Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
I’m on Thanksgiving vacation with my family, and we have a lot of legos to build. I plan to get back to regular blogging next week.
In the meantime, and in honor of the upcoming release of “The Force Awakens,” here are my musings on What Star Wars Taught Me About Bible Study. Enjoy.
Here is something from Aaron Armstrong to be thankful for:
We shouldn’t act as though the Bible has hidden knowledge that only an elite few can access. That is the way of the mystical guru, who offers esoteric nonsense—absurdities in place of true wisdom. But the message of the Bible—at least in its basic message—is plain to all. Most anyone could come to the text of the Bible and understand the means by which God offers salvation (whether they agree with it or not is another question entirely). They can know the commands of God (whether they obey, again, is another question entirely). They can know there will be judgement, there will be a day when suffering and sadness end, when death is no more and all will be made new. Some elements are confusing, and some, frankly, make little sense to those living in the West today. Even so, there is no need for discouragement: what we can know, we can know.
Check out his full article.
I’m elbow-deep in my family’s second annual Legofest, where we dedicate our spare moments to rebuilding every Lego set in the house.
I’ve learned a lot since last year, but what I’ve learned has really slowed me down. In particular, I’ve learned how to include my kids.
Last year, I introduced Legofest as a way to serve the children. I would rebuild all their Lego sets for them, thus providing them with a load of “new” toys to enjoy through the winter. But the problem was that my kids wanted to join me in the work; and their help was not always very helpful.
They’d pick something to start building. They would search for the first few pieces. They would complete the first few steps. But they’d quickly hit a problem, where they couldn’t find a specific piece amid the piles of carnage. But they’d find an identical shape in a different color; they’d settle for this lucky find and go on their way. By the end, we were missing all sorts of pieces, and we had to unbuild a few automobiles to swap out the necessary parts.
This year, I decided to get in front of the problem, and I banned the children from all Legofest activities. That is, until I realized I was a terrible parent for doing so. What sort of father would do that to his kids?
I’ve now done all I can think of to include the children in the building process, with some clear ground rules for when we can and cannot substitute imperfect pieces. And I’ve gotten better at teaching them how to build and how to find the right pieces. The problem with this is, of course, that the building takes longer than it did last year. Inclusion comes with a great cost to efficiency.
Training a new Bible study leader is like Legofest in this way: Inclusion tends to work against efficiency. If your goals are to keep your calendar clean and to minimize the time you spend in preparation, it’s not worth it to train an apprentice. But of course, the larger cost is that your ministry will always center around you. Training is inefficient. It takes time, effort, repetition, initiative, coaching, careful attention, and repetition.
So the first step for training apprentices is to invite them to watch you. Bring them into the planning process, and talk it through together. Slow yourself down, pull back the curtain, and show them the way. Adjust your expectations so you’re not surprised when it takes more time and effort.
Is it worth it to you?
I regularly try to clarify that what makes our Bible study useful is using not OIA terminology but OIA principles. So when I claim that OIA is the best Bible study method, I’m not saying that “OIA” is the secret pass code that unlocks all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I’m merely saying that we have to pay attention to what’s said, understand what it means, and connect it to our lives.
Case in point: Marshall Segal writes a great post about “Six Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible in a Group.” And his six questions are really helpful not only for small groups but also for personal study. And someone might work through the steps Segal presents and wonder, “Why are there so many methods out there, and how do I make sure I’m following the right one?”
But please consider. Notice that Segal’s “Swedish Method” is the same as the OIA process, just with different labels.
Of course, we might explain each step with slight differences, but the substance remains the same. By all means, if you find “the Swedish Method” helpful, then please use it. It’s far more important to use the method than to label everything the same way I would.
I recommend Segal’s helpful article to you. Check it out!
Training is the process by which someone matures from learning to leading, from participating to performing. It is a process we regularly underestimate but can’t go without.
