(Elizabeth Prata – The End Time) Josh Daws, @JoshDaws, wrote on Twitter/X the following: Jacques Ellul on the role of the small group in spreading propaganda–The church has yet to fully reckon with how small groups, without strong pastoral oversight, can and have become vehicles for spreading woke ideology within congregations. The dynamics of small groups often favor conformity over true discipleship. The most assertive individual usually sets the tone, and the group’s consensus follows. This makes it easy for ideology, rather than genuine biblical teaching, to take root.
I thought this made sense. I’ve written before about the danger of para-church ministries that are loosely or not-at-all attached to a local church. I’ve also warned about Sunday School classes led by laymen, and Women’s ministries where false doctrine can be and often is introduced in any of these extensions of the main service of a solid church.
Small groups are another area of concern. In one church I know of, they have family groups at homes of different people after the service to discuss the points in the service. But the elders insist an elder or a deacon to lead each of these where they occur. So, there is either pastoral oversight or delegated elder oversight at each group.