Bible Study

The Dynamics of a Group Bible Study Discussion

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Elsewhere I have written that a small group Bible study is best conducted through discussion, and the role of the study leader is not as a teacher but a facilitator (see here). It may be helpful to understand how a discussion works by visualising the dynamics at play in a small study group.1

Teaching

Let me begin by contrasting a teaching situation and a small group discussion. In the classic teaching set-up, the students sit in rows; everyone faces forward and looks at the teacher. They don’t see each other’s faces, only the teacher’s.

The “conversation” is primarily one-directional and a monologue—from teacher to students. The students may raise questions, but only the teacher is expected to give the answers. The teacher is the primary (and often, the only) source of learning for the group.

Discussion

A discussion is depicted diagrammatically (and literally) with all the participants sitting in a circle. The study leader is part of the circle. Sitting in a circle allows everyone to see each other, look into each other’s eyes, observe expressions, engage, and relate with one another.

It is not a good idea to have more than one layer of people. No one should be sitting behind another person. Everyone should be able to have eye-contact with every person in the group.

This is especially necessary for the leader who uses eye-contact to convey connection and attention as well as understanding and acceptance to the other participants. More than that, when he (or she) is able to see everyone’s face he is able to read their body language. Are they lost, bored, engaged, or ready for an opportunity to contribute to the conversation?

In a discussion, the study leader leads and facilitates the dialogue (depicted by the full lines). However, the goal is to get everyone to participate and contribute to the discussion (depicted by the dotted lines).

What is important to note is that the lines of communication are not just between the leader and the others, but also between the members of the group. If the conversation were just between the leader and each member, then the dynamics would be a “quiz”. The leader asks a question and someone responds. Then, back to the leader who follows up with a comment and/or another question. The cycle is then repeated. In this case, the leader is not functioning as a facilitator but a quiz master. However, a discussion, by definition, is only assumed to have taken place if members of the group interact with one another. One of the key jobs of the study leader then is to facilitate this interaction between members.

Discussions are Tailored-Made for Cell Groups

Preaching, teaching, and discussion have their particular usefulness. All these means of learning should be employed in the church. Which method is used, however, depends on one, the purpose of the engagement and two, the setting of the learning environment. I won’t repeat what I have written elsewhere (see here).

In the context of a small group or cell group, I believe the primary means of learning should be through discussion—not preaching or teaching. Churches would do well to train all who are tasked with the job of leading the cell group Bible study to ably facilitate good discussions. Discussions that are interesting and engaging. Discussions that help members discover and uncover what the Bible says about the subject under study. And discussions that provoke personal reflection and encourage life application.

The Critical Point when Facilitating a Group Bible Study Discussion

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In my previous blog post I explained why conducting Bible study through small group discussion is a good thing (see here). For one, it fosters active learning. Secondly, it has the advantages of group learning. And thirdly, it is more interesting than listening to a monologue.

The Role of the Study Leader

The role of the study leader then, is not that of a preacher or teacher, but a facilitator. He or she facilitates a discussion around (or about) the topic (or Bible text). But it is not a conversation that’s just goes around in circles. A discussion has progression (or direction) that ultimately leads to a clear outcome (or conclusion).

In this regard, the study leader steers the conversation around the topic. He guides the members to make contributions that are relevant to the focus of the study. If the discussion goes awry, the leader brings it back on track. If the discussion gets stuck, he moves it along. If a member of the group isn’t contributing to the conversation, he encourages him or her to participate. If someone is hogging the conversation, he tactfully gets others to share. At the end of the study, he brings the discussion to a close with a clear conclusion; including a take home point from the study.

The Method of the Study Leader

The study leader has many tools at his disposal to accomplish the above. It bears repeating that the leader’s job is not to preach or teach; his job is to facilitate a group discussion. As the group does this, they discover together; the meaning of a Bible text or what the Bible has to say about a certain topic. To aid the group in the process of discovery and to enable the facilitator to carry out his role, one of the most important tools the leader uses are questions.

Questions to help the members study the Bible text; questions of observation, interpretation, and application. Questions to move the conversation along. Questions to get a member to clarify his point or expand on what he said. And questions to get the group to think more deeply about a certain point.

The study leader is often temped to answer his own questions, especially when the group is slow to respond. But he must strongly resist! It wouldn’t be a discussion if the leader were to pose a question only to supply the answer himself. This does not mean that the leader does not come prepared with answers. He does. But he only shares it when it’s necessary to do so or by way of rounding off a segment of the discussion and as a conclusion to the study.

