Turning Over A New Leaf

Before I begin, I want to let you know that you should grab a drink and get comfortable...

I've been thinking about the direction of the young men's Bible study that I lead. Right now we are working our way through the second chapter of Revelation after having studied through 1 & 2 Peter as well as Jude. When we began Revelation, it was with the intent to go through the entire book, but after self-evaluation and a peek at the calendar, I do not think that that is a feasible option. I do not have enough of a personal background in eschatology (the study of end times subjects and events) to be comfortable leading a study in it. There is too much propensity for error. Also, if college becomes a definite reality this fall, then I will not be around long enough to finish the book of Revelation anyways seeing we're only in chapter two out of twenty-two at roughly four months in.

Because of these two main factors, I've been really trying to think about what I want to leave these guys with. I don't have much time left leading this study, but what time I do have I want to make count as much as possible. Based on these thoughts, I've been leaning towards

just finishing the third chapter of Revelation. This would conclude the letters to the seven churches, which is a natural break in the book, before we would otherwise begin dipping into future events and their interpretations.

After finishing chapter three, I think I am going to do two topical studies: one on how to study the Bible for yourself and the other on a believer's prayer life. These two things are the most important elements of a believer's spiritual life. The reading and studying of God's Word shows the need for improvements in your spiritual life, and prayer is the power behind the changes. We've spent a good deal of our time so far studying the doctrinal purity and spiritual conditions of the church, but we have not focused too heavily on the believer's walk with the Lord.

Writing the essays for recent/on-going scholarship applications has caused me to think about all of this in a different light. As I've written the essays, I've been trying to get across the idea of me being more than a statistic. I am a living, dynamic person making an impact in my surroundings. As I contemplated my role as the leader of the Bible study, I've begun to see that I have taught more than I've discipled. If you were to look through the New Testament with the purpose of finding out how Jesus related to those He was around, you would find that the amount of time He spent discipling His twelve eclipsed the amount of time He spent preaching publicly.

Looking back now, I see many areas where the Lord has grown me as a teacher. These are areas that needed to grow and I am glad that the Lord used the study to grow me in them. At the same time, I see missed opportunities. The amount of time I have spent with these guys at the studies has been greater than I've ever spent with any other group in my life. But if I were to ask each of them how they have been impacted by our study, I don't know that I could expect to hear of much spiritual growth. I can promise you that their knowledge of Scripture has grown, but 1 Corinthians 13 says that knowledge puffs up. There has got to be more than knowledge.

That missing element is what I could sense at the back of my mind, but never fleshed out the way I should have. I've been unwittingly passing up chance after chance to connect with them in a deeper, more personal way. If you want to look at this as an anatomy analogy, I've given them food, a mouth, and an esophagus. I've given them a greater knowledge of the Word, time at the study to take it in, and a presentation which can help to get it into them. They're missing the rest of the digestive system though. I haven't helped them to break it down and use it in their lives; they don't have a stomach or small intestine if you will. The one-on-one time with them applying the Bible to specific needs in their lives has been rather non-existent.

In light of this, I am going to try to first start writing the lessons with greater purpose. So far, I've just been isolating one phrase of the text at a time, analyzing it and then moving on. Each church in Revelation 2-3 has a specific spiritual weakness and/or strength. I want to find out from these guys where each of them relates to the churches: where their strengths and weaknesses are. Then I want to explain the text as it was meant in the original context and in such a way that it provides pertinent instruction. I don't want the lessons to come across as laundry lists of equally important points, I want to have a central message supported by each section of the text. That central message will be determined by the actual text itself, and the way the supporting points relate to the main topic will be determined by the ways I can apply each of them to our lives today.

Outside of the study, I want to bring it closer to home for each of them with follow-up calls during the week. I am going to make it a point to call each of them at least once during the week that elapses between studies. When I call them, I want to learn what they are doing and how things have been going, normal stuff. I then want to know the previous lesson well enough that I can turn around and show give them instruction from what we learned in the study. As I do this over an initial period of several weeks, I will begin to see trends in how they are relating to life in general and will begin to learn ways and areas in which I can hold them accountable. After I've kept this up for a while, I'd like to start meeting each of them in person at different times as well.

From these changes, I hope to see development in their spiritual lives and a greater understanding of the passages we study. This is why I want to do the topical studies on Study and Prayer. These will be particularly concentrated dosages of opportunities to hold them accountable and guide them into growth. I am looking forward to exciting times! I can pray with confidence that our Father will bring these things to pass because it is His will that his sons (and daughters) grow in faith.

If you have any input -- ideas, questions, tips, experiences -- please post them below, I'd love to hear from you!