This is a guest post by Matt Harmer, small groups pastor at Manna Church. You can find him on Twitter HERE and on Facebook HERE.  If you’ve got a small groups story to share, or a unique perspective on small groups ministry, and would like to guest post on this blog, please see these guidelines HERE.

I recently traveled to a nearby city to meet with a Small Groups Pastor friend of mine for a time of connection. It was the first time we’d actually met face to face, although we had quickly become e-acquaintances (twitter friends, really). As we sat in his office and began to talk, one of the first questions that came up was, “So, how did you end up as the Small Groups Pastor?” The stories unfolded…

“Well I did this job for a while, and I interned here. I worked as this while I obtained my degree from such and such, and then someone came along and said, ‘We think you’d be great at doing the Small Groups stuff.’ And that’s how I ended up where I am.” We laughed and joked about how it seems that small groups people have the best stories.

In this post I want to unfold for you not so much the story of how I ended up in the small groups ministry at Manna Church, but how small groups got into me.

A common misconception is that small groups are just another aspect of local church ministry. Even as I considered taking the position, I viewed it as a small component of our church’s life – my primary responsibilities being to process the data and plan the events, and basically just “keep that thing going.” As I began to dig deeply into importance of what I was doing, my thinking about small groups, ministry, and Christian life in general changed. Essentially, I had “ended up” in a position where a powerful philosophy of ministry was able to be inculcated into my thinking. The result of this change of view was a fresh vigor for the task of “keeping that thing going” – knowing where you’re going makes the driving to get there worth it.

In a nutshell, here’s what I’ve learned:

Every person who has received Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior is absolutely called to the “game” of ministry, and it’s absolutely necessary that each individual engage in that call. We must be a people who take seriously the responsibility to be ministers for Him. That being so…

Small groups are where the “game” is played. It’s in Biblical community that believers receive mentoring, encouragement, support, prayer, challenge, teaching, etc… (It’s important to note that both the group leader and members receive the benefits this community has to offer.) Moreover, it’s through community (small groups) that the unreached are reached!

The life of any church is in the relationships the people have with one another, and small groups facilitate the building of those relationships. I know now that what I’m doing in processing the data, planning the events, training leaders, and launching them into the game is THE thing. It’s not some small aspect of church life – it’s a part of it, yes – but it’s the most important aspect…

If we don’t have small groups…if we don’t have people who understand biblical community, build it, and DO their Christian lives together while reaching out to the unreached around them…if we only have a bunch of people who gather on Sunday mornings to sing some songs and hear a great message and then go home… Then all we have is a Christian social club, and that’s not what the Church is supposed to be.