I met a missionary from South America a number of years ago in the hall at a conference. Sadly, I can’t remember his name or the South American country where he serves. But I do remember our conversation. It stuck with me and has served me well for a long time.
He said that all over South America churches are starting in homes as small groups. They do it by giving a follower of Christ a Bible and a list of 5 simple questions. Next this person is asked to invite friends and family over to read the Bible together and discuss the 5 questions. Literally hundreds of churches are being started all over the continent every year, and thousands (if not millions) of people are coming to Christ in homes reading the Bible and talking about 5 questions.
Here’s the process.
After reading a passage of Scripture together ask:
1. What did you like about the passage?
2. What did you NOT like about the passage?
3. What did you not understand in the passage?
4. What did you learn about God in the passage?
5. What are you going to do with what you learned?
In the Western countries we often prefer that our small group curriculum come in beautifully printed books with homework and videos taught by church celebrities…I mean “Well Known Bible Teachers”. Now keep in mind that I’m one of the guys who has taught some of this high tech, well produced video curriculum, so I’m not being critical of it. That kind of product plays a key role in our culture because it is relevent.
What I would like to do though is this: I challenge small group leaders everywhere to put aside the highly produced stuff every once in a while and try this simple approach. You may find that these 5 questions become the “go to” curriculum for your small group. You might also fall in love again with a simple “no-seminary-degree-required” approach to reading and understanding God’s Word.
