I started a new job in August as the Women’s Small Group Director for one of our church campus, and this role had me thinking a lot about the purpose of community.

In Mark 1:14-20, Jesus begins to form the first “small group.” It’s a familiar passage that comes after Jesus is baptized, sent into the wilderness to be tempted, and then returns to begin his ministry:

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,  and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’

Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.^‘ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

If someone were to ask you, why are you in a small group, how would you answer them? 

We all want community, a place to belong. But for Jesus, community was purposeful. We see from Jesus’s statement in verse 17 that community is for the purpose of fellowship and mission. He said, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Now, if Jesus only cared about fellowship, he would have said, “Come, fish with me!” And Jesus and Simon and Andrew could have had a grand old time hanging out and sharing a common activity. Maybe there would be snacks. Maybe they’d play a game while they fished. But it would just be a few guys hanging out, and when the fishing was done they would all go home.  

But instead, Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” This is purposeful community. There’s still fellowship. It would be pretty awkward if they were following him and there was no fellowship, no conversation, no relational connection. But there was also more: there was mission.  

Jesus invited these men into his small group for the purpose of training them to then go out and bring others into the group. They spent three years in Jesus’ small group to then be told at the end of Matthew, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  

You know Jesus had that end in mind as he called these first disciples. This was the mission. This is our mission. But did you notice, even in that statement of mission, the fellowship aspect? “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

So, as I prepare to kick off this year’s Women’s Bible study and small groups, I want the purpose to be clear. Our church call them a community group because we want women to find their community here. But it’s a specific kind of community: Biblical community. We don’t want to have groups that come every week just for fellowship. There’s lots of places people can go to get that. We want to have groups where fellowship feeds our mission. Where others can find what we have found. 

So, whatever your context this fall, I encourage you to think about who you’re fishing for. Who can you help connect to the kingdom and become a follower of Jesus? How can you leverage the community you’re a part of to be about the mission of Jesus? Let’s fish and fellowship and grow and train and send out this year.