Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
Hasty generalization!
Here in Grace Baptist Church, we have cell groups where everyone has the opportunity to share from their studies and meditations on the scripture. And everyone are encouraged to evangelize the lost. You err to generalize every Christian groups with clergy-laity system!
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That's awesome!! I recognize that if a gathering is too large (e.g., at Sunday teaching time) it may not be conducive to open sharing from members. But I consider it so key that even in those situations it would be really good if at least a few were allowed to share something they were inspired by afterward.
I've sometimes heard that groups don't want to do that for fear of what someone might say or that things could "get out of control." That is always a possibility, but I have to say the benefits of the riches that come out of the members speaking, far outweighs any of the downsides. And in experiencing this kind of open meeting for perhaps 30 years, I can honestly say I could easily count on one hand the times anything got too far sideways.
But that is a big benefit of smaller meetings too. So if it, for some legitimate reason, can't be done in the large corporate gatherings, then I think there definitely needs to be small gatherings where everyone is encouraged to share real experiences of Christ.