Toxic Small Groups

Toxic Small Groups
Words of Faith 7-8-25
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2025
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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1 Corinthians 11

[17] In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. [18] In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. [19] No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. [20] When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, [21] for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. [22] Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!

       One of the most interesting aspects of the volatile, colorful, and divisive issues among Believers at Corinth is that some of the deepest problems revolved around small groups. We live in a time in which small groups are popular and important. Small groups are heralded as the answer to just about everything from stewardship to meaningful involvement.

       Small group ministries enable large congregations to meet in more intimate settings where accountability and discipleship can occur. Many small group ministries cater to different age groups and interests. Dividing into smaller groups can greatly facilitate personal ministry, and, after all, we know that this is more like the first-century church, right? Yes, but... we sometimes forget that there were difficulties with small groups from the very beginning.

       One of the very first small group ministries in history became nearly toxic. Paul was deeply disappointed with what he had heard about the home group meeting in Corinth. "I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good." 

      Ouch. Somehow, the social pecking order of Corinthian culture had infiltrated the house meetings and fractured the church. What began as a grand picture of the Kingdom of God where rich and poor came together and slaves worshiped next to slave owners had fallen into a terrible state of disrepair and division.

      The gathering for the Lord's Supper should be a remembrance of the preeminent act of selflessness, Christ's death on behalf of others. Instead, the Corinthians had turned the memorial of selflessness into an experience of selfishness and a rite of unity into a riotous display of disunity.

        Paul affirmed the fact that there have to be differences among people-- "No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval."  The blessings people experienced were understood as a sign of God's approval, indicating that He had entrusted a blessing to a particular person or family. However, these Believers had reverted to material blessings as the marker for a social pecking order within the church.

        Paul's primary exhortation was to reestablish the integrity of the Lord's Supper. He called the Believers to remember what this institution was truly about —proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes. This text also prompts us to pause and think carefully about the nature of small groups in the life and ministry of the church and to be wary of the dangers inherent in such gatherings.

        Great care must be taken with small group ministry. Obviously, small groups can create a more personal ministry setting for people. Still, they also can create a place to hide and avoid the larger body of Christ. If home groups become cliquish or negative toward others in the Body, they can become toxic to the Body. If groups become closed and inwardly focused, they can become a pocket of infection. If home groups become controlling, they can be cult-like. If small groups are not guided or accountable, they can veer into unbalanced teaching or heresy. These are the most obvious dangers.

        More subtle concerns arise from the fact that small groups are often built around a specific demographic or interest —older, younger, singles, couples, with kids, without kids, music, arts, crafts, hobbies, travel, etc. Paul pointed out that "there have to be differences among you." 

       Differences are normal, but if they create a different point of cohesion other than the "proclaiming the Lord's death until He comes"-- God's growing grace in our lives-- it is easy to get off the track of what God wants in the Body. For example, if the music, hobby, or social gathering becomes more important than proclaiming the Lord's death and His grace, that group has strayed from the course.

        Paul will soon point out that we are called to be part of a diverse Body. We are called to mix with people who are different from us so that we can complete one another. If we get more interested in our small group than in the Body, we lose sight of the very things that hold us together in common. Small groups and house churches often become homogeneous with regard to race, economics, politics, and other social variables.

        While small groups can be an excellent place for accountability, part of that accountability should be to ask one another —how are you interacting with people who are different? How are you serving the larger Body of Christ? How are you working to get to know those who are hurting? What are we doing to relieve suffering? Have you attended to the Lord's Supper in the larger gathering of the Body? Are you connecting with unbelievers to share the Gospel with them? Are you discipling new Believers who are hungry to grow in their faith? Are we at a point where we need to divide and reach out to others?

        Sometimes, small groups reach a point where they need to divide and grow in the same way that cells do to expand. This isn't easy. Indeed, groups can meet together for years, but great care must be taken to hold one another accountable lest the group become toxic. Here are good questions to ask periodically as a small group--

       Has our group been meeting together for too long? Are we reaching out to those who are lost? Do people in the Body feel excluded from our group? Have some in our group stopped functioning as part of the larger Body of Christ? Have we become a "surrogate church" that substitutes for the Body of Christ but misses the church's mission? Are we too similar in our group? Do we need to form some new groups that will minister to people who are younger in their faith and need guidance? Are we enabling some persons in our group to be dysfunctional Christians because they are unplugged from the Body of Christ? Are we missing the hurting? Are we missing a significant part of the church's mission— making disciples, teaching obedience to the Word, serving the needy, praying for leaders, supporting missionaries, or guiding young lives?

       Father God, I pray that You will use every means to draw people closer to You through me. Give me the grace to reflect upon the places where I am called to walk out the Gospel. Help me to discern the health of the groups that I am a part of. Help me to see Your mission and to extend the hope of eternity and life in You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2025
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2025 Jeffrey D. Hoy.