Preparation and Silence

Over the past couple of weeks we have looked at some of the keys to leading a Bible study. We talked about the continuum of fellowship and study, and we talked a bit about asking better questions.

Today I want to talk through what I think are overlooked wildcards in the realm of leading Bible study.

If you are leading a Bible study, you need to prepare. That involves reading whatever text you’re studying, familiarizing yourself with tricky aspects of it, maybe reading some experts etc. Some of the preparation is in the realm of knowing the material. But the more overlooked aspect of preparation is in engaging the group with questions and other helpful material.

If you are preparing to lead a Bible study, you will probably lead in one of three ways.

1. Use someone else’s material.

Perhaps there is a published study on a book of the Bible you plan to use. Perhaps your pastor has written the study and shared it with you. If you use someone else’s material, it is good to engage with it and perhaps tweak it just a little to make it your own.

If you use other people’s material, you will notice their choices on the balance of fellowship and study. Part of your preparation to lead is considering where you should add supplemental questions that best fit your group in particular.

Also, you may need to prepare a few mini-teachings on certain topics that your group might not be familiar with. This might be cultural, geographical (more on that later), or helping to connect the dots to another Bible passage.

Finally, if you are using a published study, it may not align perfectly with your group theologically. Especially if the study has explanations and answers in it, you may need to find places where there might be disagreement or nuance and be prepared to talk about them.

2. Write your own questions and give a handout to the group.

If you are writing your own questions, you will naturally tend toward the balance of fellowship and study that you prefer. Remember to take a look at your questions when they’re finished and see if you need to add a couple pushing toward fellowship or study for balance.

The second part of this is important though. If you do write your own questions, share them with the group. Make a handout. People find it easier to participate when they have the questions in front of them. And, even the people who don’t speak during the study may write down answers and take the study home with them.

3. Wing it and ask questions on the fly.

If you are trying to wing it, please don’t do that. If you prepare a handout with questions, you will see participation improve.

What I have observed is that asking questions on the fly often leads to two types of unhelpful questions. First is yes-no questions. It’s often the best someone can come up with on the fly.

Sidebar: Yes-no questions can work in a Bible study if they prompt further discussion, there is no obvious answer, and you follow it up with a “Why?” For example, In Luke 4, Jesus heals a man who is possessed by a demon while they are in the synagogue. Do you think it is possible for faithful people to be affected by this kind of spiritual warfare?

That’s a yes-no question, but it’s meant to lead the group deeper into a further discussion of both the text and experience. (End sidebar.)

However, most yes-no questions asked on the fly sound more like this: “Was Jesus in the synagogue (rising inflection) when He healed this man?”

A better question is “What is the setting of this encounter?” Then people can answer with multiple true answers: the synagogue, in Capernaum, on the Sabbath, in the first year of Jesus’ public ministry.

The second type of question I hear most in Bible studies that are being winged are fill in the blank prompts. These often feel patronizing. The way you ask the question is important. Take the example from last week in Luke 1 regarding Luke’s dedication. I hear a lot of study leaders ask that question in this way: And so Luke dedicates his Gospel and he dedicates it to (rising inflection)…(waiting)…(nobody answers immediately, so you just answer it yourself before anyone has had time to look)…

Or, from Luke 4, “Jesus was in the city of (rising inflection)…on the…what day?”

If you wing the questions, people have a hard time knowing when a question is coming. If they are written down, you can prompt and prepare them for the next question by simply saying, “Let’s move on to the next question,” before asking it.

Which brings me to perhaps the most overlooked key to leading a Bible study.

Wait longer for people to answer your questions.

If you lead a Bible study of any kind, you must force yourself to allow more silence. Some people need time to look for answers. Some people need time to think about their answers. If you rush on and answer your own questions, people will check out and stop participating. Wait in the silence. Ten seconds feels like a long time in such a setting, but trust me, it will pay off. If you consistently give time for questions to be answers, ten seconds will give that wise participant who doesn’t say much enough time to give you an absolute banger of an insight.

Sometimes, as a leader waits in the silence, there is an eager participant who is always the first to answer. In a larger setting of 20-30 or more, the leader might employ the classroom management strategy of raising hands. Then, when the eager participant is ready with their answer, the leader can wait and not call on them right away. Give another few seconds for someone else to raise their hand. It’s not that you won’t come back to that eager person, but they don’t need to dominate the conversation.

This is much more challenging in smaller studies. Once you are under 12 people, raising hands feels weird. Managing an eager participant in such settings is tough. But this is why there is a need for questions with multiple possible answers and questions with no wrong answers. Eager participants might answer first. But once they have spoken, then you can give silence time for everyone else to think on their answers.

If you want to improve participation in your Bible study time, silence is often the most overlooked ingredient.

What other questions do you have about leading or participating in Bible study?

Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!