Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible
Andrea Crocker has a fine piece on her blog reminding us that the word of God is more reliable.
I would guess that most readers of this blog will quickly assent to these abstract statements. But when it comes down to it, do we live as though they are true. Let Crocker’s insights provoke you to greater love for Christ and his word.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s 90-day Bible reading challenge! And again, many thanks to Lifeway for sponsoring the grand prize of a five-volume CSB Reader’s Bible. This year we had 25 entries that met the qualifications for the drawing. And the winners are:
More than half of this year’s entries read the Bible in canonical order. The next most common reading order was chronological.
15 folks read the ESV. The second most common translation was HCSB. And one person read the 1560 Geneva Bible!
Here’s what some folks had to say about the experience:
It was a different experience. I am used to reading the Bible in a year. I plan to read this way more frequently, as it helps to relate texts to others, but I prefer to read at a lower speed.
It added so much context and meaning when I would read about the history of Israel’s kings one day and then the next day read about the prophets and prophecies that applied to them. It added a lot of context that I am usually missing when I read the prophets. Furthermore, reading quickly allowed me to notice more of the quotations and allusions of the Old Testament in the New Testament.
I enjoyed it immensely. Some passages like Proverbs were difficult to read through so quickly but Job, for instance, makes a lot more sense when read in large chunks. Elihu’s speech, for example, shows up in stark contrast to the others this way.
I would say overall I enjoyed it. It helped me to see the bible as one book as opposed to many smaller ones. It gave me a better idea of God’s overarching story. It also surprised me how much I liked certain books I disliked the last time I did this. I guess that’s why you always keep rereading?
5th year in a row! The Holy Spirit is still showing me themes I don’t think I would see without doing this each year.
Thanks again to all for participating. I trust it was profitable even for those who found it difficult or uncomfortable. May the Lord use this time of saturation in his word to influence the rest of this unusual year for the sake of his kingdom.
Today is your last chance to enter the drawing for a reader’s Bible! Winners will be notified by the end of this week. See here for official rules. Entries that do not follow the guidelines will not be accepted.
Recently, I’ve been writing about leading small group Bible studies. In particular, I’ve tried to help leaders minimize the chances that their questions fall to the ground in silence.
As a result, I’ve been thinking about the importance of questions. Aside from studying the Bible text itself, writing good questions may be the most important, difficult work of a Bible study leader.
I’ve created a worksheet which contains the fruit of this labor. My hope is that some small group leaders may find this helpful as they write questions for their groups. (In the future, you can find a link to this worksheet on our Resources page.)
At the top of the worksheet, there is space to write the main point of the passage under consideration. This can act like a compass for all question writing; most questions will either lead to the main point or flow from it.
The largest section of the worksheet is the space to write discussion questions. On the right side of the page, I have listed the characteristics of a good question, about which I have written previously. I have found this helpful in my own study preparations—having these qualities nearby is a great reminder.
Finally, I have space at the bottom of the sheet for a study leader to work on a launching question. Though this usually begins a small group meeting, I frequently write it last because I want to get a sense of the whole discussion before thinking about how to kick it off. The characteristics of a good launching question are taken from Peter’s first post on the issue and a follow-up that I wrote.
At Knowable Word, we aim to help ordinary people learn to study the Bible. I offer this worksheet to small group leaders as a tool for your work bench.
Though we can’t pinpoint the precise year or month of Habakkuk’s writing, we know he delivered his brief book of prophecy near the end of the southern kingdom of Judah, probably before (or some of it very shortly after) Nebuchadnezzar’s first assault in 605 BC. Habakkuk’s book is unique among the prophets in that it doesn’t present a series of speeches for the general public. Instead, it records Habakkuk’s own wrestling in dialogue with the God of Israel.
The book has two explicit headings, marking two main sections:
In the first main section, we can follow the subsections by observing the pronouns and direction of the dialogue:
In the second main section, we can distinguish stanzas based on the shifts between first person (I, me) and second/third person (you, God) pronouns:
Habakkuk’s first question (Hab 1:2-4) could be paraphrased as either “When will they change?”—referring to the people of God behaving wickedly—or “When will you change, God?”—so as to not allow your people to continue in evil. In either case, Habakkuk sees destruction and violence, where he expects to see God’s law and justice. The result is an unacceptable perversion.
Yahweh’s answer (Hab 1:5-11) is so utterly unbelievable, that he expects Habakkuk to be astounded by it (Hab 1:5). He will, in fact deal with his people’s violence. And he will do it by bringing an even more violent and godless nation against them. In other words, the answer is neither that God’s people will change nor that God himself will change. The answer is that Habakkuk’s situation will change, and much for the worse.
