Connected Bible Study Lessons

A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea.”1 Seth Godin didn’t realize it when he penned these words, but he landed firmly on the definition of a tribal CMC. A tribal CMC is most certainly a tribe. We are connected to one another because we are friends. We are connected to a leader, the leader of the group. And we are connected to an idea — the life, attitudes, and activity of Jesus. You may be asking yourself, “Why didn’t Howerton say, ‘We are connected to one another because we are family’? ‘We are connected to a leader, Jesus Christ’? and ‘We are connected to an idea, the gospel’?”

I didn’t describe a tribal CMC in this way because everyone in the group doesn’t consider himself part of the Christian tribe. As mentioned in the introduction to this book, a tribal small group, due to the era in which we are living, will include people from various ideological perspectives. They are not yet part of the church, do not believe that their leader is Jesus Christ, and are not yet gospel-centered people. Every believer in the group needs to be made aware that he is the church, that his leader is ultimately Jesus Christ, and that the gospel is what connects him to the other believers in the group.

The makeup of a tribal small group takes on a flavor different from what we may have embraced in the past. Because there are many ideologies, much brokenness because of past hurts and dysfunctional relationships, and because the group is journeying into synergies not realized in groups past, it will be made up of an array of people.

Rick Howerton, A Different Kind of Tribe (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012).