Some self-disciplined, intuitive types can train themselves in a skill by merely observing and imitating successful people. But there are masses of people who, to make progress, need rigorous coaching and instruction. This is why athletes, entrepreneurs, and executive teams hire personal trainers or outside consultants. Classes and books may help with communicating information, but effective skills-training rarely takes place without close contact, personal investment, and frequent feedback.
Living Fitness (2013), Creative Commons
The world gives many names to such training: mentoring, coaching, supervising, parenting, tutoring, consulting, counseling. The Bible calls it “making disciples.” And when we use this fitting label, we’ll quickly realize the Bible has much to say about how to go about doing it.
While I write this post as part of a series about how to train someone to lead a Bible study, the process I outline1 can be applied to almost any skill. Since it describes how God works in the world, we should expect it to work as we follow his example.
The beauty of this process is that it’s neither time-sensitive nor dependent on factors like capacity, competence, education, or learning style. Because it’s merely a framework to guide the discipleship of an individual, we can tailor the process to all the different kinds of people we train.
If, after delegating the task fully (step 4), you suspect the person is struggling to succeed, that’s okay. Most trainees need to make their own mistakes and find their own style before they find competency. But perpetual floundering may also reveal that you moved too quickly through the steps and should return to one of them.
For the rest of this series, I’ll walk through these four steps in detail, explaining how we can use them to train people to lead their own Bible studies.
————
1I’m grateful to Dave Kieffer for introducing this model to our Team Leaders in DiscipleMakers.
When we want to figure out how to use the Bible, we don’t need to complicate the process. The Bible itself tells us how to use the Bible.
Jesse Johnson quotes W.H. Pike, who writes of the many instructions the Bible itself gives about how to use the Bible:
Pike’s article explains each point in a few sentences. Check it out!
Aaron Armstrong posts some helpful thoughts on tweeting the Bible. In a generation when we’re trained to memorize, think about, and teach the Bible in single-verse chunks, a communication tool like Twitter presents some real challenges. Most Bible verses can fit in fewer than 140 characters, but do we use them properly when we remove them from the context their paragraph, chapter, section, or book?
As Armstrong suggests, think before you tweet your Bible.
The best way to grow a Bible study is to multiply it, which involves training a new leader for the newly birthed group. To train a new leader, you must first choose an apprentice who is faithful and will be able to teach others. But once you’ve chosen your apprentice, what do you do with that person? How do you get started?
Justin Kern (2011), Creative Commons
The following posts in this series will focus on training an apprentice in the skills of leading a Bible study group. Before we get to those skills, however, I must clarify the first step: Teach your apprentice how to study the Bible. When I move on to leadership skills and training, I will assume your apprentice understands the basics of OIA Bible study (observe, interpret, apply) and can do them well in his or her own study of the Scripture.
So how do you teach someone to study the Bible? I’ve written on this at greater length in another post, but I’ll recap my points for you here.
You’ve got to be explicit about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Explain why OIA is the best Bible study method. Give an overview of the process (this can be done in 5 minutes) and walk through the steps over time. Explain how to observe repetition, comparisons, contrasts, names and titles, and connectors. Walk through the process of asking questions, answering them from the text, and synthesizing the answers into a coherent main point. Fight for the main points. Explain the two directions and three spheres for application. Call your apprentice to get specific and focus on Jesus throughout.
The categories and concepts will give apprentices a vocabulary to see what they’ve never seen, understand what they read, and see everything in their lives change. When done well, this won’t feel academic but thrilling.
Talking about the methods and skills isn’t enough. People need to see them in action. That’s why you can’t really teach someone to study the Bible unless you actually study the Bible. Pick a book and go through it together. If your apprentices have been part of your Bible study for a while, they’ll have had time to see you do OIA study. And when you teach the skills (step one above), it will feel like opening a machine to see the inner workings.