Question Techniques

Here are some dos and don’ts for discussion leaders regarding asking questions:

  1. Avoid questions that assume an answer.
  2. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
  3. Avoid questions that are too simple.
  4. Ask one question at a time. Ensure that the question is clear and focused on one specific item.
  5. Don’t be afraid of some silence. Resist answering your own questions too quickly.
  6. Ask questions, then direct them.
  7. Answer questions coming from the group with another question.
  8. Redirect questions.
  9. If questions come in a rush, sort them out and deal with them individually.
  10. Respond to wrong and irrelevant questions tactfully.
  11. Respond to difficult questions or questions asked at a wrong time by deferring them.
  12. Keep the discussion going by:
      • Asking for further responses from others.
      • Follow up on responses with another question.
      • Look out for members who show signs of wanting to say something, especially if they are usually quiet, and give them an opportunity to contribute to the discussion.

Bottom line: The group Bible study leader facilitates a discussion by asking good and relevant questions.

You may want to read my article “The Dynamics of a Group Bible Study Discussion.“

Same Word, Different Ways

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Christians grow in the Word through four primary ways: sermons, Bible classes, small group discussion, and personal study (including daily devotional reading). They are all important, and none should be neglected.

They have the same ultimate objective – a believer’s growth in the Word (understanding) and through the Word (transformation). However, they don’t do it in the same way. The failure to distinguish them is one of the main reasons why sermons or small group Bible studies don’t impact people as much as they could.

The Sermon

For example, the main purpose of a sermon is not about piling onto the listeners loads of biblical knowledge. Growth in Bible knowledge is more in line with teaching. This is not to say that a sermon has no teaching content. A sermon cannot qualify as a sermon if it is not biblically sound. A sermon must be based on teaching (biblical teaching); but a sermon is not teaching. The purpose of a sermon is to convey God’s message from the Bible. It is a word from God from the Word of God—a message from the passage. The purpose of a sermon is to speak into lives; to encourage, inspire, and correct; leading to life transformation (2 Tim 3:16-17).

If that is the case, then preachers should not pack their sermons with loads of teaching material filled with multiple points and sub-points. To those who do, they should teach less and preach more. Conversely, preachers who tend to preach a point rather than from the biblical text, should make sure that their sermons are based on and derived from the biblical text; preferably from one main passage of the Bible.

Another mark that differentiates preaching from other forms of Bible learning is that a sermon does not allow for much, if any, “conversation” between the preacher and the listeners. This is simply because the nature of a sermon is proclamation rather than dialogue. Secondly, the setting of speaking to a crowd limits any kind of actual dialogue between preacher and listener.2

The Bible Study Discussion

On the other hand, the small group Bible study functions in the opposite way. The study leader is not a preacher; not even a teacher. The role of the study leader is to facilitate a discussion where all the members of the group are encouraged to contribute. The operative word is “discussion”.

There are many good reasons for the use small group discussion to study the Bible.

  1. A discussion is active learning through participation. Listening to sermons and Bible teaching are passive forms of learning. It is well documented that people learn better through active participation rather than passive listening.
  2. In a discussion people are made to carefully think, or closely observe the Bible text before they respond. Similarly, they have to intently listen to what the others in the group are saying in order to meaningfully participate in the conversation.
  3. A discussion affords group learning as the members weigh each one’s contribution to the discussion.
  4. A discussion is more interesting than listening to a monologue. This is especially true if the Bible study leader, say, for a particular cell group meeting, is not a gifted teacher.3 In a discussion, however, regardless of the leader’s level of gifting as a teacher, everyone is invited to participate. It inevitably creates more interest. For example, a view may be shared, which may be affirmed, refuted or refined by others. All this leads to a vibrant group conversation.

I believe most people are able to lead a discussion. Training on how to conduct a group Bible study discussion will certainly help. Following some key pointers on how to conduct a discussion is sufficient for anyone to comfortably lead a discussion. I will write more on this in my next blog post.

You may want to read my article “The Critical Point when Facilitating a Bible Study Discussion.”

You Walk, He Leads

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I’m so glad that my book You Walk, He Leads: Discerning, Aligning & Waking in God’s Will is finally printed and published. The delay was because my printer had to temporary shutdown its operations due to Covid-19 pandemic and the country’s Movement Control Order.

The event that sparked the writing of the book was a seminar I did for a young people’s church in October 2019. It was not my first time teaching the material. However, an evaluation the seminar made me realise that there was just too much material for the participants to digest. I decided that it would be better for me to put the teaching into a book so that people can read it at their own pace. They can also take time to think through the principles and apply them into their lives.

A second reason for the book is because the teaching I have to offer on the subject is really important. I should make it available to a wider audience. I concluded that publishing a book would be the best thing to do. (Besides, writing a book has been one of my ambitions in life.)

Since I already had my seminar notes I didn’t have to start from scratch, which made things much easier. Nonetheless, the journey to publish a book was still a long and challenging process. My seminar notes that were written in bullet points for oral presentation had to be reconfigured for a written publication. While I had the general Christian readership in mind I also wanted to make the language and writing style suitable for the younger generation. That took great effort and submissions for feedback from different people—old and young, mature Christians and pastors. This led to revisions of the draft.

