Iron Sharpens Iron – Review

I started teaching public school before I received my teaching credential. When my district told me to go back and get my credential so they could rehire me, I complied and enrolled at National University. Most of the classes were/are completely useless but there were a couple of classes in which I said, “This would’ve been useful a couple of years ago.” After getting thrown into the fire of teaching, you learn as you go. Most young teachers I’ve met said they actually learned the useful things while on the job.

To some degree, that’s how I felt reading Iron Sharpens Iron: Leading Bible-Oriented Small Groups that Thrive by Orlando Saer. In no way is the book useless like my credential classes at National, but after co-leading a small group for a couple of years I had the same, “This would’ve been useful a couple of years ago.” But for those of you who never have lead a small group Bible study, this book will be extremely useful to you. I’ll just point out some key points that I found helpful.

Why have a small group?

At Grace EV Free La Mirada, we encourage our members to join a “Grace Group” (small home Bible study). The reasons are (also stated in Saer’s book):

• We are built for community and smaller groups help nurture and foster that community.
• Accountability: We all play a role in each other’s sanctification.
• Small groups give an opportunity to care for one another (i.e., prayer, accountability, personal needs, etc.).
• A good place from which to reach the lost: members can work together to advance the gospel.

Being a leader of a small group Bible study is big responsibility far beyond simply leading a discussion of Sunday morning’s sermon. It takes work to avoid the group becoming stagnant. There was a time in our small group when the group grew stagnant and sluggish. I couldn’t tell you what was the cause at the time because of my lack of experience leading a small group but in retrospect I can see several factors that could’ve caused it. Saer gives categories to these pitfalls and tells you how to avoid them.

Having good social events beyond your regular meeting time in order to cultivate friendship and community is a helpful part of maintaining a healthy group. This makes accountability and sanctification become more natural. Saer also gives ideas for group outings and fun events but he also warns of the group simply becoming a “social club.”

Managing the Group

There are issues to consider when starting a new group.

1. Focus: What kind of group will it be? - Is its primary purpose to help enquirers, to train believers, or to study the Bible together and support each other?

2. Life Expectancy: Is it open-ended or fixed-life? – To stop groups getting stodgy, many small group ministries build in a ‘shelf life’ of maybe 1 or 2 years, after which groups are mixed up.

3. Study Programme: Who is responsible for setting it? - Usually the church leaders set this up but it’s important to keep a balance of “sticking with the program” and meeting the needs of the group.

4. Personnel: Who is involved in organizing the group? Who is the leader or co-leaders and what are their roles? Clear roles are important in that the members of the group clearly need to know who to look to for leadership.

5. Time and Place: Where and when do we meet? I prefer any time when the Lakers are not on but that hasn't worked out well. Praise the Lord for DVR.

6. Size: How big should the group be? - This could depend on the size of the room/house you meet at. This could also depend on how well connected everyone is to each other. Are you meeting the needs of your current members? If not, then add more people might not be a good idea for the time being. But if you guys are rock solid, then meeting another person's needs might just be what your group needs to continue to grow.

7. Make-up: How diverse is the group going to be? Do you want a good mix to avoid it simply being another sub-group (e.g., college group)? I say yes. It's important to be diverse not simply for diversity sake but to truly represent the body of Christ well.

These are all valid questions that Saer has pointed out. Wrestling through much of these issues myself has actually been enriching instead of burdensome. I can confidently say that co-leading a small group with my friends John Rinehart and Mark Joseph has been one of the must enriching experiences in my Christian life. I didn’t really want the responsibility of co-leading anything because of the work involved. What I didn’t anticipate was the transformation it would cause in my life. I find myself more caring towards the members of the group, and I have a deep seeded desire to see the group continue to grow as it has been through these couple of years.

In short, Saer has some great points. Remember to always keep God at the center of everything and that this time is to honor and glorify Him. Saer goes on and gives several practical steps in leading a discussion, preparing for leadership, and managing a group but the overall theme of the purpose of small groups is what I wanted to point out here. No doubt the Lord has used Grace Groups at our church to help people connect better with other members of the church. They act as the “frontlines” of ministry. When there is a crisis regarding a member of the church the first question asked is, “Is this person in a Grace Group?” If so, then it is followed by a second question, “Who are the leaders?” It’s been an amazing an honor to serve others in this capacity.