I think this is the first thing I have ever disagreed with Mark Dever on (Thus, I should probably do some deeper thinking on it).

This argument could just as easily be made to support the practice of not allowing unbelievers or visitors into the Sunday morning gathering. Does it hinder the fellowship of the church on Sunday morning because non-Christians are in attendence?

I think we should do our life together in front of unbelievers so as to give them a clear vision of the gospel and its impact on our lives. This should not hinder but should help our community.

Of course, these groups should be led by those trained and approved by the elders. And of course, everyone should know who is and who is not a member of the church.

Someone help me see how visitors hinder the purpose of the small group.

Dear Justin,
It's not so much visitors that we would discourage, as not allowing "members" of the small group who are not members of CHBC, and perhaps are members of some other church. Hope that helps.
Mark Dever.

I can see the value of not allowing visitors to regularly attend a small group. Church, technically, is for believers and only serves as a "witness" in the sense that unbelievers are free to swing by and see the Lord working.

The difference between a service and a small group is in the interaction. I can see problems arising if an unbeliever, in particular, wants to interject his thoughts into a small group discussion/prayer. You wouldn't give him the pulpit on Sunday, so I'm not sure how much value it is to let him have free reign in a small group.

That being said, I think there IS value in letting believing non-members or even unbelievers visit a small group once or twice. When we were church-hunting, we wanted to go to a small group and see if they were "for real," to see if they took it seriously. It was a part of the evaluation process for us, because you can't tell everything from a service, and you shouldn't have to become a member to evaluate a church. I would say, let a serious member "prospect" attend a small group a couple times in order to evaluate.

Blessings
Tom

Dear Tom,
I can understand the desire to visit small groups first. We have sometimes had visitors express that desire. On the whole, however, we think there are a number of other ways that people can evaluate a congregation by the things which God requires of a church--preaching, baptism, Lord's Supper, discipline--and small groups as such are not among them. So we encourage people to make the decision about joining that local church without seeing small groups as so central for the life of a congregation. We understand that the small groups in a church can vary quite a bit, and yet the church itself still be quite good. And we are trying to prioritize in the visitor's understanding the biblically-required regular gathering of the saints over the voluntary small group with a subset of church members.
God bless your work,
Mark Dever.

Hi Mark,
How do you go about training your teachers? A previous church I attended provided a leadership training and then had each one desiring to lead a bible study complete a doctrinal questionnaire to ensure that they were able to communicate the biblical doctrines that the church held as a part of their faith statement.

Hi Mark,
I may not be getting it, and it may be because of the unity that CHBC has that addresses this - but in my current experience of trying to become part of a new church, if I wasn't able to attend the small groups then I would feel very much to be an outsider.

My personality is such that I don't "network" well in large groups of people, and am much more comfortable in a small, interactive group.

In reality I believe there's at least 4 types of people who attend church - the regular members, those who are Christians and church-hunting, those who aren't Christians, and the category where I am in, those who are Christians and are regular visitors - not quite members but not church-hunting either.

For me, the small groups encourage me to seek out to become a member of the church as I can actively participate and have a greater idea of what the church believes etc. It may be different in large churches where membership classes are held every week, but in smaller churches these may be monthly or quarterly - the small groups fills this gap in being able to build relationships and gain a greater understanding of the church, it's doctrine, direction and culture.

In relation to your comment above, I'm not convinced that church can't happen in small groups - the disciples in Acts met together in their houses, shared meals, shared possessions etc - obviously different place, time and culture, but I don't think you can discount the importance of small groups in the ministry of the church. I believe this is where the heart of the church community lies - where people can gather and worship God together, talk about their convictions, confess their sins, ask questions etc etc. I'm not discounting the weekly congregation meetings, but I don't really see them as being either/or, but rather working hand-in-hand.

In saying all this, this is probably more just to do with where my head is at the moment and dealing with the challenges of becoming a part of a new church after our old one closed doors (http://unveiledface.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-dismantle-church.html).

I must also say I really enjoy listening to the CHBC podcasts - I love the internet for bringing messages from all over the world to my little place Down Under :)

Your brother in Christ
Darren

I guess the concern I would have with a Members Only Small Group is that we have to be reminded that your church is not CHBC's church but it is the Lord's church. (I know, of course, all the legalities we need to have names and all that but setting that aside), and I'm not just picking on any particular church, that the local church is the Lord's church. The observance of the Lord's Supper is for example, the Lord's Table, it is not CHBC's Table, or XY Baptist Church's table or WZ Prebyterian's Table, but the Lord's Table.

