Michael Mack's Posts

Move Your Small Group or Team Past Status Quo

Posted by Michael Mack on February 23, 2012 at 14:01

Many small groups in America are not missional. They are good at caring for one another and studying the Bible, which is good . . . but not great! In Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses our need to “confront the brutal facts.” In Small Group Vital Signs,I help you and your small group honestly and diligently confront the brutal facts of your current reality in comparison to the truth of God’s Word. This examination may lead you to a major decision point in your life together and move you off your comfy couches to do something God-sized . . . or remain where you are and maintain the status quo.

Our Church’s Story

Status quo was not an option for us at Northeast Christian. In early 2009, I invested weeks of my time thinking and praying about how God wanted to move our groups to the next level so we could join him in that journey. Next, I consulted with other leaders and pastors I knew and read and re-read key resources, praying even more about what God wanted us to do. Finally, I adopted "Seven Vital Signs of a Healthy Small Group." We developed and used an online assessment tool to survey our small group leaders on their perception of their groups’ health.

After tallying all the results, we clearly understood how well or poorly our groups were doing in the seven vital areas, which gave us a point of origination for our journey. We used this information to coach our leaders, share insights when visiting groups, and developed ongoing training to shore up weak areas or gaps in our existing training. (By the way, I included this assessment in Appendix E of Small Group Vital Signs and it’s also available online.)

The health assessment data from our groups gave us energy, helping us see how we could help good groups become great over time. So for the next two years, we focused on the health of our small groups. We’ve learned that really good things happen when groups are healthy, which changed the way we strategically planned to grow the number of groups in our church. Instead of developing goals and plans based on starting X number of groups or leaders every quarter to connect hundreds of new participants in hastily formed groups, we have shifted our energy to deepening existing group health. It’s been a journey filled with ups and downs, but we’re now seeing healthy groups grow and multiply on their own, making room for new members and new leaders.

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This post is an excerpt from the Introduction of Small Group Vital Signs: Seven Indicators of Health that Make Groups Flourish. I talk more about our church's story and what we learned from it throughout the book. By the way, the book is written for group leaders to help you as you lead your group to health. I also included an appendix for small group point people, with ideas on how you can implement the vital signs in your church.

A Healthy Small Group Is the Body of Christ

Posted by Michael Mack on February 21, 2012 at 10:23

A small group, at its core, is Christ’s body in action. Stop and think about this for a moment. Your small group is the church. Not a subset of the church. Not a supportive program within the church. Not a tool to close the back door. Unfortunately, in today’s world, our mental image of “church” is usually something much bigger or more institutional than a single small group. We say, “I’m going to church,” meaning a building, a mass meeting, or possibly a structured program of some sort. The New Testament never uses the word church that way. Rather it refers to God’s people, called to carry out his mission. The New Testament uses the word church in three basic ways:

The church that meets in the home (Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Philemon 1:2)
The church in a certain geographical area (Acts 13:1; Romans 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2)
All of God’s called-out people (ecclesia, Matthew 16:18)

My objective here is not to get into a pointless argument about the definition of words (see 1 Timothy 6:4 and 2 Timothy 2:14). I want to help you see what your group really is, or at least what it has the potential to become.

You are the church. You are the body of Christ,

perfectly arranged by God to carry out his mission for his world. — 1 Corinthians 12:18

If your group is not healthy, this definition may not fit you today. Perhaps you are not seeing God’s mission accomplished through your group at the present time. But I believe there is hope! I believe that God can transform your group into a robust and healthy expression of Christ’s body.

In my new book, Small Group Vital Signs, I put on my doctor’s scrubs and got out my diagnostic instruments to help you measure the health of your group. Then, I provided holistic cures to help your group become the healthy body that God designed it to be. If you are the group’s leader, don’t attempt to do this alone. Your whole group must be involved!

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This blog is an excerpt from my new book, Small Group Vital Signs: Seven Indicators of Health that Make Groups Flourish (TOUCH Publications) to be released late February, 2012.

Do Small Groups Divide the Church?

Posted by Michael Mack on February 5, 2011 at 21:42

Back in December I blogged that healthy small groups are friends. (See post here.) I'm not sure why, but this has recently become the most popular post on this blog. It was picked up recently by ChurchLeaders.com (here), and Debra commented,

Small groups often divide the church into cliques. The group forms, bonds, and no new people stand a chance of joining them. The more groups there are, the more segregated the church. New people see this right away, feel like an outsider, which they are, and don't go back.

Debra may be right IF a church's small groups have not been taught how to develop groups in healthy ways. I am working on Chapter 5 of my upcoming book 7 Vital Signs of a Healthy Small Group (available from TOUCH this Spring). This chapter is about healthy authentic community. A healthy community is never a closed clique. The marks of healthy community are that is open, inviting, welcoming, outward-focused, missional. Healthy community fulfills all of the Great Commandment by loving God, one another, and our neighbors as ourselves. See my blog, "Healthy Small Groups Are Friends with Non-Christ-followers."

