Jesus’ Small Group had Three Purposes
Matthew and Luke both include lists of the 12 disciples that formed Jesus’ small group (Matt 10:1-4, Luke 6:12-16). However the Gospel of Mark also includes three purposes for this small group:
Mark 3
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.
14 He appointed twelve that they might be WITH him and that he might SEND THEM OUT TO PREACH 15 and to HAVE AUTHORITY TO DRIVE OUT DEMONS.
16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Through the rest of the Gospel of Mark we see these three purposes lived out in Jesus small group.
They were with Jesus' in all sorts of settings including in their small group.
They observed Jesus preach and cast out demons.
Sometimes Jesus explained his public preaching in their small group (eg Mark 4:11 where he explained his use of parables).
During one small group meeting, Jesus briefed them and sent them out to cast out demons and to preach (Mark 6:7-13).
On at least one occasion Jesus helped them when they failed to cast out a demon and they debriefed the event in their small group (Mark 9:14-29).
But we know that Jesus also covered other topics in his small group. For example, in various small group meetings Jesus covered issues of true uncleanness (Mark 7:17-23), and greatness and power (Mark 9:33-37 ,10:42-45).
To include these different issues and make it more transferrable to us today, I find it helpful to generalise the purposes of Jesus small group from Mark 3:14-15 to:
being WITH him
becoming LIKE him (have authority to drive out demons)
working FOR him (being sent out to preach)
Purposes in Jesus-Shaped Small Groups
To run a Jesus-Shaped Small Group today, we will need to intentionally include these three purposes (With, Like, For) in the purposes of the group.
On reflection, I often neglected the With and For purposes in my groups. And when I covered these purposes it was more by accident than design.
However intentionally helping people practice the presence of God (With Jesus) has led to rich small group conversations and fruitful outcomes in people’s lives. And deliberately covering what it means for people to live FOR Jesus in the coming week leads to helpful training, focused prayer and encouragement.
I have found talking about all three purposes (With, Like, For) in a group has helped develop and agree on rich plans shaped specifically for that group.