By Joel Comiskey, Biblical Foundations for the Cell-Based Church
I often return to John Wimber’s quote, “We do what we value, and we value what we do.” Wimber encouraged pastors and leaders to discover what they already valued. How? To determine where they spent their time, energy, and money.
Many pastors and leaders would like to have a fruitful small-group ministry. Perhaps they attempted to start small groups but became sidetracked by other pressures. The reality is that they are no longer doing small group ministry because their values didn’t go deep enough. In other words, their small-group values didn’t sustain them through the hard knocks of small-group ministry.
Waning commitment, however, doesn’t only happen to those beginning small groups. It also occurs in cell churches doing small group ministry for many years. Over time, the leaders lose interest, cells stagnate, and the cell system falters.
At this point, it’s easy to outwardly change things without addressing the inward motivation problem. We do what we value, and we value what we do.
Before tweaking the coaching, training, statistics, or other aspects, let’s remind our people about values.
So why do we do cell church ministry?
Because small group ministry is biblical. Jesus himself chose small groups to make disciples who make disciples. Jesus chose to lay the foundation in his small group of twelve. He sent his disciples into the homes, and the early church was a house-to-house ministry. The two-winged church is at the heart of Christ’s church.
Christ’s clear command to the church was to make disciples who make disciples. He gave the Church “marching orders” in Matthew 28:18-20 when he said,
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Cell ministry isn’t primarily about the cell but about making disciples who are molded, shaped, and transformed through the cell system. As leaders understand this process, a new, purer motivation develops that compels leaders forward because of a new understanding of the why of cell ministry.
Understanding that the cell strategy is primarily about making disciples places cell ministry within the biblical framework and encourages pastors to stop focusing on outward models and to prioritize a secure biblical anchor for ministry.