Why Small Groups?/The Art of Care and Correction

From Gospel Translations

Chapter Five: The Art of Care and Correction

M I C K E Y C O N N O L L Y

As we read in Chapter One of this book, a primary goal of small-group ministry is sanctification. God has called us each to be conformed to the image of Christ. In God’s wisdom, he has made us so that we cannot accomplish this without the involvement of others. Wayne
Grudem has said, “Sanctification is usually a corporate process in the New Testament. It is something that happens in community.” ^[1]  Another has well said, “One can acquire anything in solitude except character.”

The primary roadblock to both personal maturity and biblical relationships is sin: sin in our own life; sin in others’ lives; a world fallen because of sin. In each of these areas we can find great help and hope in the committed relationships that can grow out of small groups. To assist us in our ongoing quest to become more like Christ, God uses people in three ways—to reveal our sin, to help us to take action against our sin, and to walk with us in our struggle against sin.

First, God uses people to help reveal our sin. As friends observe our life “up close and personal,” they can point out areas of sin and weakness and/or simply areas where we might need to grow. Also, interaction with others reveals our sins as situations reveal what is in our hearts.

Once sin is exposed, God gives us others who help us deal with our sin through confrontation, counseling, encouragement,  accountability, and prayer. Finally, he gives us others to help and support us as we face the effects of living in a sinful world—pain, discouragement, confusion, weakness—while we “wait to be liberated from the bondage of decay and brought into the glorious freedom
of the children of God” (Ro 8:21).

Notes

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1. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), p. 756.
2. Jay Adams, Solving Marriage Problems, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983), p. 99.
3. Ken Sande, The Peacemaker (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991), p. 20.
4. Wayne Mack, Your Family, God’s Way (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1991), p. 170.
5. Terry Virgo, Restoration in the Church (Columbia, MO: Cityhill Publishing, 1989), p. 72.
6. E. Bradley Beevers, “Watch Your Language,” The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Vol. XII, No. 3, Spring 1994, p. 25.
7. Ken Sande, The Peacemaker, p. 97.
8. Ibid., p. 164. />