The Best Small Group Leader Ever called his group "friends" (see John 15:12-17). Jesus led a small group and modeled for them how to live in healthy community. He said about himself, "I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders" (Matthew 9:13, The Message). That's what healthy small groups are here for, too!

A description of a healthy community is in Acts 2:42-47. The first five verses describe how these people were committed to Jesus and one another. The last verse shows the result. Their community life had the effect of "enjoying the favor of all the people," and because of this, "the Lord added to their number daily those those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

I love the way Richard Peace put this in his classic book, Small Group Evangelism:

In a successful [healthy] small group, love, acceptance and fellowship flow in unusual measure. This is the ideal situation in which to hear about the kingdom of God. In this context the "facts of the gospel" come through not as cold propositions but as living truths visible in the lives of others. In such an atmosphere a person is irresistibly drawn to Christ by his gracious presence.*

Debra described unhealthy small groups as what we might call "holy huddles." The problem is not in the huddle itself, however. Every successful team needs a safe place to huddle to put our arms around one another, catch a short breather, and encourage one another before running the next play to accomplish the team's mission. It breaks my heart to hear that these holy huddles are segregating Debra's church instead of enjoying the favor of all the people. I pray they will become healthy, Christ-centered communities that stop coddling insiders and truly invite outsiders.

Are your small groups closed cliques or healthy, Christ-centered missional communities?

What are you doing to break the holy huddles?

See original blog post at Small Group Leadership.

* Richard Peace, Small Group Evangelism: A Training Program for Reaching Out with the Gospel (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 67, 68.

Are You Building Walls or People

Posted by Michael Mack on February 1, 2011 at 17:33

Are you being a good steward of your small group (or church, ministry, family, business ...)?

I've written about this before in reference to how you are discipling and shepherding the group God has put under your care (1 Peter 5:2). That's vital to leading a healthy small group or anything else. But there's even more to it than that.

How are you using all the gifts and abilities and passions of the people entrusted to you?

Today I went back and looked again at Nehemiah 3, which tells about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah's leadership. This whole chapter is a list of all the groups and individuals who worked on the walls and the gates. Nehemiah demonstrated his leadership by his ability to get people involved in the work. We do not know exactly how he "recruited" all these people, but we can see that he inspired them by the meaningfulness of the work. He got a wide variety of people involved: men and women, people of all ages, people who had a variety of skills and experiences. He involved priests and other religious and civic leaders. Nehemiah had a strategy: he had people working specific parts of the wall and gates, often right in front of their own homes. This was wise stewardship of their time, but it also gave them ownership of their parts of the wall.

Nehemiah had a task of building a wall, but his most important responsibility was to build up the people in the process.

If the walls of Jerusalem were that important, how much more significant is the work we do of making disciples of all nations?

Are you using the gifts and abilities and passions of the people in your small group, or are you trying to do all the work yourself?

How are you building up the people in your group, family, ministry, church, business?

See original blog post at http://smallgroupleadership.blogspot.com/2011/02/are-you-building-walls-or-people.html.

Every Day Christianity

Posted by Michael Mack on January 27, 2011 at 14:30

I read Acts 2 again today in my quiet time. Of course, this is a very familiar passage, one to which people like me give our lives. Today, this passage struck me a little differently than it has before.

"And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had" (Acts 2:44, NLT).

I'm struck by how devoted these believers were to one another on a daily basis. This is so different from the way the church normally operates today. They met and worshiped together daily (v. 46). They served one another daily (Acts 6:1). They studied the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11). They encouraged one another daily (Hebrews 3:13). And the Lord added to their number daily those being saved (v. 47).

As Warren Wiersbe says, "Their Christian faith was a day-to-day reality, not a once-a-week routine. Why? Because the risen Christ was a living reality to them, and His resurrection power was at work in their lives through the Spirit."

Small groups surely nudge us a little closer in the right direction toward being a day-to-day kingdom community, but it can unfortunately just move us from a once-a-week routine to a twice-a-week routine ... unless the culture somehow changes.

We can't make this happen. Only the Holy Spirit being active in people's lives can transform a culture. It doesn't happen by developing or changing a program in the church. It happens when the Holy Spirit works in such a way that there is a deep sense of awe among the people, when people's hearts are changed from individualism, isolationism, and consumerism to looking first to the interests of others, sharing everything we have.

When that happens, the church will once again be powerful and effective and will enjoy the goodwill of all the people. When that happens--and I believe not until that happens--God will add to our number daily those who are being saved. When that happens, God will turn this world upside-down ... again. We are God's best marketing strategy!

