Thesis the Second

To quote the legendary singer-songwriter Alan Jackson, "it's alright to be little-bitty." The Christian community does not need to be sizable to be real. In fact, smaller units of Christian community are more effective in helping people to become followers of the teachings of Jesus, as evidenced by the data from the small group movement even within the largest churches. Literally, where two or three are gathered in Jesus' name, spiritual growth happens. The advantages of small units of Christian community include accountability, intimacy, lack of bureaucratic snarls, ability to act quickly in response to the movement of the Spirit, and connecting others deeply in the midst of our increasingly individualistic world. Therefore, Christian community is as small as possible, and larger communities should strive at all times to form into smaller units so that members may experience the best opportunities for spiritual growth.