HOW TO LEAD BIBLE DISCUSSIONS

 

The first question you should ask yourself is whether you really want to have a discussion group or just present a prepared lesson. There are pros and cons to both, and I deal with the factors involved giving a presentation in two companion posts. (See “Advice to Sunday School / Bible Study Teachers, Parts 1 and 2.”)

If you are like me and just love to be in the spotlight as the fount of knowledge concerning the Bible (at least that is how some of my friends have lovingly characterized me), then opening up a group for discussion means to lose control of the class. However, on the plus side, it means to open it up for the Holy Spirit to speak more easily to, and through, all of us. Personally, I must admit that I generally limit any discussion time during a class period to a minimum. But it may depend wholly on the setting. In an informal home Bible study, a discussion format is often much more appropriate than in a large group setting which may also have more strict time restraints.

Strike a Good Balance Between Teaching and Discussion

Let's deal with those times when the majority of the class session is to be devoted to discussion. I have seen several example of one extreme way to conduct these sort of sessions, i.e. for the leader to give virtually no input other than announcing the subject of the day. Upon moving cross country for a job, my wife and I visited several churches before settling on one. At the Sunday school class at one particular church, the “teacher” had us (there were only about five other people in the class) turn to the Bible passage of the day. Then he would read one verse and ask each of us in turn, “What do you think that means?” After we had each given our answer, he would summarize by saying, “That is two votes for this explanation, two for another, and one for a third interpretation.” Then we would move on to the second verse and repeat the process. At one point, I remarked that my fellow classmate's answer was really contradicted by the very next verse. The “teacher” said to me gently, “You are new and probably don't realize how we do things here. We haven't gotten to that verse yet.” I expected him to at least make some parting comments at the end of the class period that would summarize the meaning of the whole passage, but he never did. I would call this an example of a class sharing its collective ignorance.

But the opposite extreme is just as bad. That is when a teacher says we are going to have an open discussion and then shoots down any opinion that doesn't match his own. I don't believe I have ever done that, but I must admit that I have on more than one occasion squashed any discussion without even trying. One class in which I was an occasional substitute teacher absolutely refused to say anything at all whenever I asked a question of them. Recently, I mentioned that to a friend who was part of that class, and his reply was, “Dave, I think you have a way of intimidating them.”

Because of that problem, which I sometimes recognize in myself, I have learned to preface some of my questions by saying something like, “Now this is a question that I haven't been able to adequately resolve in my own mind. Can anyone help me out by sharing their thoughts on the subject?” I usually reserve that line for areas in which I honestly know that there are uncertainties.

The ideal balance is to conduct directed discussions. In other words, you first need to give the group any pertinent information they may require before they begin sharing their own ideas. When this is not done, the leader is opting out of his or her designated role in the process entirely. Thus, even a person who does not feel knowledgeable enough to teach the Bible should be able to read a few ideas out of a Bible quarterly that may provide the proper setting for subsequent discussion. And many denominational quarterlies or inexpensively purchased study guides available though Christian Book Distributors or Amazon come with sample discussion questions to use in a class setting.

Almost always stick to asking open-ended questions. 

This is perhaps the most important advice I can give to someone who leads Bible discussions. Remember that you are not dealing with a group of second graders who learn by parroting facts back at the teacher. Let me explain by citing the example of a former co-teacher who would read some simple passage to us such as “God is love,” and then ask the class, “What is God?” Not surprisingly, at least to me, no one raised their hand. The reason for that phenomenon, which you may have noticed yourself on similar occasions, is we all knew that either (a) the answer was so obvious that you would get no “credit” out of answering it other than knowing looks from the other class members who will view you as “teacher's pet” or (b) it is a trick question and you don't want to be the one that falls for it.

The particular teacher who asked that question was flabbergasted that no one seemed to be able to answer his question. His comment to us was, “I must be talking over your heads. I will have to make my points more simple in the future.” And he did. But on the other hand, there was a different occasion when he asked a rather complicated and controversial question of the class. As we would respond one at a time, he would say, “No. That's not it; you don't have it yet; that's not what I am driving at, etc. etc.” This guessing game seemed to go on forever, and none of us could give him the answer he was waiting for. Once he had told us what he had been driving at, it became crystal clear to us that we would have needed to be mind readers in order to come up with his strange take on the issue at hand. He thought that it was just another closed question when in fact it wasn't at all.

That is why I say that, generally speaking, you should only ask questions that are valid discussion questions where various opinions are welcome, not the recitation of black-and-white facts that can be better handled by the leader simply stating them up front.

If your ask closed questions, first make sure that you know the correct answers.

This advice may seem like a no-brainer, but you may be surprised that on occasion an answer you thought was obvious really isn't. In that case, you may find yourself corrected by someone in your class, not that there is anything wrong with that unless you are concerned about losing some prestige in the eyes of others. Remember that even Peter had to be put in his place more than once by Jesus and even Paul. We should all be willing to learn from each other.

The one example that I have to share involved an excellent Sunday school teacher who was trying to show the importance of knowing the context of a biblical passage in order to be able to understand it. But unfortunately, he happened to chose John 3:16 as his example. He asked the class, “Who said these words?” Of course, he and most of the class probably figured that the answer was “Jesus.” But because it was a closed question, no one volunteered an answer (a phenomenon I have discussed above).

