Discovering the Bible

I’ve been a teacher for about as long as I can remember. It started when I was six or seven years old and began to meet with a Spanish neighbour to help her practise and improve her English. I had no idea what I was doing, but she seemed to enjoy our “lessons,” and before long I found myself teaching languages well into my teens and twenties. As I approached my thirties, I began teaching adults in leadership development, and throughout the next decade I added a number of subjects to my teaching arsenal, including personal calling, evangelism, and discipleship.

Toward the beginning of my now almost decade-long residence in the UK, I attended a training in making disciples. While I was curious, I wasn’t expecting any surprises or earth-shattering insights. I’d attended two different seminaries, had ministered in multiple countries, and generally fancied myself an experienced teacher and disciple maker.

Over the course of the week, I was exposed to a mix of stories, principles, and tools that completely blew me away. The trainers spoke of the difference between being taught about the Bible and personally discovering the truth of the Bible, about persons of peace, and about the power of simple tools that can be multiplied quickly. One of those was the Discovery Bible Study (DBS), and I heard stories of how it was impacting millions of people all over the world, many of them with little to no formal education.

I began to review my years of teaching and disciple making and had to conclude that, while I had seen some results, I hadn’t seen the multiplication for which I’d hoped. Sure, I’d been a good teacher in the traditional sense, but what I’d considered great assets – my education, experience, and personality – had actually served to disempower my students; my “qualifications” had implicitly communicated that without loads of experience, top-shelf, sophisticated tools, and, ideally, a formal education, they could never be effective disciple makers.

As I returned to my home in East London, I decided to make some changes to my ministry approach. No longer would I only seek to teach others about the Bible, but I'd begin inviting people from my community to discover the Bible with me. I’d pray for persons of peace whom the Father was drawing to Himself, and seek to help them unpack and apply the truths of the Bible. My teaching “style” would shift from the man with great answers to the man with great questions. I would depend much more heavily on the ability of the Holy Spirit to illuminate Scripture and would prioritise instilling discipleship principles over conveying information.

I wish I could tell you that these changes resulted in a disciple making movement that transformed East London. They didn't. I made many mistakes and more than once considered giving up. But the results I saw, whether it was discovering persons of peace or reading the Bible with people far from God, were leagues away from what I’d experienced before. The Bible, it turns out, doesn’t need me in order to “work;” it is a two-edged sword with the power to penetrate people’s soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). By getting out of the way and helping people discover Jesus through the Bible, I’d become more effective than I ever was at the height of my teaching days!

I could tell you about Ahsan who discovered that Jesus cares more about our hearts than our actions (Luke 7:36-50). Or Tina who was surprised to discover that Jesus condemns religiosity (Luke 18:9-14). But instead I'd like to encourage you to check out our Discovery Bible Study resource, where you’ll learn how to start a DBS in your community today. It's not hard to do! If you're committed to helping people discover Jesus, I’m convinced you’ll find this resource to be a simple but effective tool. And we’re here to help however we can. Just click here and leave us a message.