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HANDLING SPECIAL SITUATIONS, Part I
Special Situations
 In the Cell Leader Course we saw that there are many different dynamics taking place at any time in a Cell Group. People are changing and groups are changing. Therefore, we can expect that many special situations will arise because of these. The positions is further complicated by other aspects that will have an influence on your Cell Group and your Cell meetings. Cell Members are going to have needs and problems. Because Jesus told us to, “…love one another…” we will naturally have a tendency to try to fix people. However, much harm can be done by novices who play around with “counseling”. The best care you can give in these circumstances is to refer the person to the Supervisor, Elders or Zone Pastor who have the spiritual capacities to help troubled people.
Aspects that can affect the Cell Group?
I. People have different “Edification Factors” The members of your Cell Group are all at different stages of development and therefore need different types of ministry. You must, however, be aware that some people will have a negative impact on the edification in the Cell Group, while others will have a very positive influence. We can identify the following three classifications for those attending you Cell Meetings.
• Negative Factors in Edification
These people attend the Cell Meeting with the expectation that their pains, hurts, needs, and problems must be solved by the Group. They are bringing their ministry needs to the Cell and not to Christ. They repeat recurrent problems at every meeting.
• Neutral Factors in Edification
These people come to the meeting in spiritual neutrality, waiting for God or someone in the Group to make edification happen. They are not offering themselves to Christ as an instrument through whom He edifies the Cell Group.
• Positive Factors in Edification
These people come to the meeting prepared to be a positive force for God to use for edifying the Group. Their purpose for being in the Cell is to be part of Christ’s edification process for the Group, not to receive some personal ministry.
When negative and neutral factors are at work in a cell meeting, human distractions and fleshly interactions become the focus. When positive factors are at work in the members of a Cell Group, Christ can edify and minister to the hurts, pains, needs and problems in the Group. The Cell Leader will need to be aware of these factors and to lovingly help people become ‘positive factors’ so that their needs can be ministered to.
II. People have “hidden agendas” during the Cell Meetings
As a Cell Leader, you are in a special position to know the needs of the members of your Cell Group. As your Group meets there will be three agendas, two of which will be “hidden.” It will take a little time for you to be able to fully sense their presence. As you become more experienced, you will recognize them unconsciously, and react accordingly to them. These three agendas are:
• Formal Agenda – This is the Stated Agenda
• Personal Needs – This is a Hidden Agenda
• Cell Group Needs – This is a Hidden Agenda
These three agendas are best explained by looking at an example. Your Group may, for instance, be discussing, “Why do good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people?” That is the stated agenda for the Cell Group meeting. The topic may touch two hidden agendas:
• Personal Needs
The first will be the many unspoken personal needs within the Cell Group. Unknown to you, perhaps the Cell Group includes a person who has been involved in secret sin. This person feels guilty, unworthy, or a “bad person”. Irritation or hostility may accompany comments made by this person during the discussion time. These special reactions should signal you to spend some personal time with this individual. Your sensitivity will draw out the “true agenda”, and will lead you to provide a critical ministry to this life. Another person responds in a different way: the hidden agenda in this life is the result of watching a beloved mother die painfully from an incurable disease. Bad things happening to good people? Why should it happen? Why should this mother be subjected to such an end, after living a selfless life? Your ministry to this person is totally different.
• Cell Group Needs
As the Cell Group meets together, special needs will develop. If one person dominates the discussions, the Cell Group may feel anger toward the offender. This “hidden agenda” is a signal to you. The issue of the dominator must be dealt with by you, the Cell Group Leader, or the Cell Group will eventually deal with it! Sometimes groups can be pretty tough on such a person. It is better to be sensitive to the needs of the Cell Group and to deal with such issues privately. In case of a dominator, the best way to handle this is on a one-to-one basis. The person may not be aware of how much the Cell Group is being controlled, and will really try to adjust. (Contact your Supervisor, Elder, or Zone Pastor if the problem persists.) Other hidden agendas, which the Cell Group may face, can include several members facing similar crises at the same time: unemployment, sickness, tragedy, etc. In these special times the entire Cell Group can minister to those who have special needs.
III. People have stages of relationship accountability
When a new person attends the group, the ultimate goal is that they develop an accountability relationship with the other members. As these relationships develop, bear in mind that the establishment of accountability takes time! Each person has to earn the right to hear the deep things in the heart of another person. As transparency grows in the relationships, needs will gradually be revealed that are far too personal to share in the beginning stages. Love and respect will develop as they get to know each other better. As common interests are discovered, powerful sharing times will be created which will bond them together.
As you minister to the people in your Group, be aware that they will move through five relationship stages of a cell group life-cycle.
• Exploration Stage (Honeymoon)
• Transition Stage (Conflict)
• Action Stage (Community)
• Ministry Stage (Outreach)
• Multiplication (Celebration)
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