Our methodology is shaped by our theology. What we do is based on what we believe.
If cell groups are going to be the base of a church, it will be because making disciple-makers is the leadership’s central goal and commitment.
In making the transition to a cell-based ministry model, it is easy to get preoccupied with structures (the “how”) and overlook the theological foundations (the “why”). For example, it is easy to focus on making cells the base of the church by eliminating other programs and activities. But unless there is a clear and widespread commitment to the goal of making disciple-makers, this generally fails.
One of the reasons cell-based ministry doesn’t come naturally to the U.S. church is that we have a fundamentally different assumption about ministry. All of our models assume that a successful church has a lot of people attending weekend worship and believing in Jesus. The assumption is that this happens as irreligious people attend and get involved with the church. In other words, it is the church’s activity that makes disciples, and the people support the church’s mission. Thus, equipping the saints for ministry means helping them use their spiritual gifts in the multitude of ministries which will result in more disciples.
In contrast, the target of the cell-based church is to make irreligious people into disciples who make disciples. It isn’t “the church” that makes disciples, it is the disciples themselves who do so. The leadership doesn’t see the believers as cogs in the disciple-making system of the church, they see the believers as the “system” itself.
If our goal is to make disciple-makers, and if we believe that it is not systems but disciples who make disciples, then it will be natural to focus our energies and resources on the essential relational disciple-making environment: “the cell”. We won’t call people to numerous other ministries – only those which promote the development of disciple-makers who lead cells. We won’t have battles about which ministries to support.
What does your church’s current structure reveal about what you believe?
About Me
Steve Cordle is the founding and lead pastor of Crossroads Church, a small group-based congregation with five locations in the Pittsburgh metro area. He also leads a18movement, a non-profit dedicated catalyzing church plants globally. Steve is the author of three books: A Jesus-Shaped Life, Hear it, See it, Risk it, and The Church in Many Houses. He coaches pastors and church planters in the United States and Western Europe. He enjoys running, playing classical piano, and all Pittsburgh sports. Steve is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary (M. Div) and United Theological Seminary (D. Min). Steve and his wife, Linda, have three grown sons, three daughters-in-love, and three grandchildren.
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