One of the newest trends in the church is to move away from Bible teaching and move toward “care groups” or home groups. Books, sermon reviews and/or topical discussions are replacing formal scripture study and straight preaching. Sermons are becoming more of a pep talk a la Tony Robbins; Care group leaders are becoming more AA-style facilitators. There is a danger in all of this, but this article will not just address that, but also the danger in the extremes on either side.

I have no problem at all with care groups; they can be vital connections to other believers throughout the week. In fact, the “Koinonia” understanding of fellowship has been a cornerstone of my walk with God and understanding. Believe me, most churches are in NO danger of becoming TOO relationship-oriented!

However, this new trend appears to be stripping pastors of most of their authority and relevance as well as the authority and relevance of the scriptures. When the scriptures become an addendum, when they become a peripheral tool added to all the other “stuff” in our bag of tricks, we are in real danger.

I am a Bible teacher. I believe that the Bible is not only important, but absolutely central to who we are and what we do as the church. But, if all people get is one sermon once a week and that is all that church is, they will starve. It is no wonder cults like the Mormons are gaining so many members from the evangelical church: people are starved for RELATIONSHIP as well as INSTRUCTION. And we have not been very good at the former. The Nazis, in their Lebensborn program, tried to create super children by doing nothing but feeding and changing their babies. No love, no touch. They ALL died.

You can also do nothing but love a baby but if you don't give it food, it will die, too. That is the “two extreme” dilemma of the church. Either all “Bible” with no nurturing fellowship, or fellowship that makes the Word of God just a nice add-on. We need both Word and fellowship in equal measure. Because some churches only provide a dry or canned Sunday message, many believers can't assimilate it and there is no strength during the week that comes by being with other believers talking about the Word of God and praying for each other. So many are turned off to fellowship-less churches and drawn to more “intimate” settings, whether the Word of God is central or not.

In the late 1970's to mid 1980's, a horrible movement arose: A teaching that wounded and in some cases shipwrecked thousands and thousands of young believers. Several well-intentioned leaders developed a teaching that placed pastors - “Shepherds” - over the believers - “Sheep” - in a position of absolute authority. It began with simple verses on authority which were taken far out of context and intent, were used as a structure of authoritarian church government and in the end became so demonic and destructive that it ruined more believers than can be numbered. There were marriage and families torn apart, and even suicides as a result.

A tale. A young person that I knew and had entrusted to another youth pastor had gone with the youth group on a “retreat.” Everyone came back charged up, excited. The problem was, no one gave me a straight answer as to what was taught or why everyone was so excited. The gist of it was: The disciples had no Bible but they did fine. We need to return to the “early church” of Acts. It was all about “Home Groups.” They just sat and waited on God and prayed and worshipped. Out with “religious tradition.”

The result of this “new teaching” was the wreckage of a youth group, the split of a church and the spiritual wounding of my friend. Some broke away and started “home churches” that became little more than discussion groups that mainly criticized the church and turned into centers for unrestrained sin; some started a commune which I visited and was struck by its cult atmosphere; and many individuals just walked away from God.

I am hearing a new push toward “house churches” and “care groups” that are alarming me. They are moving toward an inward, self-led grouping that is very slack on the Word and almost without authority. And God's Word is clear that we must have both to be healthy, without doing away with genuine fellowship and caring for each other. The Acts church was known for its close fellowship and practical, daily care for each other: God knows we need more of that. And the Epistles are filled with practical counsel on how to make fellowship work. But you cannot read the “whole counsel of God” without knowing that doctrine, teaching and true authority in church is vital as well. The writer of Hebrews didn't say, “By this time you should have been a lot closer and gotten to know each other better.” He said, “By this time you should have been TEACHERS.” The goal of fellowship is to produce life and evangelism; the goal of teachers and pastors is to produce teachers, pastors and other leaders! Fellowship without direction, or just based on Kum-ba-ya type self-help modeling, is very prone to deception and shipwreck. But the Jews did not survive until this day because they liked each other or got to know each other; they survived because of the Torah. They taught it from GENERATION TO GENERATION. We cannot lose that.

I am not suggesting a return to the authoritarian “shepherding” of the last few years. I believe that the limitation of pastors is in the context of the church. Pastors have the right and the responsibility to keep wolves away, teach right things and make sure leadership is walking right. He does not have the right to tell people where to move, to arrange marriages or any of the other extremes of that era. But if true fellowship is to be Godly and right, there has to be some sense of God's authority present, and the Word must be central to everything. The church cannot become the spiritual powerhouse it was meant to be if we continue to feed people milk and do not graduate them to meat. And that meat is the Word of God.

Of the two extremes - the Word without fellowship, or fellowship that is only adding the Word as an afterthought, the latter is the one that concerns me in this hour. The New Age spirituality is all about EXPERIENCE. I recently heard a care group leader say, “There are no right answers” when discussing a verse. THAT is the danger; that personal experience, thought and interpretation would be the focus, and that the Word of God would be something we apply to our individual tastes and sensitivities. Rather, it is crucial that we apply OUR LIVES to the Word of God. Otherwise, we become the ruler and the Word of God becomes the object we are measuring to fit in with it. And if our experience is bigger, well, we just adjust the Word. We cannot do that. The Word is the straight edge; when we come together, it is not primarily to get to know each other or to discuss life issues; it is to place the Word in the center and see how WE LINE UP. And THEN we can discuss our hurts, needs and lives with the Word as the focus, the perspective and the answer.