Everyone has heard the statement, “You become like the environment you place yourself in”. This statement is so true in so many areas of our lives. If you want to improve your physical side of life, you join a gym. If you want to improve your intellectual side of life, you might enroll in a school or university. If you are looking to connect socially, you might attend a civic organization or join a club of some type. The environment you place yourself in shapes the outcome of your life. This is also true for the spiritual side of life. In fact, this is exactly why God created the church. The church is the ideal environment for making disciples. That includes both large group and small group expressions of the church!
Two thousand years ago Jesus came to make disciples by creating the right environments. The environments Jesus used to develop twelve men into his first team of disciples were a large group environment and a small group environment. In the large group, Jesus did some teaching and performed miracles. In the small group, Jesus built relationships, taught, modeled, did ministry, and brought about correction. There were things Jesus could do in the small group that he could not do in the large group and vice versa.
If Jesus changed the world by using a small group and a large group, how on earth do we think it can be done any other way? It is unbelievable to me how we have made the same environments Jesus made essential to now be optional. Now a days way too many people come to a large group worship environment and a small group growth environment only when it is convenient. See how much physical change you experience going to the gym once a month. Watch how much your children grow attending school once a week. See how many friends you make staying in your house for months on end.
Disciples are made in the right environments! Are you making those environments a priority in your life these days?
