Faithlife recently republished a guest post I wrote for them a few years back entitled “How to Empower Your Church for Serious Bible Study.” In the article, I promote four straightforward habits to develop a culture of rich Bible study within your church. Learn, model, teach, and coach. Please don’t rely on a single seminar or workshop to change people’s lives. Trust the process of discipleship, and win people through practice and repetition.
Here is a taste:
If you can’t articulate a simple Bible study method and show the fruit of it in your own walk with God, you’ll never win your congregation to the practice. You’ll inadvertently communicate that ordinary people can’t or shouldn’t try to study the Bible, and you’ll persistently work against a culture of Bible study within the church. Leaders must do more than regurgitate commentaries for their people; they must know how to handle the sacred text themselves.
Bible study skills are infectious, not contagious. In other words, they don’t catch very easily; they require close personal contact to be transmitted. In 17 years training dozens of people to study the Bible, I’ve seen that folks don’t really get Bible study until they’ve had ample opportunity to practice it, with coaching. Pastors can’t expect a single seminar or teaching event to create a culture; only a dogged pursuit of personal training will do it. So encourage people to try Bible study for themselves. And when they do, your role can shift from inimitable expert to beloved coach. Regularly check in, revisit the topic, and keep training people in groups both small and large.
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