This provokes Habakkuk’s second question (Hab 1:12-2:1), which is more of a protest. Habakkuk appeals to God’s eternity (“Are you not from everlasting?”), holiness (“my Holy One”), and covenant promises (“We shall not die”)—all in his opening verse (Hab 1:12). He trusts that God is in control by the word of his power (“you have ordained them…established them”). He appeals also to God’s righteous purity (Hab 1:13) and jealousy to be worshiped (Hab 1:16). So Habakkuk believes that God would not be true to his nature if he simply lets the Chaldeans have their way. Surely this cannot be a permanent state of affairs (Hab 1:17). Habakkuk stands in confidence to see how God will receive his protest (Hab 2:1).
Yahweh’s second answer covers quite a lot of ground. He assures Habakkuk that things will certainly change—but not until well into the future (Hab 2:2-3). He calls the righteous—in this case, Habakkuk—to trust his promise, even when everything looks and feels awful (Hab 2:4-5). Then he speaks of a time when all evildoers, everywhere, will be upended. He does this by pronouncing five curses on the wicked (Hab 2:6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-20) and highlighting two stark conclusions:
The larger point of God’s responses to Habakkuk is that neither God himself nor the people around Habakkuk are the ones who must change. The one thing that must change is Habakkuk himself. The book’s chief question is: Will Habakkuk respond to God’s word with a heart of trust, even if it means things will get terrifyingly disastrous in the process?
Habakkuk 3 provides the answer to the book’s main question: Yes! Yes, he will. And in so doing, he shows all who come after him what it looks like to have faith in God’s righteous and holy promises.
In the first stanza (Hab 3:2), Habakkuk confesses that there is something even more fearful than an attacking Babylonian horde; it is the work of God to rectify all that is wrong. Habakkuk’s hope is no longer that wrath will not befall the people of the land, but that in the midst of such wrath Yahweh will not forget to show mercy. Habakkuk clings to God’s promise to make everything right once again, though it may yet be long in the future.
The second stanza (Hab 3:3-15) could easily be further subdivided into a third-person stanza (Hab 3:3-7 – he/his) and a second-person stanza (Hab 3:8-15 – you/your). But for the sake of this book overview, they stand together as a lengthy reflection on the splendor and power of Yahweh to do what he says he will do. He is not only able, but also willing, to do whatever he must to both save his people and crush his enemies (Hab 3:13).
In the third stanza (Hab 3:16-19), Habakkuk confesses how terrifying it is to live between promise and reality, to live by faith (Hab 3:16). Yet he chooses to stand fast in faith, finding joy in God’s salvation and strength in God alone. No matter how much everything around him falls to pieces (Hab 3:17-19).
When the Apostle Paul was looking for a banner to wave, a motto to rally under, for introducing the glorious good news of Christ’s righteousness available through faith, he could find nothing more suitable than Habakkuk 2:4: “The righteous shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17). That’s not because he needed a tweetable phrase from a random Old Testament text. It’s because that phrase captures the entire thrust of Habakkuk’s book of prophecy.
This is what it means to live by faith: We cannot change our circumstances. We cannot change the people around us. And we cannot coerce change from God. But, especially when our knees knock and our lips quiver, the one thing that must change is us. We can bank everything on the God who is both willing and able to do all he has said he will do. So in faith we look back on the death and resurrection of his Son (Rom 1:16-17). And in faith we also look forward, through whatever suffering and trial we now face, to see faith’s founder and perfecter (Heb 10:36-39, 12:1-3).
This post is part of a series of interpretive overviews of the books of the Bible.
I really appreciate Mike Leake’s reflection on the nature of spiritual doubt and how it ought not get in the way of our Bible study. Perhaps your doubt has so terrified that you that you’ve sought to shoot or strangle it instead of allowing it to motivate your wrestling with God’s words.
Truth is never scared of a microscope. If something is true then it’s true down to it’s very core. You don’t have to be afraid to ask difficult questions.
If you conduct your ministry primarily in Spanish, or you know someone who does, you may want to know that a number of our blog posts have been translated into Spanish. We keep that list updated as more translated posts are published. You can always find a link to that page at the bottom of our resources page.
I’m especially grateful to Kevin Halloran, who recently translated the post 10 Reasons to Avoid Sexual Immorality, from my series on Proverbs 1-9, for his blog Anchored in Christ.
I was recently invited to be the guest on the Theological Ministry Podcast, to discuss how we, as parents or teachers, can train our children and students to study the Bible for themselves. I really enjoyed the conversation with hosts Ben and Tony and thought you might enjoy listening in. The episode is available on Apple Podcasts and Soundcloud.