The process of publishing a book has many steps and even layers. They include the hard work of editing, proof-reading, page layout and cover design. I am thankful to the Lord for the people who came around me to help me with these. They made the book look and read so much better than it would otherwise have been.

Then, the final part—printing the book. A slot for early March had been set with the printer to print the book. It was rush time for the layout artist to get everything print ready by the deadline. We managed to do that by a whisker. The printer sent me a mock-up of the book for one final check. And even at that final stage there were still typo-errors. Corrections were made and the file was sent to the printers again with a go-ahead. Then came the MCO!…and a wait of nearly three months!

But now, when it’s all done and the book is finally published—what a thrill! My first book. Hallelujah!

Now, I’ve got to market it, when churches are not physically meeting due to government restrictions to curb the pandemic! That’s another challenge. Nonetheless, I am absolutely certain that as the Lord has caused me to write the book He will also ensure the book will get into the hands of many Christians to bless them. My thanks and praise to the Lord for giving me this privilege to write You Walk, He Leads.

Seeking God (Part 3): Prayer Posture

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(For Part 1 click here)

(For Part 2 click here)

In this third and last of my three-part post on seeking God I want to elaborate on what Jeremiah 29:13-14 says about our prayer posture as we seek God.

Firstly, the Lord EXPECTS us to seek Him. In the verse the Lord says, “You will seek me.” It is not If you want to, or Should you want to, or I hope you will—it is, you will. God expects us to seek Him. Truth be told, God commands it. For what purpose? Primarily that we may know Him. And when we know Him we will know His will, and desire to align ourselves to Him and do His will.

Secondly, we are to seek God EXCLUSIVELY. That is to say, it is God and God alone who we are to seek. For new and young believers, especially those who have come out from other religions and hence, who have previously worshipped other gods, what this means is that there is no place for syncretism. Jesus is not one of the many gods that we worship. He is the only God whom we are to worship and seek. The problem of the Israelites during Jeremiah’s time was that they added the gods of the surrounding nations into their worship, and as a result they were led away from God. That was the principal reason the Lord judged the nation of Israel and sent the people into exile.

For those of us who have been Christians a little longer this may not be a problem. However, there may be a subtle and even greater danger—that we go seeking for counsel and help from elsewhere instead of seeking God first. Or we may run from one church to another or one conference to another—hoping to find some magic formula to lift our lives. The Lord says, “You will seek me.” Prayer must be the first, last and also undergird everything we do.

Thirdly, the Lord says, “seek me with all your heart.” That is, with the ENTIRETY of your heart, or wholeheartedly. Seeking God calls for effort and discipline. It is an effort of the heart—of wanting God, waiting upon Him, desiring to hear from Him and realigning ourselves to Him and His agenda.

A classic example in the Bible is Nehemiah. When we read his story and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem we often think of Nehemiah as action man. He was always doing something: evaluating, planning, strategising, giving instructions, even physically helping to rebuild the walls, contending with the opposition and dealing with rebellious people. If that is all we thought of Nehemiah—as action man—we have gotten him very wrong.

What was the very first thing that Nehemiah did when his brother told him of the sorry state of Jerusalem? Nehemiah 1:4 tells us, “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah’s first response to the news was prayer and fasting. And when you eavesdrop into his prayer you can hear the depth of his feelings; how he sought the Lord with all his heart. It was during this four months of seeking God (four months had passed between Chapter 1:1 and 2:1) that he understood the heart of the Lord for Jerusalem. It was in his time of prayer when the Lord told Nehemiah what He wanted him to do.

This dovetails into the fourth element we find in Jeremiah 29:13-14. The Lord says, “I will be found by you.” That’s God’s promise, or the result of what happens when we seek the Lord with all our hearts. From another perspective—this is where faith kicks in. Earlier on we learnt that the Lord expects us to seek Him. Now, here is His promise—that we can expect to find Him, to hear from Him and to encounter Him. That is to say, pray EXPECTANTLY—pray with faith, believing we will see the Lord and hear from Him.

Lim Soon Hock Empowering Churches

Seeking God (Part 2): Importance of Alignment

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(For Part 1 click here)

In the previous post I said that in order for us to do the God-thing, we need to hear from the Lord, and in order for us to hear from the Lord we need to seek Him.

The classic Scripture that is often quoted in reference to this is Jeremiah 29:13, “‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord….”

This was said in the context of a prophecy to the exiles about what they were to do while they were in Babylon and coupled with a promise that the Lord would bring them back to Israel (Jer 29:1, 4-9, 10-14). After the Lord had made known His plans to the exiles He then told them to “seek me.”

