1.How can we attract our friends' interest in joint Bible studies?

One day, Rainer, a biology student, said to his fellow course mates who he spends a considerable amount of time with at university. ".We talk about a lot of questions and problems, we have fun together, we know each other well and you know that I am a Christian.

But I feel you don't really understand what the Christian faith is all about. We know each others' viewpoints and arguments. But we have never explicitly talked about what God says to us through His word in the Bible. If we did do so, I could show you much more clearly why faith is so important to me.

What do you think about meeting up on a few evenings to talk about some passages from the New Testament?."

Monika, a course mate and participant in those Bible studies wrote later: "I had never really met young Christians and have always had a very critical view of anything to do with church. Faith seemed to be some sort of self-deception. This was when Rainer invited me to join a Bible group. First of all, I was going to refuse as I did not want to disturb the harmony in the group. But I did accept in the end.

When I got there, I was determined to leave as soon as they would start to sing hymns or to pray. But none of the like happened. I was welcomed with open arms, felt at ease in a friendly atmosphere and was part of the group right from the beginning. I also liked the fact that I was not the only one to have reservations.

It was important to me to feel I was being taken seriously with all the questions I had and all the bad experience I have had with church and Christians. Moreover, I noticed that they even cared about me. Sometimes I was even wondering why they were treating each other with so much love. It was valuable to me to see that there are people who take the Bible seriously as God's word and yet are completely normal and sensible, who also know doubts and insecurities and can still trust in Jesus Christ; in a nutshell: they are convincing Christians and not untouchable saints.

I ended up accepting an invitation to go to a camp where I really felt Jesus was addressing me very personally. This is how I became a Christian."

This is an example of how we can start reading the Bible with non-Chris tians. There are four main issues:

a) being convinced of the fact that God has intentionally put us into a certain situation in order for us to be witnesses for Him.

b) being prepared for real friendship that shows God's way of loving, a "love in spite of" which is prepared to be there for somebody without them needing to earn this love.

c) developing a feel for judging when the right moment has come for a conversation about the Christian faith, without the other person already having to believe certain things.

d) being wise about when to take an interested non-Christian into a wider Christian congregation.

The number of those who want to win people for God is thus multiplied

- through students who are experienced in leading Bible discussions and in evangelising on a one-on-one basis. In many Christian unions and churches, evangelistic Bible studies are already being done. People who have got the message pass it on to others. The basic principle is as follows:

"And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." 2 Tim 22

 

 

 

2. What are evangelistic Bible studies?

 

Evangelistic Bible studies are not a new method of doing mission, but one that has been neglected! They are as old as Christian mission itself. Luke gives us one example from the first century in Acts 8:26-40 which is the account of a treasurer from Ethiopia. Philip heard ..., asked ..., (listened to

the answer!) ..., then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture (Isaiah 53) and told him the good news about Jesus.

 

All of us have a fixed circle of people we constantly have around us. It is our responsibility to get deeply involved, i.e. that we focus on two or three people who are seeking God. There is nothing more effective than reading the Bible together and paying attention to one another. We can also invite those of our friends who only have a vague or incomplete idea of the Gospel or who have no idea at all of what it is all about. These meetings should be informal, everybody is to deal with the person of Jesus Christ in peace and without any pressure.

Evangelistic Bible studies are different from Bible studies with Christi­ans. The latter serve the purpose of growing in faith. Evangelistic Bible studies are designed for non-Christians. An evangelistic discussion about a Bible passage can take place between two people, a Christian and his/ her friend for instance, or a group of about six to eight people. In any case, the Christian should not dominate the discussion.

Evangelistic Bible Studies are defined as: a) going through a selected Bible passage and b) having a discussion about that passage in which the participants naturally get to know Jesus Christ rather than facts about Christianity. The aim is to get non-Christians to thoroughly deal with Jesus Christ who is entitled to our deepest love and faithfulness.

How frequently we are to meet up to read the Bible with others cannot ultimately be defined. This decision is to be made according to each indi­vidual situation.

During the planning stage, students need to be aware of the fact that it takes six to eight sessions to talk through the basics of faith. This is why you should start early on in the term, as soon as you have met and made friends with non-Christians and finish before all the exams begin at the end of term.

You can invite those showing interest e.g. at the end of a discussion. Students generally prefer not to commit themselves for too long in advance. But there are others who are prepared to go to six to eight

meetings right from the start.

3. Evangelistic Bible studies as an integral

part of mission

The Bible is precious enough for us to read it thoroughly. Non-Christians might criticise it thoughtlessly or disagree. And yet, the Bible is still a worldwide bestseller and has so far had the largest literary influence out of all the books there are in the world. When reading the Bible, we do not demand of our interlocutors to accept the Bible as God's word.

