In his book, Sticky Church, Larry Osborne describes a healthy church as a "sticky" church. A sticky church is concerned with reaching people for Christ, but it is equally concerned with keeping people in Christ. A healthy church is a "sticky" church in the sense that it is characterized by a strong commitment on the part of its people to Christ and one another. A sticky church is not concerned with drawing a crowd but developing a community. A sticky church is not as concerned with momentary confessions of faith in Christ as much as it is concerned that people live faithfully committed to Christ.
The premise of Osborne's book is that small group ministry is the key to creating a sticky church. Small groups afford people the opportunity to become part of a community, rather than part of a crowd. Spiritual maturity cannot take place in isolation. Of the list of Spirit-produced character qualities in Galatians 5:22,23, most are directly related to how we treat others. In 23 years of full-time ministry I have observed one common denominator in the lives of those who have turned away from Christ. Turning away from Christ is almost always preceded by a withdrawing from the community of faith. Isolation from the community is an almost certain predictor of spiritual apostasy. Small groups provide protection against the forces that might otherwise erode, or even destroy a persons faith.
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BINGHAMTON FIRST ASSEMBLY SMALL GROUP MINISTRY
Growing Leaders. Growing Groups.
1 comment:
Small groups can certainly reinforce and help grow people spititually and for some that may be enough. If the leaders are willing to become the "GO TO" for daily problems or sounding board of group members, their is greater reinforcement and commitment to Christ. Having said that, nothing takes the place of a visit by a pastor to show that the church family cares about them. Lack of this may not be reason to lose faith, but it certainly contributes to people leaving the church. I have requested visits for group members to help reinforce that thay are important to us and not just a source of income. Could someone leave or just stop comming to our church and never be asked why? I have personally experienced it. Do we even have half of our members in small groups? What do we do for those that arn't in a small group?
How do we become a sticky church for them. Have we become an institution? We have our lectures and elective courses, but no guidence counselor to direct the progress. Those of us who seek out others for knowledge and help are making progress. What about those that need a little push?
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