In my first post I was thinking out loud about what small group leaders do. I wanted to follow that up with some thoughts about WHY they do what they do. In my experience, the most effective small group leaders are those leaders who have a deep concern for people. They are more concerned about how people are doing and who they are becoming than about what they are doing. (They recognize that what people do is still important, but that it’s who we are that really matters.) Effective small group leaders have a genuine concern to see people reach their full potential in Christ, and they want to help them in that journey. They love God and they are convinced that only in right relationship with him can we fully become the best possible version of ourselves.
I think of my buddy Steve who led an eclectic group of high school guys back in the 90’s. (That doesn’t sound as far back as it now feels.) As the youth minister at the church, Steve wasn’t much older than some of the high school kids he was leading. He knew of all the spiritual dangers that faced us, and he appropriately spent some time helping us think through the right response to certain situations we’d find ourselves in. But even more, Steve spent a great deal of time helping us form a character and attitude grounded on Biblical principles, rooted in a deep faith in God. He knew that he couldn’t possibly provide answers to all the obstacles that high school kids would face during the limited time he had with us. He knew that he couldn’t address every hypothetical spiritually dangerous situation. But he did know that if he modeled the faith and loved us like brothers he would have our respect and attention, and so he could teach us to live from a faith of our own that would guide us through those dangerous times.
I think this is what really effective small group leaders do. They get into our lives, showing us care and compassion, and so they earn the right to speak into our lives. Sometimes they speak into us as someone who’s gone before, and sometimes it’s just as a friend who sees some danger ahead. Sometimes they just put their arm around us to let us know better days are ahead. But I’m convinced that behind it all, there’s a heart for God and for His church. The most effective small group leaders I’ve ever known are those who do what they do not out of a sense of obligation or duty or guilt, but out of a passionate pursuit of God and a genuine concern for people. They want to see God glorified, and they want to see people live in the freedom that Christ provides. They might phrase it a little differently than that, but that’s why small group leaders do what they do.