 

a) The Bible takes questions from the world of academia seriously

Wherever we go in the world, there is an increasing dissatisfaction with authoritative teaching methods whereby the facts laid down by the teacher can no longer be questioned. Students practise to do research whilst learning, i.e. to examine facts, to see their meaning and then draw conclusions. They increasingly want to learn by questioning and debating and do not want to be fed with ready-made answers. The same holds true for discussions about the Christian faith. During evangelistic Bible studies, the individual person is taken seriously.

Evangelistic Bible studies bear in mind that everybody is intelligent enough to deal with Jesus and his claim while reading the Bible. It is not about Christians talking about their faith in an intellectual manner, but about being intelligent and wise when talking about the selected passage

and about the reasons for their own faith.

 

b) Evangelistic bible studies need the informal atmosphere of a small group

We all need that, especially first year students who have come into completely new surroundings. Moreover, most people prefer to talk about matters of faith in an informal, private gathering. An atmosphere of openness, honesty and impartiality gives non-Christians an idea of what

Christian community is.

 

 

c) Reading the bible does not depend on the leadership of full-time staff

Students are often better leaders of Bible studies than full-time staff! One Philippine student wrote for example: ever since our workshops about leader­ship in Bible study groups, we have had our own discussion leaders and are not as dependent on our vicar any more. And it works well. The leaders themselves are astonished about the work of the Holy Spirit in them and are pleased when they discover their abilities as discussion leaders.

 

d) Evangelistic bible studies are equally beneficial to helpers and guests

During the discussion, all the participants are to feel free to be themselves. They do not need to behave like a hunter and his prey in a kind of preserve. Those who serve their Lord as helpers, will themselves get a lot out of reading the Bible with others. They will discover new things about God and about themselves. They will grow in character, and will begin to und­erstand and love non-Christians more. This will happen automatically.

4. Putting yourself into somebody else's shoes - or: why we do not make an impression on others

Stereotypes, prejudices and hasty conclusions about other people, which exist on both sides, with Christians and non-Christians, make real encounters very difficult.

But there are also other reasons for why we often do not make an impression on other students. One difficulty, which is possibly typical of the Western world, consists in the fact that we are utterly convinced that we can grasp reality exclusively with logical thinking. We tend to think that if only we could explain the basic truths of the Gospel in a logical context, others would respond to them in a more positive manner. Fur­thermore, we tend to insist on dogmatism in the sense of one specific theology which means that we stick to one particular way of expressing the Biblical tradition that we may be familiar with, but which may just as well be completely foreign to other students. This is not at all about faith, but about a certain interpretation which is taken for the only correct one.

Finally, we are also prejudiced about what non-Christians are like, such as all of them being harsh and relentless when it comes to bringing forth arguments. This is why we answer questions that have not even been asked or we feel an almost compulsive impulse to put others right when they utter something which is theologically not quite sound. Or we over­explain. Or we become defensive and think of "them against us", especially so when our own point-of-view is questioned rather than the Gospel.

Our own incorrect self-assessment can also be a big obstacle for a real testimony. Ada Lum once asked a group of students to write down which ideas their friends had of Jesus Christ and Christians. She thus wanted to find out what Christians thought of themselves. The evaluation of the answers showed that two thirds of the students in that group had very low self-esteem. They had an inferiority complex. So it was not surprising that they had come to think of themselves as being excluded. But a Christi­an ghetto is contrary to Jesus' Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20). We can only start to go and make disciples of all nations, if we try to understand other people and open our lives to them. This, by the way, is love!

5. Passing on the Good News - three prerequisites

When we prepare Evangelistic Bible studies and pray for our non-Christi­an friends, we should ask God to make us aware of what they really think and feel and how they react. In order for them to deal with Jesus Christ in a serious manner, we need to make sure that reading the Bible is realistic, personal, meaningful and thought-provoking.

a) Realistic

Ada Lum tells us she once went to a Bible study on Lk 5:2-16, a story about Jesus healing a leper. A Hindu student asked why Jesus was not afraid to catch the awful disease himself when touching the man. A Chris­tian nurse responded triumphantly: Because he was God's Son! Bang! The Hindu did not say a word afterwards. I really felt like crying out loud: Jesus took the risk of getting leprosy for love's sake! While I was explaining all of this - and probably looked like a heretic humanist to everybody- a Mus­lim student interrupted. I would never touch a leper. I would never even think of it. At this point in the discussion, we almost missed an opportunity to explain the truly Good News of Jesus. Luckily, one of the other Christi­ans took the floor and said: I don't think it mattered to Jesus to contract leprosy or not. What mattered to him was to help the man. This News is when the others showed a genuine interest in finding out who Jesus really was (even the nurse).

