From: jmrg9881@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jon Reid)
Subject: Re: Cell group churches - my experience.
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 15:32:39 GMT

>One day, a couple of gentlemen came to our door and invited us to a
>neighborhood Bible study.  We like Bible study, so we accepted.  For about
>a year and a half, I went to this group study.  It turned out that it was a
>cell group of the Boston Church of Christ.

Ahhh, my, my, my.  I fear this is *not* a good model of a cell group
church.  They seem to have all the structure, but >>a cell group structure
alone does not make a cell group church<<!

>Now, I have a significant disagreement with nearly everything this church
>does and teaches, but I also got a real education in the cell group concept
>and idea, and I cannot say I liked what I saw.
>
>First of all, this is the ultimate in hierarchical organizations.  Levels
>upon levels and administration upon administration so interfere with the
>gospel that it is a wonder the church ever grew at all.  Group leaders,
>section leaders, zone pastors, area pastors and finally, some senior
>adminstative cadre at the top were all so hung up in maintaining the
>organization that the gospel was lost sight of.

This "hierarchy" is an important difference with true cell group churches.
At first glance, they appear quite similar.  For example, I'm a small group
leader, there is a small group coordinator over me, a zone pastor over him,
and the senior pastor over him.  But even this word "over" doesn't make
sense, and calling it a "heirarchical organization" completely misses the
reality of our context.  (So what *is* our context?  Read on...)

>I cannot say that what I'm about to mention would be true of other churches
>than the BCC, but their control and hold on the individual members was
>heinous.
>
>The church insisted that it be the one and only social outlet for its
>members through the small groups.  The small group leaders were told to
>"inform" on their members, telling the upward levels of administration many
>details, often extremely personal ones, about their group members.  Members
>were expected to adhere to many rules and regulations that were not related
>to the gospel in any way.  My experience was that of a cult of the first
>order.

It appears that BCC is big on "control" and "information".  This runs
completely counter to the gospel, and to the example of our Master.  So
what makes a cell group church, if not the structure?  Answer: the vision,
the lifestyle, the convictions.  Structures are easy to set up, but what
God wants is >>changed lives<<, changed lifestyles.

What *is* the lifestyle of a cell group church?  Servanthood.  A lifestyle
of servanthood runs completely counter to the American lifestyle, including
the typical American Christian lifestyle.  Over the last 3 months,
servanthood has been strongly impressed on my life in the training I've
received; now I get to take my small group through the same training (at a
slower pace) for 6 months.  >>It's that crucial!<<  We could do everything
else "right", but if we are not living a servant lifestyle, then we will
have failed.  (Read my post, Cell Group Churches -- strategy vs. purpose.)

"Control" and "information" go against the kingdom values of "grace" and
"mercy".  Jesus taught quite a bit about leadership, stressing over and
over again that the last will be first.  The leaders of the Gentiles lord
it over them, but we are supposed to follow Jesus' example and be "servants
of all."  Again: This is *crucial* to the kingdom, and is the total
opposite of the values of the world.

>Now, I'm not waying that all cell group churches would deteriorate to this,
>but I think it is a dangerous system that encourages much abuse and
>demagoguery on the part of the administrators on the various levels.
>
>I fully understand and admire the desire to evangelize and spread the
>gospel.  I just think this is not the best way.
>
>Dan Graham

Dan, I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience.  I don't know how to do
it, but I want to assure you (and others) that whatever you may have
experienced, it certainly wasn't a real cell group church.  Demagoguery is
what you get when you just take the cell *structure* and combine it with
worldly leadership values.  It is a counterfeit.

The real thing is beautiful and compelling.  Jesus was a servant -- and as
our Master, he wants us to imitate him.  I've been a committed Christian
for 19 years, but the ways I've been stretched in the last 3 months to be a
servant have changed my life forever.  I wish you could come and live with
our church for a month, to get a taste of the real thing.

-- 
Jon Reid    j-reid@uiuc.edu    GEnie: THE.REIDS
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."