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How Can I Enable People to Want to do Bible Study?

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psa 1:1-3 ESV)

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. (Psa 119:9 ESV)

The benefits of Bible study are well known, the above are just two examples of the promises in the Bible of the benefits of getting Gods word inside of us. I think though it is well known that attendance at mid-week Bible studies are very low and sales of Bible study materials (Commentaries, Concordances etc) are also low. What sorts of reasons are there why people don’t appreciate Bible study?

• It’s boring
• It’s not relevant
• It’s difficult
• Don’t know how to do it

Christian Hedonism says that we do all things for the joy that it brings us (see John Piper, Desiring God). If this is the case then we must show people the joy that they will get in Bible study. I believe that once Christians dive into the pool of the scriptures they will come out thirsting for more.

I still remember some Bible studies that I was involved in nearly fifteen years ago. We sorted the letters to the seven churches in a grid (e.g Church…; This I have against you…; To him who overcomes…) another time we went through the book of Acts looking at miracles and persecution (miracles appear to decrease, persecution increases). The key was that we felt involved…we had actually discovered something for ourselves. I would love to do a similar exercise with a group sending people off with Bible resources to get the back ground to a letter (where was Philippi? What sort of people lived there?), to understand some of the words used etc. So involvement should be one of the key things to have in a Bible study.

Bible study should always be relevant, the New Testament letters where written to believers struggling with real life issues. We should be able to find the answers to the questions that are being asked today in scripture (What’s wrong with a gay marriage, How should I relate to my wife, How should I respond to a Mormon / Jehovah’s Witness when they knock at the door).

Bible study is like the ocean, it’s as deep as you want it to be. You can splash around in the shallows, many Bible study booklets are available to guide you through a book or a topic (the Spirit Filled Life series by Jack Hayford are a good example). Or you can dive deep and wrestle with the problems that have inspired and stretched Christians for centuries, possibly learning the original languages or getting some good Bible study software like Logos which gives you so many resources at your finger tips.

So if we can show people that Bible study is not boring, can be very relevant and doesn’t have to be difficult then I believe that more people will be “Diving for pearls in God’s treasure chest” (as Robert French titles his book on Bible study).

As I said above Bible study can be done at many levels. First we need to read the text (I use the ESV and a paraphrase such as the Message). Then we need to identify the type of literature we are reading (I found the book “How to study the Bible for all its worth” Fee & Stuart very useful in helping me understand this). We should study the Psalms different to how we study an Epistle. At the next level I would suggest reading an introduction to the book (or passage) to put it in its context (who is the writer writing to etc). One of the smaller one volume commentaries or handbooks are good for this(I often use David Pawsons “Unlocking the Bible”). When wanting to go deeper again (peeling more layers off the onion to change the metaphor) I would initially suggest a readable commentary (My favourite series has to be the Bible speaks today edited by John Stott).

The aim of our Bible study must be to know God more and in knowing Him to love him and live for him. There is always a danger of us simply filling our heads, therefore the first and last step in Bible study must be prayer. “Father teach me your Word, help me to love it and obey it so that I may be full of Your joy and over-flowing to a hurting and lost world.” Amen.

Submitted by Nigel Stevenson