Reading the Bible with Know-Nothings

[This is Chapter 5 of Disciple Maker: Fulfill Your Destiny in the Disciple-Making Movement Launched by Jesus Christ, by Phil Bickel (© 2020). Free download at www.philbickel.com/store. More details about disciple-making movements here.]

In most cases when a Discovery Bible Study group begins to meet, no Christians are present.  Although one person assumes the role of discussion facilitator, they are all know-nothings.  To church goers used to being instructed by a Bible expert, this sounds foolish, risky, and unlikely to bear fruit.  When we imagine a group of know-nothings reading the Bible, we think of phrases like “pooling of ignorance” and “the blind leading the blind.“

How could a group of know-nothings reading the Bible ever become disciples of Jesus Christ?  Here are two game-changing factors.

Mentor

The person who forms the Discovery Bible group and facilitates the discussion is not working alone.  A Christian is mentoring that person to serve as the facilitator.  If you were a DBS mentor, here’s what you would do.

1. You pray daily for God to lead you to someone whom Jesus describes as a person of peace, a worthy person, and a worker willing to labor in the Lord’s harvest field.  (See Matt. 9:35; 10:11; & Luke 10:2, 6.)  A person of peace is someone who is curious to learn about the Living God and the Bible. 
2. You hold a few Discovery Bible Study sessions with your friend, demonstrating the simple, repeatable process of asking a series of questions as one reads the Bible.
3. You ask your friend to invite relatives or friends to explore Bible passages together using the same series of questions.  You offer to mentor him or her to facilitate the discussion and teach the same process to the group.
4. If your friend accepts the facilitator role, he or she definitely is a person of peace (PoP).  So, the group is invited, and they begin.  Week by week, they read a Bible text and discuss the set of questions.  Eventually, everyone knows the process and is capable of facilitating a similar group in the future.
5. You, the mentor, do not attend the DBS sessions.  Instead, every week you meet with the PoP to discuss how the last session went and how to deal with any problems.  You also assist with preparations for the Scripture portion to be read the next week.
6. The PoP who facilitates the group is not alone.  You are praying for him or her and the entire group.  And above all, God is at work among them.

Perhaps you are breathing a bit easier now about DBS.  The teamwork of mentor and facilitator prevents the group from becoming the blind leading the blind.  

But how does the group discussion avoid becoming the mere pooling of ignorance?  After all, that’s what often happens in our Bible studies when no expert is present.  

Focus on the Word

The group is trained to focus strictly on what God says in the Bible.  Repeating something learned from a person or source outside the Bible is not permitted.  Harping on one’s personal soap box topic is out of bounds.  When a group member veers off track, any other member may inquire: 

“Where does it say that in the passage we are reading?”

By means of this focus question, other voices and opinions are silenced, and the group stays tuned to God’s word.  The Know-nothings are not dominated by a Know-it-all.  Because they all share equal status, they learn to listen to God’s word in humility.  

Occasionally someone in the group may insist that they all accept an unorthodox teaching or engage in a questionable activity.  Or perhaps someone faces an illness, loss, problem, or temptation which could impact the entire group.  How should they deal with such a crisis?

1. The group facilitator (PoP) informs the mentor about the matter.  
2. The mentor refrains from feeding the facilitator the correct answer.  Instead, he suggests some Scripture portions that address the issue under debate.  
3. Then the group explores these relevant texts one by one, using the Discovery questions they regularly use.  As they do so, they learn the correct answer directly from God’s Word, not indirectly through the mentor.

As a result, people who become disciples in a Discovery group are less prone than other new converts to wander into heretical teachings or make unethical decisions.  Whenever a wind of false doctrine blows, or a moral dilemma arises, they have learned to test it by asking: What does the Bible say about that?  

You see every Discovery Bible Study actually does have an Expert present — the Holy Spirit!  He attends every session, works powerfully through the Scriptures He inspired, and guides the Know-nothings into all truth until they know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, as these texts declare.

…the Holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.   

2 Tim. 3:15-17

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.  

John 16:13a

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

John 17:3.

What are the Bible texts that a DBS group uses?  Are they magic?  No, but they are brilliant. Learn about them in Chapter 6, Discovery Bible Texts.  Find more details about disciple-making movements here.