The aim of these Bible studies is not to convey the entire Christian faith in one go. It is indeed our final aim for our friend to become a committed disciple of our Lord Jesus. But an evangelistic Bible study just wants to get our friend to develop a positive attitude towards Jesus Christ, just like the Hindu and the Muslim students in our discussion did. Such an impression of Christ is the creative and dynamic work of the Holy Spirit in the same way as being born again. So we need to consider the following question: How can we first of all gain the interest of our fellow human beings in Jesus Christ?

How did God attract the attention of the people in Jesus' time? Through things they were able to understand. This is exactly the reason for God becoming human. It is an astonishing historic fact that God became one of us. It cannot be explained because we cannot distinguish one hundred percent between Christ as human being and Christ as deity.

First of all, we need to record all the facts from the New Testament that prove that Jesus was human, before we move on to dealing with His holiness and deity. Even when we skim through the Gospels, we see that even the disciples gained more and more experience with Jesus. His becoming human not only served the purpose of people getting to know God better. The truly human side of Jesus is to give us an example of how God intended us human beings to be (Heb 2:5-18). We take a close look at Jesus in order for us to see what we are actually supposed to be and what we can still become. Jesus Christ comes to us today as a living person and not as a theological system.

In a nutshell: evangelistic Bible studies need to be realistic. They need to aim at Jesus Christ becoming a living reality even for modern people. They need to show which way we are heading as human beings, what we are and how we are intended to be. They need to invite decisions that are taken in the presence of our Creator and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

b) Personal and meaningful

Paul stayed with the Thessalonians for three weeks. This visit laid the foundation for a church there. Our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction ... for your sake ... But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us (1 Thess 1:5 & 2:7- 8).

When it comes to evangelistic Bible studies, Christians are above all else witnesses. It is possible that we need to explain something when we are leading a discussion. But we are not trying to impress the others with our Bible knowledge or experience. It is quite liberating that we do not need to behave like little popes because we are still God's apprentices. Nevertheless, we are witnesses and God entitled us - being beggars ourselves - to invite beggars in order for them to celebrate together with us at one table.

True enthusiasm for Jesus is contagious. Just think of the Samaritan woman after her conversation with Him: she became convinced that He was telling the truth. At once she invited her fellow citizens (who, by the way, had ostracised her because of her lifestyle), to become convinced of Jesus, too. Many of the Samaritans ... believed in him because of the woman's testimony (Jn 4:39). Somebody who is searching will not be convinced through our words, however seriously we are able to persuade them. Nonetheless, we need to ask God to help us point clearly to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the divine "convincer". Jesus Himself says that in Jn 14:26 and 16:8 & 13-15. We can be glad that this is the case. One of my more pragmatic friends frequently reminds me: Prepare everything and work in such a way as if everything depended on you, but pray in such a way as if everything depended on God.

The power in 1 Thess 1:5 (see above) seems to be the same one that Paul is thinking about in Ro 1:16: The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. The Gospel has got a power which, independently of our best and logical arguments, gets men and women to accept Jesus.

If we do not really believe this, we will forever stick to being eloquent, bringing forth logical arguments, to our personal charisma, to threatening eternal damnation, to enticing with the reward in heaven and modern PR tricks when we are trying to convince the non-believer. If we doubt God's power in the Gospel, we need to immediately stop everything and pray for faith.

c) Thought-provoking

Here some practical hints:

• Choose passages from the Gospels! This is where we see Jesus act, we touch His unique life. Most non-Christians only have vague ideas about Jesus just because they do not know the facts. We first need to work through the passage thoroughly before we can apply specific information to our own personal lives.

• We need to try and understand the human situation that comes up in the Bible passage. We should proceed like a reporter who is covering this event, as our fellow student probably does not have such a vivid imagination of Biblical scenes.

• The questions about the discussion should get the group to identify with the characters in the respective Bible passages: with a despe­rate person who is seeking Jesus' help; with the disciples who know it all; even with the compassionate Jesus Himself, with those who fight Him, with those who love Him, but do not understand Him. This is how reading the Bible becomes relevant for our lives and we feel with the characters. This helps us meet Jesus und quite naturally leads us to accept the claim of His love and power.

• Jesus always has to be depicted the way He was (and is): warm­hearted, perceptive, totally understanding, accepting people, controlled, controlling the situation. He constantly captivated the people until they had a real relationship with Him. Such a character is always attractive to a non-believer, especially in these days which are characterised by anonymity and hopelessness.