Dig in Deep

A common question we’ve heard already when talking about house churches is, “how is that different from a small group?”

Many churches today are implementing small groups as a core part of their growth strategy. The thinking is pretty straightforward – as the church grows beyond several dozen, members simply can’t really build relationships in a normal church gathering where there may be hundreds or thousands of people. So they are encouraged to meet in small groups, usually no more than a dozen, for relationship building and Bible study.

Small group programs can vary, but they are always very different from a house church.

First, since they are not autonomous, and fall under the umbrella of the traditional church, small groups always play a “secondary” role to the more prominent worship service. This can manifest itself in different ways, but often it includes the choices of leadership, agenda, and meeting times. Typically, group leaders have to undergo some sort of official “training” or approval process. Some churches distribute the discussion items to the group leaders, often making the discussion an exploration of the sermon from the previous Sunday.

House churches, by comparison, are autonomous. The agenda is set by the members of the house church or the leader. The house church is not seen as a secondary meeting, it is the primary gathering time for members of the church.

Second, small groups are not outward-focused, they are inward focused. Even if the goal is to split the group, the goal is to split the group and add more members of the church to the small groups. While churches might not discourage non-members from participating in a small group, it is certainly not viewed as an entry point to the church. Because of this inward focus, small groups are usually more about caring for believers than they are about seeking out non-believers and introducing them to Christ.

Third, small groups defer to the parent church on matters of money and resources. The members of a small group are expected to be active church members, and tithing to the larger church. The church has to pay for the building, the staff, the equipment, and other various programs of the church. The church views the small groups as another “program,” and provides some resources to the small groups, such as study books, videos, etc. Some small group programs provide for child care during meetings. But the bulk of the money going to the church is used for the Sunday worship service.

House churches, on the other hand, do not have to pay for buildings or fancy Sunday morning worship services. Most house churches do not pay for any staff at all. This allows money to be available to serve others and meeting needs – whether it is the needs of members, those in the community, or around the world.

Fourth, in small groups, worship is what you do on Sunday mornings, so the small group gathering takes on more of a Bible study feel. House churches usually incorporate worship into their agenda. Even if a house church participates in a celebration-style gathering with other house churches, they usually keep worship in the house church setting, because worship in the celebration setting is quite different from worship in a cell-sized gathering.

Fifth, most of these differences come from the fact that a small group is part of a larger traditional church, whereas house churches are usually separate, at most having a loose network with other house churches. This begs the question: who is in charge?

In a traditional church, and in small groups, the answer is always obvious – the senior pastor and/or the board is in charge. They determine the how the small groups are structured, how they function, and tweak the process along the way.

In a house church, the simple answer is that the leader, if there is a clearly defined one, is in charge. But since a traditional church is really hundreds or thousands of people, looking at a single house church is not a valid comparison. You need to compare a traditional church with a collection of house churches, dozens or perhaps even hundreds of them. When looking at a group like that, there is only one answer to the question of who is in charge: the Spirit of God is in charge, leading His servants in the faith, guiding them through the apostles and the prophets, and building His kingdom, house church by house church.

Small groups are usually added to a traditional church in order to improve it. But small groups are really only a patch. Churches should be focused on gatherings that meet the vision that Christ cast for His church – discipleship. Rather than “tack on” discipleship, as an optional program, to the main worship service, shouldn’t we be focusing on a primary gathering time that has discipleship at its core?