Why Small Groups?/What Makes a Great Leader?

From Gospel Translations

C H A P T E R F O U R

WHAT MAKES A GREAT LEADER?

M A R K  M U L L E R Y

The golf course was right where the freeway should have been. I would normally enjoy finding myself at a golf course, but not under these particular circumstances.You see, my wife Lesley and I had been visiting a friend and gotten lost driving home. We didn’t have a map. Themore we wandered around the countryside, the darker it got. After enough wrong turns to frighten our children, we finally found the missing freeway (maybe somebody had moved it), and headed for home—way behind schedule. So it goes when you’ve lost your way: tensions rise, time is wasted. Leading small groups really isn’t very different. In order to be effective, the group must have a clear direction. More specifically, the leader must have a clear direction. And whether you are a group leader orone of the members, it’s essential that you understand what the position of leadership involves.

Let’s Start at the Beginning…

What is the small-group leader’s purpose? As you lookback on a meeting—or a year’s worth of meetings—how will you know if you’ve been successful? What do your pastors want the group to accomplish? Without a clear understanding of its purpose, your small group will wander here and there without any sense of mission. In our church, one thing we’ve done to avoid such aimlessness is to set forth a clear definition. Our small-group leaders are in place…to extend the pastoral ministry of our church...by providing a context...in which to apply God’s Word... so that growth, care, and relationships may occur.

Every component of this definition is significant, solet’s look at each of them in turn.To extend pastoral ministry. Scripture teaches thatchurches are like flocks of sheep with shepherds to watchover them. These shepherds, also known as pastors, arecharged by God to lead, feed, and care for the people Godentrusts to them. In all but the smallest churches, thisimmense task is too difficult for one or even a few people.Moses found this out when he tried single-handedly tosolve the problems of a few million Israelites during their40-year trek through the wilderness. Moses’ father-in-law Jethro came and counseled him,What you are doing is not good. You and these peoplewho come to you will only wear yourselves out…select capable men from all the people—men whofear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hun-dreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges forthe people at all times, but have them bring everydifficult case to you; the simple cases they candecide themselves…If you do this and God so com-mands, you will be able to stand the strain, and allthese people will go home satisfied (Ex 18:17-23). By Jethro’s insight, which constitutes a primary biblicaldefinition of leadership, Moses learned how to provide theIsraelites with superior care, and live longer himself inthe process!It is God’s design that every pastor identify and traintrustworthy men who fear God, investing them with realauthority and responsibility to extendthe pastoral ministry of the church. AsMoses learned (and New Testamentexamples show the same), this is donemost effectively through small groups.Small groups serve a local churchimmeasurably by bringing each mem-ber into ongoing relationships withtrained and gifted small-group leaderswho can serve and equip them in manyways. In this manner, the pastors arebetter able to concentrate on the min-istry of God’s Word and equipping oth-ers for ministry.  However, pastors should neverbecome disconnected, and they shouldremain available to deal with the difficult issues as they arise. That availability releases thesmall-group leaders from any false notions that they arenow expected to function as pastors. Their job is to repre-sent the pastors, not replace them. By providing a context. Recently, I was in a restaurantwith a menu featuring beautiful, glossy, full-color picturesof chocolate milk shakes. I like chocolate milk shakes. Iwas psyched. When it came my turn to order, the waitresssaid—to my surprise—that she was unable to serve me amilk shake. Now, in this restaurant there was milk, ice cream,chocolate syrup, and a hungry customer—every ingredi-ent necessary for the sale and thankful consumption of achocolate milk shake. Unfortunately for me, there was noway to bring all these elements together. The milk shakemachine was broken. Church life can be like this. You can have great preach-ing and teaching, trained leaders, and hungry Christians.But if you don’t have a context where all the elements canbe combined, you face disappointment.

Sunday meetings are obviously great times for God’sWord to be preached, but where and how will the Word beapplied? Sunday meetings are great places for people tocome together, but how willthese people move frombeing mere acquaintances tobecoming accountable toone another? Sunday meet-ings present great opportu-nities for the ministry of theSpirit but, logistically, howcan everyone exercise theirunique, God-given gifts? Itjust wouldn’t work. Small groups provide an excellent context in which topursue many of the vital goals of church life that are diffi-cult, if not impossible, to pursue on Sunday mornings.And the small-group leader provides an invaluable serviceto the church by facilitating that process.To apply God’s Word. The Bible is our guide for faithand practice. Only the Bible teaches what God requires ofus and what we must believe about God. No other book issufficient to equip us with all we need to live by God’sgrace and for God’s glory. Accordingly, small groups inthe church I serve are built around God’s Word. Themembers often use meetings to explore more deeply theteaching they receive on Sunday mornings. For Christ to be formed in us we must apprehend God’s truth and thenapply it to our lives. Therefore our groups often featurediscussions that help us to understand God’s Word andapply it practically to our daily lives.So that growth, care, and relationships may occur.There are lots of small groups meeting these days. FromAlcoholics Anonymous to your local chapter of Hell’sAngels, folks gather for a variety of reasons. Scripture pro-vides three good reasons to gather in small groups: topromote sanctification, to extend care, and to develop truefellowship. Small groups aren’t the only places in the lifeof the church where growth, care, and relationships arefurthered, but they are vital ones. They provide a contextin which God’s Word can be applied personally and practi-cally, where friendships can blossom and grow, and wherenon-christians can experience something of the life ofGod’s people. This truth affects our definition of whatmakes for an effective small-group leader.Success in leading a small group isn’t measured by howmany are in the group, how fast it grows numerically, orhow frequently it meets, but by whether the members ofthe group are increasingly dying to sin and living to righ-teousness. A great small group is not one where peopleare wowed by the Bible knowledge of the leader, but onewhere people take a genuine interest in the lives of othersin the group. A model meeting isn’t one that goes on forthree hours because the leader lets the discussion rangeacross a dozen topics, but one that ends with membersconfessing sins and applying biblical truth to everydayareas of their lives.