I do find it a little troubling when a church makes, now, small group membership requirements stricter than kingdom membership requirements.

Mark,
Thanks for the clarification.
And, I totally agree with your second comment directed toward Tom.

When I became a member of my church, 13 years ago, I was working on Sunday morning and could only attend on Sunday evening and Wednesday night services. Prior to becoming a member I attended a small group Bible study where I not only grew in wisdom and knowledge of my Savior but also developed relationships with other Christians (who were members). Had the leadership of the church told me at that time because I was not a member I could not participate in small groups I would have sought another church to attend.

One thing that may be helpful to keep in mind when trying to sum up what we do at CHBC from a non-CHBC member and non-CHBC attendee perspective is that the culture in our church is such that people are meeting together all the time in all types of settings discipling in all kinds of ways. I think Mark made this pretty clear, but just because "small groups" are only for members does not mean that members are not meeting with attendees and non-members all the time living out, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).” Remember that "small groups" in the way that we practice them as a ministry of the church are voluntary. This is one of many ways we gather together.

“Small groups” are a way that we can practice living out the covenant we have made with each other. We are a family that has made a commitment to each other. By the "small groups" being only for members it enables us to take care of our family in a more focused and person-to-person way (reading Scripture, praying, catching up, and practicing intentional fellowship, etc.). As a parent you will not always have everything open to extended family or friends that are not a member of your immediate/nuclear family. Well, this is one way that we try to practice this kind of intentional family care.

Second, we do not practice the Lord's Supper in the same way that we practice small groups. I don’t think Scripture demands that we must. In regard to the passage cited above, “And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts (Acts 2:44-46),” you have to keep in mind that the way we practice “small groups” is only one avenue by which we might fulfill this type of living together (I think Mark made this clear). In God's providence we are part of this family of believers. “Small groups” are a more pragmatism-based-on-Scripture way that we can care for specific needs of our body. “Small groups” are like the Lord’s Supper in that it is a means of God’s grace. But it would be a non sequitur to connect requirements for participation in both to be the same. They could be, but I don’t think that they have to be.

Churches are organisms…and small groups are just one aspect of many. But as Mark is pointing out through PJ and Jamie’s conversation it is a very important aspect. Take it or leave it…I hope you’ll at least consider it.

In Christ,
Noah

I guess the question I would have Noah or anyone, to put it succintly is, since your church is the Lord's church, why are you making it harder or stricter to become a part of your small groups - why is that harder and more stricter than what it means to be in union with or belonging to Christ?

Anytime you exclude one that belongs to the Lord from an activity of fellowship (in this case, as Noah describes - reading Scripture, praying, catching up, and practicing intentional fellowship, etc) in His church (again, I must remind you all, your church is Christ's church, not your church), that in my view, is a very serious issue. The Lord would not exclude this non-member from fellowship with Him, so why would you as a local church exclude him from this type of fellowship from your church? So, I don't know, I think that's very serious.

Thanks for the challenge Carlo. I'm going to send you an email...we can chat and maybe give a phone call. I think because of the limited format of the comments we are speaking past each other.

In Christ,
Noah

A quick note: the CHBC small group is a working arm of the church itself so it reflects the deliberate [and serious] nature of church membership that CHBC models; that's why it seems so stringent--but it makes senses actually (i.e., if I have blonde roots I will have blonde hair).

As for using small groups as a criteria for making the membership decision, I think what Mark said about there being only three criteria (small group is not one of them) challenges the overly consumer-oriented mentality of Americans. We tend to visit a church and over- examine it's every fiber, deciding whether or not this church is for us. The CHBC teaching, I think, is: make decisions about committing to a church based on the biblical foundations then commit (Michael Lawrence once spoke about "stop dating your church" which is an excellent analogy about this type of consumerism).

CHBC small groups are not meant to be a diagnostic tool for visitors, they are meant to be another means of dispensing grace within the [local] body to fulfill our calling.

Bro Carlo asks the question, why add strictures to the church universal? Simply, to practice the commands of scripture, which were by-and-large written to local church bodies, not to the wider church [or world] at large.

Hope this helps.

Love, in Christ.

John Piper's teaching on church membership may be helpful in this regard:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2008/2989_How_Important_Is_Church_Membership/