When my brother was attending a Methodist High School, he made it his mission to smuggle Bibles out of his school library. He viewed Christianity through cultural lens, i.e. that Christianity was nothing more than a tool of Western imperialism. He took absolute delight in throwing Bibles into the bin. After one of his successful missions, he decided he would keep a copy of the Bible he had stolen as a trophy. Everyday when he set eyes on the Bible sitting on his bookshelf, he was filled with pride at what he had done.
During a difficult period in his life, feeling depressed and dejected in his room, he cast his eye toward the direction of his bookshelf. When he did, the stolen copy of the Bible quadrupled in size. He became drawn to it although he had never read it. When he ‘opened’ the Bible, he just happened to turn to John 8. In it is the story of a woman caught in adultery brought before Jesus. According to Old Testament law, the religious teachers insisted that she should be stoned. My brother right there and then felt convicted by the Holy Spirit. He became aware of his sinfulness before God. He had done things deserving of God’s righteous judgement. How would Jesus respond to the woman, and to him?
Turning the page over, Jesus’ merciful response to the woman, specifically his words to her in verse 11b just leapt out of the page: “Then neither do I condemn you”. In that moment, weeping with joy, he felt the burden and condemnation of sin was lifted off him. He experienced God’s forgiveness and cleansing! Prior to this, he had not been taught about God’s forgiveness through Christ. He had no understanding of basic Christian theology on salvation and yet, the Holy Spirit through God’s word transformed my brother. In the parable of the sower and the seed, Jesus tells us how vital it is to sow God’s word in bringing about transformation in people’s lives. There is indeed power and life in God’s word!
A very simple but powerful way of exposing our persons of peace to God’s truth in the Bible and therefore, disciple them toward faith, is the ‘Discovery Bible Method’. It is a simple method of reading the Bible that allows participants to engage God’s word directly through a 5-step process which should take around 30 to 35 minutes:
1. Read a passage of Scripture consisting around 5 to 10 verses in a couple of versions
· Recommended passages: Gen 1:1-5; 1:27-31, 3:1-9, Ps 23:1-6, Ps 139:13-18, Is 53:3-9; Luke 1:26-38, Mt 3:11-16, 4:1-11, Mark 4:35-41, John 3:1-8, 16-21, 6:5-13, Acts 1:3-11, 9:1-19).
2. Re-tell the passage/story in your own words by taking turns
· The Bible is written for the common people to understand!
3. Reflect on it
· Ask open-ended questions e.g. ‘What do you see? What does it say about God? What does it say about us? What is one thing that stands out? Avoid why questions. It is a conversation killer and changes the dynamic where you then assume the ‘teacher’ role.
4. Respond to it
· Ask, ‘What the one thing you can do with what stood out to you?’
· As DBM has a missional component, participants are asked, “Who can you retell the story to?”
5. Review
· When you meet in the next session you start with, “How did you go with what you said you would do?”
If you are doing this with someone, it is recommended that you start on a fortnightly basis. Why not have a go? That is the best way to learn!
Following Jesus,
Mark
Recent Comments