Like Wildfire
How do Discovery Bible Study groups spread like wildfire and become Disciple Making Movements in which thousands and even millions learn to follow Jesus? After all, churches in the West have lots of Bible study groups, but they don’t proliferate like that. What do DBS groups do that is different? Here are several factors.
1. The Person of Peace, Mentor, and Leader
A DBS group begins with a person of peace who invites a few friends or relatives to read the Bible together. In most cases, none of them believe the Bible yet — they are simply exploring. However, behind the scenes a follower of Jesus mentors the person of peace to facilitate the groups’ discussion and their application of the Word in daily life.
Western Bible study groups prefer to have an expert present, or at least a video or lesson book written by an expert. The only expert present at a Discovery Bible Study is God speaking through the Bible. Is the Lord the leader of the small group Bible studies you attend?
2. Sharing What Is Learned
Every week each DBS member talks to other people about the Bible text they learned. Imagine that Jen has been chatting with a friend named Stella. Eventually Stella says, “I am so intrigued by the Bible stories you tell and by the changes I see in you, Jen. May I join your Bible group?”
In a Western Bible study, Jen would bring Stella to the next meeting, and the group adds a member. Has that been your experience?
3. Maturity Outweighs Growth
Surprisingly, Jen does not invite Stella to join her Discovery Bible Study group. That sounds foolish to us. We wonder: How is the DBS group going to grow? But a more strategic question is: How is the DBS group going to mature?
You see, each DBS group is on its own journey from unbelief to living as dedicated disciples of Jesus, who desire to obey everything that He has commanded, including to make disciples of others. (Mat. 28:18-19) Week 1 they begin their shared journey at Square 1. By Week 3 they’re at Square 3, Week 10 at Square 10, etc. I’m speaking metaphorically. DBS is not regimented into precise Squares, but each group climbs a learning curve as it discovers the Spirit’ Word is trustworthy, the Father is faithful, and following Jesus is a challenging, yet joyous, adventure.
But if Stella enters Jen’s group at Week 5, for instance, everyone tends to retreat to Square 1. If this occurs repeatedly, the group’s growth toward maturity may stagnate.
How long has your group been meeting? During that time, how much has everyone matured spiritually, as described in Ephesians 4:13-16? Is maturity in Christ even on your radar?
4. Igniting the Wildfire
So, when a seeker like Stella says, “I want to learn about God too,” what does Jen do?
She tells Stella, “I’m so glad you are interested, Stella. May I meet with you a couple times to show you how to dig into God’s Word by asking a few simple questions? It’s the same method we use in my DBS group. Once you are comfortable, you can invite a few friends or relatives to read and discuss the Bible with you. That way, you will have a group where everyone is at the same stage in the adventure of discovering God. Even though I won’t attend your group meetings, Stella, every week I will mentor you to facilitate your group.”
If Stella accepts this invitation, she is a person of peace, a worker whom the Lord of the harvest is sending out into His harvest field. (Luke 10:2, 5-6)
Thus the proliferation of Discovery Bible Study groups looks like the diagram below. Groups that only desire to grow larger become like root-bound plants in a pot. In contrast, Discovery Bible Study groups multiply the number of groups, so that growth occurs in new soil. As friends express interest, they are shown how to form their own group, and the process continues through multiple generations. When the generations grow to 4 and beyond, God has initiated another Disciple Making Movement.
How often has your Bible study group birthed a new group for seekers? Did a daughter group ever birth a grand-daughter group? If not, what is inhibiting the multiplication?
Coming Up
In Disciple Maker learn Jesus Christ’s one-of-a-kind methods, and follow Him as you fulfill your destiny. To download the free, 58-page eBook, click below on the format you want:
Kindle / Apple / Google Play / Nook / Kobo / Generic / PDF.
You may wonder: If DBS groups multiply so rapidly, won’t their level of commitment to God and Scripture be shallow? The next chapter of Disciple Maker, entitled What About Follow-Up?, explains how maturity in Christ occurs due to solid follow-through features that are built in to DBS.
You can also check out prior Chapters of Disciple Maker.
Ch. 1. Jesus Christ: Disciple Maker
Ch. 2. Am I Disciple Material?