Preparing for a Bible study meeting can take a lot of energy. But the amount of time it takes can vary from passage to passage and leader to leader.
Since we can always put in more time to read, pray, and think, how do we know when we’re done? How can we tell when the study is ready?
I’m not sure there’s a universal answer to that question. However, I think there are indicators that show up when we haven’t prepared enough. In this article, I’ll share one of my indicators in the hope that it might help others to discover theirs.
The Relationship Between Preparation and Explanation
My small group preparation falls into two phases. First I study the passage; then, I think through the discussion about the passage I hope to have with my small group.
If my preparation time is shortened in any given week, it’s likely the second phase that suffers. And while I’m seldom conscious of how much focused time I’m spending on my study, I have identified a helpful litmus test for under-preparation.
For me, there’s an inverse relationship between my preparation time and how much talking I do during the Bible study meeting. The less prepared I am, the more I talk, and the more prepared I am, the less I talk.
Perhaps this is surprising. After all, if I’m more prepared, wouldn’t I have more to say?
Drawing on the Strength of Small Groups
Let’s not forget, the chief advantage of a Bible study is interaction. The discussion and conversation we have as a group can turbo-charge our engagement with a passage of Scripture.
Therefore, as a leader, I prepare with the goal of interaction. I try my best to write questions to draw my friends into the Bible and help them see what I have seen.
The less prepared I am, the less time I’ve likely had to spend on my questions. So, my explanations take the place of discovery and learning among my group members. I’m serving my friends a filet instead of helping them wrestle the fish into the boat.
It’s often the interpretation phase of Bible study that gets short-circuited. In my head, I know the interpretive dots must be connected, so I connect the dots myself instead of posing the questions that help my friends draw the line between points A and B.
The result is not always a disaster. Some people in my group might not even notice. But I can tell, and our application never seems quite as sharp when we haven’t arrived together at the author’s main point.
A Light of Your Own
Talking too much—trying to give too many explanations myself—is my check-engine light. It tells me that I didn’t spend enough time on the right things as I got ready for my small group. For future meetings, I’ll need to carve out focused time to plan for the small group discussion. (For those with similar struggles to me, you might find this question-writing worksheet helpful. I still do!)
Your indicator light might be different from mine. One way to make progress thinking through your own leadership is to meet with a trusted friend from the group after the Bible study. Specific, loving feedback can go a long way toward helping you grow.
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