organization

Yeah, "cliques" are just groups of people that hang out together because they like similar things or believe similar ways. Growing up, I was probably in the 'nerdy' clique ... going on to the 'drama' clique, the 'music-theory' clique, the 'intellectual' clique. I was "okay" with the 'popular' clique, the 'sports' clique; but there were things expected of people in those cliques that weren't expected of those in my cliques, & vice-versa.

This is a great question. If you like a technical answer you can look at "clique" in Wikipedia. But it is a very long definition as you might expect. The way you know if you have a clique issue is if there is an "in" and an "out" crowd in your organization. When you were in school you saw these. And there is a certain group that would accept you, and other groups that wouldn't. It is natural for people with an affinity to attract each other and stick together. For example if you are a bowler and you find out someone else bowls, you have an immediate bond because of the common experiences. And it may turn out as you discuss them that you have actually interacted before or had mutual friends that you interacted with. The problem really comes about when one group looks down on another (or all other) group(s). In a church they become almost an exclusive club and it turns the church in on itself instead of reaching out to all the world to share Jesus Christ. Jesus' idea of a church includes all who chose to commit their life to him. Christians should find that this is the overriding common bond that they have. Christians will feel that affinity and bond even with people from other demoninations. If our focus is shifted from Jesus onto our group, our denomination, our close circle of friends, our family then we are putting that into a higher priority in life than the relationship we have with Jesus Christ. So cliques in a church can be positive if they build people up and draw together for the purpose of drawing closer to Christ. But negative when they pull us apart and separate us taking our focus off of Jesus.