People won’t get it until they have to do it on their own. They might learn all the lingo and be able to tell you the difference between a summary and a main point. But unless they practice the skills regularly, in their own Bibles, and without relying on study guides or commentaries—they’ll end up with a few short circuits in their bionic implants.
Because of this need for practice, I find it crucial to meet with an apprentice outside of the group meeting. I’ll tailor my coaching to the needs and passions of the person. Sometimes we’ll collaborate to prepare the study for the next meeting. Sometimes we’ll review the previous meeting’s study and review how the OIA model guided the discussion. Sometimes we’ll do our own 1-on-1 study of a book other than the one the group is studying. The point is simply to give the apprentice an opportunity to practice OIA independently and come back for frequent feedback and coaching.
Again, for more details on these three steps for teaching OIA, please see the model I proposed here. If we don’t teach the steps for OIA, our Bible teaching will feel like secret dark arts that the uninitiated can’t ever replicate. If we don’t demonstrate OIA through books of the Bible, our teaching will feel academic and won’t take root in people’s regular practice. And if we don’t coach them through their own practice of the skills, they’ll never gain full confidence that they can do it.
And you’ll want your apprentice to be confident in his or her ability to study the Bible. That’s why you’re training, right?
Andy Naselli wants to persuade you and me to memorize entire books of the Bible, and I think he has some great things to say. Check out his two articles on the topic:
14 Reasons to Memorize an Entire Book of the Bible
11 Steps to Memorizing an Entire Book of the Bible
Naselli explains that memorizing entire books gives us a better idea of God’s thoughts in context, which puts us in a better position to meditate on those divine thoughts.
Naselli says he spent 45 to 75 minutes each morning to memorize 1 Corinthians in 16 months’ time. I doubt many people will have that kind of time every day, but the task is still well worth pursuing. I can still have a sweet time in Scripture when I don’t have a Bible in front of me, but I get to rehearse (and meditate) on chapters or large sections I’ve memorized.
Though it’s an important choice, it doesn’t need to be a complicated one. It’s not like you’re looking for someone to help you overthrow the emperor and take over the galaxy. You just need someone who is willing to learn how to lead a Bible study.
This choice matters, though, because you see the need to train a new Bible study leader. You want the word of God to go forth. You want your ministry to multiply and not center on you. You want to train others to reach more people than you could reach on your own.
How do you get started? How do you find the right person to train?
Companies hire new professionals who have experience in a relevant field. Major League baseball teams call up players who develop through the system of minor leagues. And public schools recruit certified people who pass through a season of student teaching. In each case, the supervisory committee looks for evidence of commitment and success before they take further risk or assign greater responsibility to the potential apprentice.
Similarly, Paul instructs Timothy to look for evidence of both commitment and success in potential ministry apprentices.
What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:2)
What this doesn’t mean: The person you train should be without flaws or struggles. The apprentice must never let you down. The apprentice must be the oldest or most mature Christian you can find.
What this means: Apprentices should demonstrate a pattern of resisting sin and addressing areas of weakness. They should be regular attenders and cheerful members of the groups they are learning to lead. They should be growing as Christians and committed to knowing God through the Scripture.
What this doesn’t mean: The apprentice must already have experience in a teaching role. The apprentice must have a charismatic, extroverted personality. The apprentice must have a degree or comparable education in the Bible or divinity.
What this means: Apprentices should envision reaching others. They should care about how they come across and how they can improve their communication. They should be eager to learn, able to think clearly, and quicker to listen than to speak.
Perhaps you’ve got someone in your Bible study who already meets these qualifications, and your decision is easy. Or maybe you’ll want to invite someone to join your group to step into an apprentice role. Either way, if you stay focused on the right set of qualities, I bet the Lord would be delighted to entrust you with someone to train.
Then you can work with that person to spread the knowledge of God until his glory covers the earth like the waters cover the sea. I guess it’s like finding someone to help you overthrow the emperor and take over the galaxy.