I'll stay committed to this and to praying that the Holy Spirit will move in such a way at our church and in his kingdom to transform people's hearts to live like this.

How can we move from a once- or twice-a-week routine back to a day-to-day community reality?

What needs to change in your small group? Your church? The Church? The culture?

2011: The Year of Relationships

Posted by Michael Mack on January 1, 2011 at 14:22

On New Year's Day of 2010, I began a new practice that I'm continuing next year. I had read John Eldridge's New Year's Eve post about his annual practice of asking God for a theme for the coming year. Last year, I heard God say the word more. Since 2009 had been a very difficult year, that word really scared me at first. I did not think I could take more of the same. But then I heard God complete the theme: more Jesus. See my 2010 New Year's Day blog here to read more.

The past year has still been a tough year. It wasn't more of the same from 2009, but there were definitely lots of challenges. I got through 2010 because of God's fulfilled promise of more Jesus.

I spent more time with Jesus on a regular basis this past year, and those times have been rich and rewarding. But more than just time spent with him, I have sensed more of his presence and power in my life than ever. Like monster truck rallies, I felt MORE POWER! I'm hoping for even more of that in 2011.

Over the last several weeks, I've been asking God for a theme word or phrase for next year. What I believe I'm hearing is relationships. This is a key word for me right now. I desire for God to strengthen my relationships on every level:

Continue to grow in my relationship with my Father. That's where it all starts! If I have a strong relationship with him, I believe he will strengthen my other relationships as well (see Matthew 6:33).
Continue growing in my relationship with my wife, Heidi. Next to my Father, this is my most vital relationship. I still have a lot to learn here!
Continue to invest into my relationship with my kids, Jordan, Dru, Sarah, and Annie. I want to be a good steward of what God has entrusted to me, and, next to Heidi, they are the best gifts and responsibilities he has given me.
Invest into my relationships with our small group leadership team and leaders. I tend towards the task-oriented/achiever side of leadership. Like many other small group pastors I know, I love vision and implementing it through strategies. (Alan Danielson wrote a great six-part series of blogs titled "The Problem with Small Group Pastors." Start here to read this series. See his Triple-Threat Leadership graphic here.) I desire to be a more relational leader, and it takes effort and Christ's power to move in that direction. This year, I'm going to be very intentional about this.

I believe I needed more Jesus before I could successfully strengthen and build my relationships. God is at work, and I can't wait to see what he does in 2011.

How about you? What theme is God giving you for 2011?

Just need to be fed? Grow up!

Posted by Michael Mack on November 24, 2010 at 21:30

Tomorrow our family will gather, like most of yours, to celebrate Thanksgiving. I'll be giving thanks for many things this year, but one of the tops is for my kids.

I'm particularly thankful that not one of my kids will ask me to cut up their turkey for them or feed them their cranberry sauce tomorrow. In fact, the girls are ready to help prepare the meal. We won't have any babies with us this Thanksgiving, but if we did, they could feed them their Gerber Turkey and Gravy. This is no big deal, of course. It's just a natural part of growing up.

So why do we so often hear long-time church folks say, "I just need to be fed!"?

I blogged about this the other day (click here to read) and shared about two possible reasons. Today I want to share my thoughts on what we can do.

If you consider yourself a mature Christ follower, you are now responsible to do 2 things: (1) feed yourself and (2) feed others. See Hebrews 5:11-6:1. The writer's main message here is what I'd like to tell those who say, "I just need to be fed!": GROW UP!

Pretty simple and should be pretty natural as we develop, but for some reason, this is often the exception rather than the rule in churches and small groups.

There is no magic formula here. Your way of feeding yourself may be very different than mine, but I will share here how I am making room in my own life to feed myself.

When I was a young Christian, I read the Scriptures kind of like a young child reads a picture book. I wasn't going for a whole lot of depth, just getting some basic understanding of the Bible. I read through the whole Bible, but could not have told you much more than the basic story. It was good; I needed that introduction to God's Word, and I was just learning how to feed myself as I read through it. But (and here's the important part) I'm glad I'm not still reading the Bible that way.

Today I read with more concentration, and by that I don't mean mental focus as much as I mean intensity or purity, like a laundry detergent is more concentrated. So now I read less, usually much less, Scripture each day, but I really take time to hear from God in what I read that day. This is the spiritual practice of meditation or reflection on God's Word.

I take an hour or two each day and I usually read one chapter of Scripture, sometimes even less, depending on how I sense the Holy Spirit leading me. Sometimes I read the passage from two or three or more versions. I read a couple good Bible commentaries. (My favorite right now is Warren Wiersbe's commentary set, although I also consult several others as well. I use WordSearch, so all of this is right there in one place.) I also journal my thoughts as I meditate on the Word, writing what I hear God saying, and I often include a prayer.

