Introduction⤒🔗

We are gathered together again. It is Sunday night and the youth in our group are sitting with their Bible and study guide at the ready. My voice breaks the silence for half a minute. Everyone is sitting or slouching – apparently, they’re paying attention. (I probably wouldn’t). For the next forty-five minutes, we try to wade through the questions with in­termittent bursts of speech. We tend to keep on talking past what we were trying to say, just to make things flow. I try and include everyone; it is hard work. Did we actually learn something from that one?

You might know the scenario, you may have different issues to deal with, but what we are talking about here is the group bible study, and in particu­lar, the youth group Bible study. The leader of the Bible study is generally responsible for guiding and facilitating discussion, making it flow towards the final goal. I am going to address some of the challenges we have come across in group Bible studies, and show how they should be faced.

Paul says he planted, Apollos watered and God caused the growth: it is the same everywhere the Bible is studied God causes the growth. We should not think that by following the right methods with a good amount of enthusiasm, we will be able to produce an upbuilding Bible study. This attitude to leading a study misses out the fact that God causes the growth, not man. From this we can see that one of the most elementary attitudes of the study leader should be the attitude of a humble servant, a tool of God.

One of the reasons Jesus had so many poor people surrounding him was that he actually cared about them. In fact, he went further: he loved them. At all times during his ministry on earth, his actions were saturated with love; he never “sought his own”. His words of teaching to the people are permeated with this same attitude of love. This at­titude of love undergirds and proves his message right throughout his life.

Humility and love are essential for a bible study; they are the piston and crankshaft of the study.

Challenges in the Group←⤒🔗

Relevance←↰⤒🔗

During my time as Bible study group leader I have frequently arrived home from a study and been distressed by how little I had accommodated other people in their situations. It may be that people have felt distanced because either the language or the meaning was lost on them. It would not be very interesting to have a group of people who all think exactly the same way. Diversity in the group helps clarify some difficult points, and leads to deeper exploration of the truth. Some will immediately see applica­tions that others wouldn’t have thought of, others will have just read a verse in Psalm 2 that helps clear the waters. Diverseness in the church as seen in 1 Corinthians 12 should not be viewed as a recipe for divisiveness in the group, but as a gift of God to teach and encourage one another. The attitude which binds the natural differences between people together is the love which says to itself: ‘first, how can I learn from what he or she is saying and secondly, how can I best help others in the group?’ This at­titude will overcome the problem of rel­evance for the extremities of age, culture, taste or whatever else varies between group members.

During my time as leader, I have had moments when group participants showed a persistent I-don’t-want-to-be­ here vacancy. It is not everyone’s fault that such a member doesn’t want to be there or participate. Sin needs to be seen where sin exists. It is the sin of that member that inhibits their participation. The remedy for sin, wherever it exists, both in exposing and dealing with it, is grace. It is essential to be gracious to such people, just as we ourselves have been shown grace. Don’t aim to pull every application back to their obvious sins. There is a place for addressing such sins, and that place is not group Bible study.

Others in the group may openly ac­knowledge they are not Christians but are interested and inquiring. Be aware of the needs of such people. Theological lingo and ideas can be numbing. A lot of concepts we tag with a bland word are actually quite amazing and should be explained for the benefit of the whole group. There may be a tension between explaining things on a simpler level and getting into the meat of the questions; however, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own in­terests but each of you to the interests of the others. Also, it may not be necessary to explain absolutely everything in detail; students learn grammar by many exam­ples as well as direct instruction. What­ever method you take, include them in the atmosphere of love and understand­ing that exists in the group. Pray for them.

Will they Remember it?←⤒🔗

As a member of a group, you may have experienced going away from a study not remembering anything. Cog­nitive psychology has shown (unsurpris­ingly) that the best way of remembering something is to reason through what it means, connecting that knowledge to other areas of your experience. In ad­dition, well-phrased sentences with a clear point also aid the memory. As a member or a leader of the group, make sure your words are meaningful (to the group), clear and logical. This means not using empty words and trying to relate in terms and ideas they understand, with examples that are relevant to them. If you speak as if others will remember what you are saying, they probably will. Speak with a point.

Attitude Orientation←↰⤒🔗

One attitude that can exist inside the group especially if the participants are younger is an undue respect towards the leader. This attitude shows itself when members look to the leader as a source of ultimate truth, or the best example of holiness. While it is true that the leader should be a good example and may need to do some direct teaching at times, this attitude stifles helpful thinking and discussion in the rest of the group. To combat this attitude, make sure you haven’t assumed this character to your­self. We all need to come to God’s Word, humbly learning His ultimate opinion. Secondly, make the discussion centre on God’s Word rather than your own opinions. You will not always need to qualify or conclude someone else’s point. Finally, encourage quieter members of the group with thanks for their input and a genuine interest in what they are saying, even if this means you have to gently correct their statements.

Preparation←⤒🔗

Prayer←↰⤒🔗

Before you proceed to make all the mistakes and failures that have already been made by Bible study leaders, we must learn to pray and ask for God’s strength. We cannot understand God’s Word without his Spirit and we are always liable to misunderstand what others will say during the study. Ask for guidance in understanding His Word, in first applying it to your own heart and then in encouraging others while facili­tating discussion. Ask for an ability to understand why others in the group are saying what they are. We fail often in so many ways; therefore, we must commit ourselves to God.

Structure←↰⤒🔗

A Bible study, like a tree should have a trunk with branches, a main subject with variations which fill it out. If the branches become too many by introducing too many side topics, you get a disorganised bush which is hard to understand, let alone remember afterwards. If there are no branches however, you may understand and remember the main theme all too well but have no idea of its fuller meaning or implications. During preparation try to pin down the central theme, try to make sure this comes out in the study and is realised by everyone in the conclusion of the study. The questions throughout should be related to the theme. The best way of doing this is simply to put in the hard work and study the passage of Scripture thoroughly, and do a good job of answering the questions in a meaningful way. By doing this you will also be able to ask questions about the questions to make sure people don’t miss out obvious pieces.

Question Prioritisation←↰⤒🔗

Often you will not get through half the questions you wanted to. Some ques­tions need to be prioritised in advance to meet your target finish time. A helpful tip is to rate the questions ranging from three ticks for an important question to one tick for an inconsequential ques­tion. If things are going too slowly, skip the single tick questions and move on to the more important ones.

Selecting Bible Study Material←⤒🔗

Selection Criteria←↰⤒🔗

Depending on the group you are dealing with, you may want to closely involve group opinion on what to study. If this is not practical, it may be helpful to write down a number of biblical themes that would help the group. This gives you a sieve to get rid of all the unsuitable study guides.

Searching←↰⤒🔗

Seeking recommendations from people you know is the safest way of choosing a Bible study guide. However, if you can’t find anything that really meets your interests, there are a number of other resources. The Internet has plenty of re­sources available. It will help to have a look at book previews in Google Books and Amazon’s bookstore, which also usually give you a glimpse of the con­tents and a few pages from the book. These will give you a good representa­tive summary of the book. Be careful with anonymous internet reviews, as they are prone to subjectivity. A local Christian bookstore will give you a better book preview at the expense of limiting your choice.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

The study that is focused on God’s Word, that encourages members to participate and enjoy the time of fellowship and discussion will be encouraging to the members. As a group leader, pray for un­derstanding; pray that the study will be understood. Lead in humility and love.