Cell Group

I was having lunch with my boss on Thursday and the “lunch table talk” eventually when to church (my boss is a Christian). He ask me whether I was part of a cell group in my church, I told him that I was part of one and I am now looking for joining a working adults cell group in my church. Then he said something that shocked me especially when it was coming from an elder Christian. He told me that he was a cell leader before and from the perspective he had as a cell leader, he is convinced that the cell group system was not good for Christians and warn me not to get too involved. I was quite taken aback by that remark because I often thought that being part of a cell group is considered good for a Christian.

I could not shake that remark off for the rest of the day. I got to thinking, how did a healthy church going Christian come to this conclusion? Looking at how my boss practices his faith, it would not be illogical to think that he is currently part of or even leading a cell group. But here he is criticizing the every system I have come to see as one of the foundations of being Christian. Did not the early church of the apostles work very much the same way, meeting in small groups eating, worshipping and fellowshipping together?

Then I started to look for examples of Christians who did well alone. Joseph was one example. He spent most of his young life alone but he kept the faith and was used mightily by God in Egypt. I am not saying that we are all Josephs by any stretch of the imagination, but it does lend weight to my boss' arguments. I also started thinking about my experiences in cell groups, most of which is not good. When I think about times in COR with the El-Shaddai cell group, I think I spent more time just trying to fit into the social circle than learning and talking more about Christ and if that is the case the cell group is nothing more than a social club.

Maybe it is just me, but perhaps going alone has its merits. I am relieved of the pressure and distraction of having to fit into the social mold of a cell group. I am not saying that cell groups are bad; I am saying that perhaps cell groups though good for a majority of Christians may not be good for all. My boss chose to go it alone in his walk with Christ, I just might be tempted to do the same.