This whole scenario begs a question: why seek the Lord when He has already made His plans known to the exiles? It’s like knocking on your boss’s door when he had just told you what he wants you to do. If you did that you’d probably get an earful!

In the context of Jeremiah 29:13, obviously seeking God is not simply about hearing what the Lord has to say—they had just heard from Him. Seeking God in this case was about the exiles aligning themselves to Him and His purpose. It is one thing to know what the Lord wants—it is another thing to align ourselves to what He says.

 

Israel’s problem was not that they didn’t know what the Lord wanted. He had sent numerous prophets to bring them the “word of the Lord.” Israel’s problem was that she did not heed the word, and that was the reason for Jerusalem’s destruction and the Israelites taken into exile. The people were rebellious—they did not seek the Lord and align themselves to God and His purpose.

Patrick Morley (Man in the Mirror) says, “The turning point in our lives is when we stop seeking the god we want and start seeking the God who is.” An idol is precisely just that—a god we want, a god of our own making. And the Lord will not have us fashion Him after our own image.

“Seek Me” is still the word of the Spirit today no matter where you are in your spiritual journey. Whether you are a young believer or a mature Christian of many years. The same call also goes out to the corporate church—we must continually seek God so that we may not only hear what He has to say to us, but also that we may align ourselves to Him and His purpose.

Lim Soon Hock Empowering Churches

(For Part 3 click here)

Seeking God (Part 1): First Thing

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It was my first Sunday at the new church; my first message to the congregation. What would I say? I think most pastors struggle. I did. Not that I don’t have anything to say. If you are a fairly seasoned pastor, you have, in fact, too many things to say; so many issues to address; so many things to do. But what should be the first thing on the agenda?

As I spoke, I said to the church, “I don’t know what your expectations are. But, then again, maybe I do. In a crowd like this the expectations are many and varied. You may have gone along on the same journey, but perceptions are different, interpretation of events are different, internalisation of the experiences are different. And depending on what you feel is important you will also expect those things to be addressed as quickly as possible. They are all valid and good. We are all good Christians who want no less than the good of the church. But good must give way to…?”

I stopped for a dramatic pause.  Not expecting any kind of verbal response from this fairly conservative middle class medium-size congregation. But an extrovert shot out, “Better!” I hesitated. Seeing that was not quite what I was looking for, she shouted out again, “Best! Good must give way to best!”

I said, “That’s good, but it’s not good enough. Good must give way to?… God! And it’s more than just dropping an “o”. There is a huge gap between good and God. It is God we want, not just good. It is God that we want to glorify, not to showcase how good our church is. That means, we must want to do the God-thing, not just good things.”

In order for us to do the God-thing, we need to hear from the Lord—to hear what His agenda is for the church or our ministry, our life and our vocation. Sometimes we run ahead of God, doing things He never meant for us to do. More often than not, we lag way behind, failing to do what He says we are to do. However, I think, the reality is that we haven’t a clue what God is up to, because we have not been listening to what He’s been saying. To do the God-thing, it is imperative that we hear from the Lord. And in order to hear from the Lord, we need to seek Him. That’s the first thing on our agenda—to seek God for His agenda, whether it’s for our life or for the church.

Lim Soon Hock Empowering Churches

(For Part 2 click here)

More Than Just Expediency

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To date nine churches and groups have printed about 400 copies of my Bible study More Than Just Position for use in their small groups. These are studies based on the lives of selected kings of Israel. The lessons include matters of leadership (political and spiritual), influence (good & bad), principles and practices.

ecmy_books_MTJP

One of the studies in More Than Just Position is about Jeroboam, the first king of the Northern Kingdom. It’s titled: More Than Just Expediency. But I can just hear Jeroboam scream, Hey stupid. What get things done is expediency, not principles.

In order to keep his people from going over to the South he erected golden calf idols as their gods; one each in Bethel and Dan. And he then told his people, Why bother to go down to Jerusalem when you can worship your god right here. He did this despite the fact that he knew it was a direct violation of God’s laws and which would lead his people into idolatry. But never you mind about this; it was the expedient thing to do.

As I was pondering on the current affairs of our country, I could not help but see parallels between the two nations (Israel and Malaysia) and the two times (10th-6th BCE and today). The adage “There’s nothing new under the sun” is so true.

Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong made a statement today (reported in the Malaysian Insider, 10 Aug 2015). He said that Johor DAP was willing to cooperate with Johor UMNO to fight corruption and free Malaysia from racial politics, “but the cooperation must be based on principles, and not expediency.”

That’s how it should be; whether it pertains to the religious, political or commercial spheres. Principles cannot be sacrificed at the altar of expediency. Principles must always have first and final say, above expediency.

Malaysia today needs courageous and principled leaders.

Please email empoweringchurches.my@gmail.com if you interested in receiving a sample of the Bible study, More Than Just Position.