Next Friday, our new GCM (we’re still working on a name) will begin meeting as a new group in the Warrington area. On April 4, the Willow Grove GCM met together one last time. We shared a meal, shared laughs, and reflected on what God has done for us over the last 2.5 years. It really was a sweet evening together.
But a week from now, our groups will begin meeting separately. This isn’t an easy transition. Change is always difficult. But as much as we have all agreed that multiplication is hard, God has also shown us why it’s good. Here are 4 reasons why:
- Practical: We’ve essentially become the size a small church plant (we’ve thought about starting our own church and calling it ‘8 Mile’ but didn’t want to butt heads with Eminem). Organizing regular gatherings with 27 adults and 29 children isn’t always the easiest thing. Whether it’s a matter of figuring out how to fit everyone into one home or finding a brave soul to watch nearly 30 tired-and-ready-for-bed kids for two hours, a large group becomes practically more difficult to manage. But to be perfectly honest, it’s been doable. We’ve gotten into a routine of things and have learned how to meet the needs of our group. The only problem is that we’ve pretty much reached the threshold, and unless we’re satisfied with it just being “us” forever, we needed to make more room for others. We’ve decided that as much we love us, we need to love others more.
- Relational:It’s hard to get to know the 28 others in your group equally. If GCMs are designed to be ‘smaller communities’ where deeper relationships fulfilling the biblical ‘one-anothers‘ can be experienced, then it becomes difficult to accomplish that at a certain size. Granted, it will always be hard to share similar relationships with everyone in your group irrespective of size. But generally speaking, the larger the group, the more difficult it becomes. We really do desire GCMs to foster genuine community where each individual is able to realize and live out their new relational identity in Christ to one another. Fewer people helps us to better express Christ’s calling on our lives to love one another.
- Spiritual:It’s no mistake that Jesus wasn’t walking around with 30 people around Him at all times. Instead, he had 12. He poured His life into those 12 and as a result they grew in their understanding of and love for Him. Our desire is that each GCM would contribute to the progressive spiritual maturity of its members. Our hope is that our communities would create environments where each person would be encouraged to continually move forward in their love for Jesus. If you’re 1 of 30 people, it’s easy to get lost in the mix. Talking about doubts, asking questions, sharing truth, challenging one another – it all becomes much harder in a larger group. Our hope is that these smaller groups would encourage us in our sanctification.
- Missional: At the end of the day, our GCMs don’t simply exist for ourselves, but that through us, our neighbors and friends would come to love Jesus and believe His Gospel. Every time we multiply, it’s a painfully gracious reminder from God of that truth. By multiplying, we now have the opportunity to extend our reach and to ask God to build His Kingdom (through us) in blocks that we haven’t before. Our honest hope is that each of our GCMs would be overflowing with non-Christians who would taste and see the sweetness of Jesus through our lives and our lips.
Multiplication is hard, but multiplication is good. May God give us many more opportunities for pain and joy through multiplication in the years to come.
by Ajay Thomas
Ajay lives in Philadelphia with his wife Shainu and their kids Hannah and Micah. He is responsible for preaching and vision as a pastor at Seven Mile Road.