At last, in desperation he pointed at me and said, “Dave, surely you know the answer.” My reply was not at all what he had expected because I said, “It was either Jesus' words or it was John's comment.” The reason for the uncertainty on the issue is that there were little to no punctuation marks in the original Greek manuscripts, and so scholars are undecided as to where Jesus' words starting in verse 10 actually end. Like a good Berean, he went home, looked at several translations, and came back agreeing that I was correct.

Master the art of responding appropriately to answers from your audience.

On the one hand, assuming the answer seems to be spot-on, then the problem is that if you wholeheartedly endorse the answer, other class members will be very hesitant to offer any additional comments and discussion will stop right there. But it can be done by saying, “I really like that answer. I wonder if there are any other aspects to the issue that someone can bring up.” Or you can say, “Have any of you experienced anything in your life that would illustrate this principle?” Asking for people's personal experiences is a great way to elicit a number of valuable insights from the group.

The second situation is much harder to deal with: responding to someone who has made a completely wrong-headed, ignorant, ill-founded, off-the-wall, extraneous, or even heretical reply to your question. Coping with this sort of challenge may differ entirely depending on the situation. If everyone knows the person who made the comment quite well, you might be able to get by with almost any sort of comment or joke without disrupting the class or having to put someone down for what they said. But if you don't know them very well, or at all, it becomes a little trickier. It really helps to memorize some stock responses ahead of time so that you won't be caught unaware. For example, “I have never looked at it that way before;” “What are some factors or Bible passages that cause you to feel that way?;” “That is an interesting perspective that I will have to think about some more;” or just “Does anyone have another thought on the subject?” However, if an obviously heretical thought has been expressed, it is not appropriate for the leader to just let it slip by without some stronger comment.

One useful Scripture admonishment to keep in mind is found in the apparently paradoxical twin advice found in Proverbs 26:4-5: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly or you will be a fool yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly or he will remain wise in his own eyes.” The interpretation of this passage that I favor is that you really have to know when to reply to a foolish comment. If it is an important issue, you should not just let it go or the person (and the class) will leave thinking that he has spoken the truth and that you agree with him. However, if you do feel the need to reply, do not lower yourself to his level in how you word your comments or you will show yourself to be just as big a fool as he is.

There was member of a previous Sunday school class who always had the knack of leading the discussion, whatever the subject at hand, back to the same doctrinal point that he wanted to make sure we all understand. At one point he did this to a co-teacher who had had enough of this sort of disruptive behavior, and he blew his top and proceeded to put that class member in his place in no uncertain terms and at the top of his voice. Although we were all sympathetic with what the teachers had been putting up with, it was rather embarrassing for everyone and there was the general opinion that the teacher had gone too far. It all blew over, and the class member was back after several weeks absence, but I think that teacher slipped a little in our estimation after his outburst. Of course, the biblical pattern should have been for some of us teachers to confront the troublemaker privately instead of in a public setting.

Be aware of any logistical challenges.

For example, there are several potential problems involved in breaking into separate discussion groups. The first obvious one is that of logistics. If you are meeting in someone's home, no matter how small, it is usually no problem to find enough room for the groups to be separated enough that their conversations will not bother each other. At one home Bible study, I was even in a group that went into a bedroom for our discussion. Alternatively, if you are in a large meeting space at church and there are not too many people present, it is usually possible to separate the groups easily. The only two times when I felt that the venue was totally unacceptable for separate discussion groups were (a) when we met in the sanctuary and the fixed pews did not allow us to talk to one another without straining our necks and (b) when a lecture hall was completely filled with people, and the din of many separate conversations made it almost impossible to think or hear. In both those cases, the teacher (and it was me in one of the cases) should not have even attempted group discussions.

Experiment with different formats for discussion.

There are all sorts of ways to conduct these discussion sessions. The most simple is for the leader to just ask the question and solicit responses. But often you will find that the same one or two people will always respond while the others just sit and listen without giving any input. That is why breaking into separate groups is sometimes preferable. People are much more likely to open up in a smaller group and without having to worry about the leader's possible disapproval of the answer. The major challenge of a leader in that setting is seeing that the session finishes on time.

One can give all the groups the same question or questions to discuss for a certain amount of time and then have a spokesman from each group present their conclusions to everyone. The ensuing discussion over the different conclusions usually results in totally engaging all of the participants and coming up with unique answers to the question at hand.

Alternatively, each group can be given a different leading question, each involving another aspect of the overall subject at hand. Then when they are finished, a representative from each group will present the group's findings to everyone else. The questions should be designed by the discussion leader to elicit responses that will spiritually enlighten and challenge all those present.

The major problem with either format is keeping some groups at task so they will finish on time while encouraging others to keep discussing the question further, even when they think they are already through with their deliberations – all to ensure that they finish up at the same time and with enough time left over for whole group wrap-ups. The “teacher” can either leave entirely and do something else during their discussions or can move from group to group to loosely monitor how they are doing and be present to answer any of their specific questions regarding the assignments.

Keep it focused.

A leader needs to make sure that the discussions do not turn into general gripe sessions, political diatribes or opportunities to share gossip. Some groups of people are more prone to this sort of behavior than others, and the leader needs to let them know one way or another that it is not appropriate for a Bible study setting. Fortunately, I have never had to deal with that sort of situation, but I did attend a slightly liberal church decades ago in which one of the Sunday school elective classes during summer was actually on the subject of planting gardens.

I hope that I haven't discouraged any of you from volunteering to lead a discussion group since it is a rewarding ministry. But it is always best to know a few potential pitfalls before it is too late.