absolute assurance of God's favor that comes from clinging
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to the cross of Christ alone. The sources are basically saying
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we replace objective justification.
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Which is God's legal declaration that we are righteous in His
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sight because of Christ. With the subjective experience
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of feeling accepted by our friends.
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Right, and we get cautioned pretty strongly against this
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leap in logic. It feels wonderful to be
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accepted and supported by people who care about you.
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That is a genuine good human feeling.
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But to jump from that good human feeling to declaring I feel
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closer to God now is a massive, theologically dangerous
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assumption. It confuses human emotional
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connection with the actual presence and work of the Holy
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Spirit. And the result is if the small
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group struggles, which they all do eventually.
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When conflict happens or a key member leaves, the faith of the
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other members can be totally shaken.
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Because their assurance wasn't really in Christ's finished
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work. It was tied to the group's
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stability. Their faith was in the
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experience, and the experience is always fragile.
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OK, that's heavy. Let's move to the third danger,
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the third buzzword mission. Right, so when mission is
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defined by the goals that have already been set up in this
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horizontal trap community and experience, it becomes self
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referential. What do you mean by that?
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I mean, the main goal of mission becomes to maintain and grow
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this community, to draw other people into this specific
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experience. The group itself is the
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destination. Gets reduced almost entirely to
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social terms. Yes, and evangelism, the actual
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proclamation of Christ's death and resurrection for the
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forgiveness of sins that gets pushed to the side.
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It becomes an optional extra or it's even seen as a bit narrow
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minded. So in this broken model, mission
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becomes a purely horizontal activity.
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It's all horizontal. It's social justice projects,
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helping the poor, community organizing, and again, those can
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be good things, but there are efforts between people focused
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on improving our life here and now.
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It stops being the vertical activity, which is what?
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Bringing lost sinners to a holy God through repentance and faith
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in Jesus Christ. And the sources say that this
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unique vertical mandate, preaching the cross is the only
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way to be saved from God's wrath, is often dismissed.
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It's seen as narrow or old fashioned or not holistic
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enough. The modern preference is for a
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holistic mission that addresses all human needs, physical,
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emotional, social, with spiritual conversion being just
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one piece of the puzzle and sometimes not even the most
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urgent one. This all connects then, if the
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community has lost its gospel distinctiveness and its idea of
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truth is based on subjective experience.
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Then its mission will naturally be about fixing human problems
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rather than securing eternal salvation.
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The group having already decided to ignore the uncomfortable
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truths about sin and judgment. It can't preach the real gospel
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because the gospel doesn't make any sense without those
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uncomfortable vertical realities.
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The horizontal trap is complete when the Great Commission is
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redefined by human need instead of by divine command.
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So the consequences of this aren't just theological ideas,
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they're structural. They affect the organization of
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the church. Oh, absolutely.
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This inward focus on community experience and this redefined
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mission, it results in a deep antagonism toward the key,
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biblically ordered structures of the institutional church.
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This is what the sources are calling the antis of small
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groups. Exactly When these groups make
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themselves the top priority, they naturally start to see
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themselves as separate entities. They start to functionally
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oppose the corporate, centralized ways God has given
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grace to His Church. And there are three specific
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things that are threatened preaching the minister and the
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church institution as a whole. Let's start with the first one.
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Anti preaching. So this small group focus often
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ends up diminishing the value of the authoritative public
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proclamation of God's Word from the pulpit.
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It favors the small group discussion, the personal
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discovery over the sermon. Yes, and this goes back to what
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we said earlier about prizing process over content.
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The experience of the group discussion, the sharing the back
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and forth, is valued more highly than the actual message being
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delivered with authority by the pastor.
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Within our reformed tradition, preaching is seen as a primary
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means of grace, isn't it? It's vital.
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It's the corporate authoritative context for the public reading
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and application of Scripture, delivered by a trained teacher
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who is accountable to the elders.
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But the sermon, because it is centralized and structured, can
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be seen by a horizontally focused group as well inferior.
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It's not as democratic as our group sharing time.
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Right. The sermon requires you to
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listen attentively, to submit your mind to an objective truth
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being taught. And if the sermon is maybe less
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than scintillating one week, or if the preacher says something
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that challenges the group's comfort zone.
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Then the group might just dismiss it.
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They'll leave saying, you know, I get more out of our small
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group discussion than I do from the sermon.
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They think they learn more about God from their interactive
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sharing, even if that sharing is mostly just reading their own
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ideas into the text. This is a fundamental
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misunderstanding of Church authority, isn't it?