I'm just finishing reading through the minor prophets. Lots of people skip over these, thinking they're boring or irrelevant. As you learn how to feed yourself from the meat of God's Word, however, you'll find, as I have how much rich flavor and nutrients God has placed in these books. If you will take the time, God will reveal himself and his will through these passages like you've never seen before. You can do this. Your small group members can do this. It must become just as normal and natural as learning to feed ourselves from the dinner table.

Once I begin feeding regularly on God's Word myself, I can also feed others as well. But notice that I used the word begin. You don't have to have it all completely figured out to start feeding others.

When my kids were very young, I began involving the older kids in helping to feed the younger ones. So 3-year-old Jordan would hold Dru's bottle in his mouth. Four-year-old Sarah would feed Annie her strained peas. Yeah, it was messy sometimes, but it was worth it!

Tomorrow I won't be feeding my kids their Thanksgiving meals. And not one will say, "Daddy, I just need to be fed!" They've learned how to do that long ago. Now it's time that you and the members of your group learn to do the same in your growing relationships with God. I'm writing more about that in my new book, Small Group Vital Signs, to be released early next year.

How would you respond to someone who says, "I just need to be fed!"?

How can you as a leader help your group members learn how to feed themselves?

Peter Pan and Adam Sandler Christians

Posted by Michael Mack on November 24, 2010 at 21:27

I just need to be fed.

I love hearing people say this when they are very young followers of Christ. Babies need someone to feed them. My role and responsibility as a mature follower of Christ in the church (and by that, I mean the body of Christ, not an institution) is to help feed those babes in Christ.

I despise hearing people say this when they are mature followers of Christ. And yet I hear it often from many of them.

The New Testament is so clear on this. Infants need to be fed (1 Cor. 3:1-2; 1 Peter 2:2; Hebrews 5:13). They need pure spiritual milk. But the mature need to be feeding themselves. In fact, by that time, they ought to be feeding others (Hebrews 5:12, 14; 6:1). They grow not by being fed, but by feeding themselves on the meat of God's Word and then by becoming spiritual parents who feed others.

Something's wrong!

But I'm not sure which it is. I see two possible conditions at play here:

The Peter Pan (or Michael Jackson) Syndrome
Do we have a bunch of mature believers who simply refuse to grow up? Perhaps they have never been taught along the way how to feed themselves--or that they're even supposed to. Somehow they have never put childish ways behind them and became mature (1 Corinthians 13:11; Ephesians 4:13). Has the church coddled church members and enabled this kind of immature attitude? These are people who have attended church services and small groups for years. They may even be in positions of leadership, but they still expect others to teach them rather than taking on the adult responsibility of teaching others.

The Adam Sandler (or Arrested Development) Syndrome
Another possibility is that some people who we assume are mature are actually still just infants who have an emotional, mental, or spiritual condition that keeps them from growing up. (Adam Sandler has played lots of these kinds of roles, like Mr. Deeds, Billy Madison, and Bobby Boucher.) They may have been baptized 20 years ago, but their spiritual development stopped 19 years ago. They actually still do need to be fed. The question here is, How can we get them unstuck so they can grow up as they should?

I remember a man who lived up the street from me when I was growing up. When I was 10, he was about 40 but still had the maturity level of a 10 year old, living with his mom and dad. As I grew up, he grew older, but not more mature.

Truthfully, I have a lot more compassion for the latter group than the former. One is simply childish while the other is childlike. And I think that there are more Peter Pan than Adam Sandler Christians in our churches.

So ... what do we do about this? What do you think?

I'll blog later on some more of my thoughts about it.

Solitude First

Posted by Michael Mack on November 7, 2010 at 21:42

I've been blogging a short series about our inner life, discipleship, community, and ministry, inspired by an article by Henri Nouwen years ago in the Spring 1995 issue of Leadership. Find the most recent blog here.

A short excerpt from the blog that you may find interesting:

It seems to me that in today's church culture, we put everything else in front of solitude.
Some put discipleship first. They say it all starts here. That we have to teach people how to grow and serve and share their faith.
Some put evangelism first. Our first priority, they say, is to carry out the mission to make disciples.
Some put leadership first. Everything begins with leaders who model the abundant life and bring others along, right?
Some put community first. After all, they say, all of this good stuff happens in the environment of authentic Biblical community. So we have to build small groups.
Jesus said, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." We seek God's Kingdom by being committed to the King.

Pleasr check out the rest of the blog here and I'd love to hear what you think.

Feel free to subscribe to my Small Group Leadership blog at http://smallgroupleadership.blogspot.com/.