Many small group Bible study leaders face long periods of silence during their meetings. They ask a question. They get no answer.
This awkwardness may be due to the quality of their question. Asking a good question that provokes thoughtful responses is hard! Unanswered questions may also be due to an atmosphere in the group that stifles interaction.
The last reason I’ve offered for these silent stretches is the people in the group. Some people are simply reluctant to participate.
Let’s be clear: People are not a problem to fix. Rather, it is our job as leaders to love our people.
There are scores of reasons for people to be hesitant to engage in discussion about the Bible. These reasons may spring from bad experiences, feelings of inadequacy, or even social anxiety.
A small group leader should not guess or assume what’s going on. They should get to know their group members outside of the group meetings.
Relationships take time and effort, but a little can go a long way. Phone calls, emails, and conversations over coffee can help to break down barriers and build trust, friendship, and understanding.
With specific attention to small group discussion, these outside-the-meeting conversations can offer a lot of missing information. Group members can open up about their experiences, and they may be willing to share why they don’t often engage in the conversation.
If you are a small group leader trying to get to know their people outside of the group meetings, I have two broad pieces of advice. First, emphasize how much you value their presence in the group. Whether or not they participate, their membership in your small community counts.
You might also ask how you could make the discussion more helpful to them. The quiet members of your group may have insights about the group and your leadership that you haven’t considered.
These reluctant friends should know that you value any contribution they make and that you are eager for them to engage more—if and when they are comfortable doing so.
Getting to know members of a small group is a huge step forward, and it will help leaders during small group Bible study meetings.
It’s not hard to find gradual ways to involve members in the conversation. We can ask them to read portions of Scripture, to summarize the conversation from the previous meeting, or to answer some easier/observation questions. In this way we can build up the confidence of our quieter friends and help them feel more comfortable in the group.
Another strategy for involving quieter group members is to call on them by name (instead of throwing a question out to the whole group). We should only do this if we know in advance this won’t embarrass anyone, and we can even contact the person ahead of time and ask for permission and/or share the question we plan to ask them. When calling on a person by name, I usually include an easy way for them to politely decline to answer.
If our group members know that we love them, and if we’ve created a good climate in our group, then regular, gentle encouragement will go a long way toward bringing people into the conversation.
While some people can and should be encouraged to take risks and participate, others should not. Part of getting to know the people in our groups involves knowing why they don’t often speak and whether or not that reason is an area for encouraging Christian growth. For example, a young woman who doesn’t speak because she is afraid of being wrong is different than a thirty-something man whose reluctance springs from persistent migraine headaches. We should work with and encourage the former while being understanding and patient with the latter. Love and leadership takes many forms!
Small group Bible studies come in a thousand different forms, and each group member offers something different. The best group leaders will get to know their friends well and encourage them to contribute when they are able.
Recently I led a Bible Study in Colossians 1. It’s a fantastic chapter that radically exalts Christ and informs us of His absolute preeminence in all things.
Well, at least until you hit verse 24…
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24 ESV, emphasis mine)
Wait a minute… did Paul really just say that? In Paul’s flesh he is filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions? How could he say that after what he had just written previously, that Jesus had made “peace by the blood of His cross.” (Colossians 1:20 ESV)? What could possibly be lacking in Christ’s afflictions?
When we come upon such difficult texts, we’re left with several choices:
Sometimes we need only look a verse or two away to find the meaning. In this case, however, we need to flip a couple pages back to Philippians 2. At the very end of that chapter we find this text:
I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. (Philippians 2:25-30 ESV, emphasis mine)
Here Paul writes of Epaphroditus that he risked his life to complete (or fill up) what was lacking in the Philippians’ service to Paul. That’s very similar language to Colossians 1:24, but what does it mean?
Paul tells us a few verses earlier that Epaphroditus was a messenger sent from the Philippians to minister to Paul’s needs. So Paul is certainly not complaining of their deficiency of service. What else could it mean? It appears that because the Philippians could not themselves physically be present with Paul to minister to him, they sent a representative: Epaphroditus. So that is what Paul means by “what was lacking”.
With that in mind, let’s return again to Colossians 1:24:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. (Colossians 1:24 ESV)
As was the case in the Philippians passage, Paul is not making up for some deficiency in Christ’s atoning work (as if one existed). Rather, because Christ has ascended to be seated at the right hand of His Father in heaven, He cannot be physically present to minister to the Colossians. So He sent a representative: Paul. Mystery solved!
Now, that’s only a tiny sampling of what can be gleaned from Colossians 1:24, but at least we’re safely back in line with the teaching of Scripture. We can confidently rejoice in the completed work of our knowable Savior, Jesus Christ, as demonstrated in His knowable Word.