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The small group leader, as good as they might be, doesn't have
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the training, the calling, or the public accountability of the
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teaching elder. The discussion is just not a
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sufficient substitute for the authoritative preaching of the
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word. And the irony, as the sources
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point out, is that a healthy small group should do the exact
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opposite. It should make you want to hear
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good preaching. It should cultivate A thirst for
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it as you wrestle with a passage in your group.
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As you struggle to apply it, you should develop a hunger to hear
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the clear, authoritative explanation from your trained
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pastor. It should reinforce the pulpit,
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not compete with it. But the anti preaching mindset
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says my feelings and my group's shared experience are a better
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guide to truth than what the pastor is teaching.
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That's the bottom line. OK, The second anti is the anti
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minister sentiment. OK, small group ministry grew up
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largely as a lay movement, which is a good thing for
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participation in the church, but it can easily tip over into
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opposition against the established, ordained
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leadership. So when the group becomes the
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center of authority for its members, it starts to compete
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with the pastor. It can become a way for the lady
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to sort of take power for themselves in competition with
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the pastors and elders. And this can show up as what?
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Just ignoring the pastor's guidance.
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It can be subtle resistance or it can be openly anti clerical.
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It can reject the biblical authority of recognized, trained
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Bible teaching pastors. It becomes a struggle over who
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is really in charge of your spiritual life.
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If my small group gives me everything I need spiritually,
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why do I need to submit to the teaching or discipline of the
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minister and the elders? Exactly.
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It creates the risk of mutiny. Again, lay involvement is
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crucial, but it has to operate under the authority of the Word
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as it's taught by those God has called and equipped to teach it.
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A horizontal structure that rejects that authority is just
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substituting peer pressure for legitimate biblical government.
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And when that happens, the group can sort of spin off into its
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own little world. It develops its own private
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theological ideas, its own rules of conduct, its own vision for
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what the church should be. And that vision might not align
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with the sessions, leading to conflict and division in the
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whole church. It's like a parallel church
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inside the main church, and loyalty to the small group
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leader or the group itself starts to become more important
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than loyalty to the actual spiritual leadership.
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Which is deeply destabilizing for the peace and purity of the
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congregation. And that leads directly into the
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third and final threat anti the church institution.
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Right. This is the culmination of the
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other two. It's where the closeness and
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community you feel in your small group becomes more valuable to
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you than the entire congregational life.
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The corporate worship service, the sacraments, the mission of
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the whole body. And this priority shift causes
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people to pull back their commitment from the wider
24:16
church. They become super committed to
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their little six person group, but they're basically
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indifferent to the needs and the life of the larger 200 person
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congregation. I mean, if the small group is
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meeting all your needs for intimacy and support, why bother
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with the messiness of the larger church?
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The group becomes a little spiritual.
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Bubble and the result of this is disastrous for church
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government. It creates these isolated,
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unaccountable groups that end up doing what is right in their own
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eyes, just like Israel in the Book of.
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Judges, let's be specific. What does that unaccountable
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isolation look like in practice? Well, it can start with the
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illogical drift. If a group starts using a
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questionable book or embracing a weird interpretation of
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Scripture, the church leadership has no way of knowing or
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correcting it until it's become a serious problem.
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It can also affect church discipline.
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For sure, the group might try to handle a situation of sin or a
25:12
conflict internally without ever involving the session, which is
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the biblical process. They might even start their own
25:19
benevolence fund, collecting and spending money without the
25:22
oversight and accountability of the deacons.
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But the biggest problem, it seems, is that these groups just
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aren't pulling in the same direction as the rest of the
25:29
church. They're not.
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They end up functioning like a competing entity.
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They draw time, energy and commitment inward into the group
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instead of collaborating to make the whole church more fruitful
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in its mission. So the sources are very clear on
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this. The small group structure was
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meant to be a means to serve the Church's mission.
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But when it becomes the end in itself, it will always
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eventually undermine the authority, the government and
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the spiritual health of the entire body of Christ.
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The part starts to work against the whole.
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OK, so after laying out that pretty bleak analysis of the
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drift and the dangers, we have to talk about the solution.
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How do we restore the vertical priority?
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Right. And the solution is not to just
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get rid of small groups or say fellowship is bad.
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It's about consciously restoring the proper balance.
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The problem is the overemphasis on the horizontal at the expense
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of the vertical. So it's about seeing them
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through the right theological lens.
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The healthy Christian ministry see small groups only as a means
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to an end. The primary goal is always,
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always growth in Christ. Which means we don't throw out
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intimacy, horizontal intimacy, vulnerability, mutual support.
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Those are essential tools for achieving gospel growth.
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They are the channels through which grace is applied and
26:43
accountability happens. So in a healthy, real
26:46
relationship, members can actually teach the gospel to
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each other. Pray specifically for spiritual
26:52
strength. And spur each other on toward
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godliness and thought and action.
