By Joel Comiskey, How to Lead a Great Small Group Meeting
If it’s a cold morning in Moreno Valley, and I must get into my car to drive somewhere, my mirrors and windshields are generally foggy. I must get a rag and wipe them down, or I can’t see the road ahead.
Transparency in the cell group is like clearing the fog from the windshield—it brings clarity, warmth, and trust into the group. It’s not just about removing barriers but also about creating a space where healing can begin, relationships can deepen, and the group can evolve into a spiritual family.
We talked a lot about edification in March. One killer of edification is the lack of transparency. Certain members refuse to talk about how God is working in them through God’s Word and only project strength and power to other people. Or they might try “to teach” every time they share.
One deadly sin in small groups is super spirituality or spiritual competition, which leads to spiritual pride in the group. Spiritual pride is a sense of superiority or self-righteousness that can develop when members compare their spiritual growth or experiences with others. Members compete with each other for how well they are doing spiritually. God hates spiritual pride and wants us to walk humbly with each other. One key way to walk in humility is honest transparency based on God’s inerrant Word.
We have dark shadows in our lives that we constantly ask God to overcome. Let’s be honest with each other. If we are honest with each other, the prayers of others bring healing. James 5:16 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
Granted, transparency also involves sharing the victories and power of God in our lives. Let’s do both.
For March, let’s talk about the importance of transparency in cell ministry. Click here if you’d like to receive these daily blogs in your inbox. We’ll cover:
- April 6-12: The biblical base for transparency. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to each other so that we might receive healing through prayer.
- April 13-19: Questions that bring out transparency. Cell lessons are typically based on the pastor’s Sunday sermon or mid-week message. Observation questions are essential (God’s Word needs to be paramount in the Cell), but so are application questions. In our cell groups, the second question is “What is the Holy Spirit saying to me right now through this passage?
- April 20-26: Modeling transparency begins with the leader. As the leader, your actions set the tone for the group. If you’re transparent, it encourages others to do the same. How are you, as the leader, practicing transparency?
- April 27 to May 03: Transformation through transparency. Non-Christians respond favorably to honest sharing. They understand their sin and long for Christians to be honest with one another. As we allow God’s Word to transform us through honest sharing, we become stronger and more like Jesus.
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