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That's at the heart of Reformed sanctification.
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The intimacy serves the application of the Word.
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The Word is not just a tool to create intimacy.
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And it's that structural difference that makes a
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Christian group distinctive. A group that is focused on
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growth, not just on comfort, is going to be strengthening its
27:13
members and the deep truths of God's Providence and
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sovereignty. So when they're caring for a
27:18
grieving member, for example, they don't just stop with, oh,
27:21
that's so hard, I'm so sorry. They go deeper.
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They point back to the objective reality of the absolute
27:27
assurance of God's favor that we have because we cling to the
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cross of Christ. They apply the covenant promises
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of God to that specific situation.
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That intentional theological grounding is what separates a
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Christian small group from a secular book club.
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The conversation isn't just. How do you feel about?
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This right It's how does what you're going through relate to
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the truth of God's redemptive plan and your identity as His
27:50
adopted child. The truth of the cross is the
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ultimate objective source of comfort, whether you're feeling
27:56
comforted in that moment or not. So this is really a structural
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reframing of the whole group dynamic.
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It's not about stopping care. It's about making sure that care
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is always directed by and informed by objective biblical
28:07
truth. Precisely, if the goal is
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discipleship maturing in Christ, then all the parts of the group
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have to reinforce the authority of the Word, the centrality of
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Christ's work, and the need to submit to the good order of the
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Church. To help us visualize this
28:22
balance, the sources give us a really helpful analogy.
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The sailboat. Yeah, I think this makes it very
28:27
clear. Imagine the small group is a
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vessel built for a specific journey.
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The strong vertical gospel growth, the pursuit of God in
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His Word. That's the mast.
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The mast is tall, It's what catches the divine wind.
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It gives you power and direction.
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And the deep horizontal intimacy, the community, the
28:45
support that keeps the crew from falling apart on the trip.
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That's the hull of the boat. The hull gives you stability and
28:51
safety. It keeps everyone together.
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But the danger, as we've been saying, is when you focus only
28:55
on the hull, a really comfortable, sturdy hull that's
28:58
been detached from its mast, it just drifts.
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It's at the mercy of the world's currents or the shifting tides
29:05
of emotion. It has no divine power, no
29:08
direction. The ship might feel safe, but
29:11
it's not going anywhere. On the other hand, a ship with a
29:14
giant mast, a lot of vertical knowledge, but a weak, leaky
29:18
hull, no real intimacy or support, that ship is unstable.
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It's going to break apart in the first storm.
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You need both. You need both in the right
29:27
relationship. The whole vessel only works when
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the strong vertical element, the mast, is guiding the sturdy
29:32
horizontal structure of the hull toward God's intended
29:36
destination, growth, obedience, and fruitful ministry.
29:39
In the wider church, the hull has to serve the direction
29:43
provided by the mast. That makes a proper relationship
29:45
crystal clear. The means intimacy must always
29:49
serve the end, which is gospel growth.
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So to synthesize all of this, those 3 buzzwords, community,
29:55
experience and mission, they sound good, but they become
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theological threats when they start to substitute our
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subjective feelings and our social connections for objective
30:03
divine revelation and the unique work of Christ.
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Prioritizing the internal life of the group risks creating this
30:10
comfortable, affirming small group God that rejects the hard
30:14
truths of Scripture about God's holiness and judgement, and that
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ultimately puts our assurance of salvation in our fleeting human
30:21
feelings, not on the rock solid work of the cross.
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In the structural risk, this anti structure syndrome is just
30:29
as critical. It creates these isolated,
30:32
unaccountable little groups that diminish the role of preaching
30:35
and compete with the church's recognized, trained spiritual
30:38
leadership. They stop being integrated parts
30:41
of the body and they become, well, internal competitors.
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So the source has really forced us to see that true,
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distinctively Christian community is an outcome of the
30:49
gospel. It's because God reconciles us
30:51
to himself through Christ that we can then be reconciled to one
30:55
another. Community is the fruit, not the
30:57
root, of our faith. And if the goal of our group
30:59
structures is really to know God and grow in obedience to Him,
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then we have to take the material we've reviewed today
31:05
seriously. So we'll leave you with this
31:06
final provocative thought to consider.
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If your small group just vanished tomorrow, If all the
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intimate relationships, the shared vulnerability, the
31:14
emotional support, if it all just disappeared overnight,
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would your understanding of God's character and your
31:21
absolute assurance of salvation be diminished?
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The answer to that question reveals where your true security
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really lies in the objective, unchanging truth of the cross,
31:30
or in the quality and stability of your horizontal experience.