By Josh Hallahan, Director of Discipleship and Missions
People naturally gather in small groups. Whether we meet to discuss a book, play a game, go fishing, or chat around a fire, we like to do these things with other people. The church is no exception. The number of small groups that I have been a part of within the church seems endless. I venture to guess all of us have had plenty of experience with small groups in our churches. While I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have had within those small groups, I also wonder how effective they have been in bringing about transformation. I certainly am not here to lay the blame on anyone or take a position of authority on the issue. However, I want to recommend a simple strategy to us all in the hopes of seeing our small groups give opportunity for transformation of their members and significant change in our cultures.
In his book The 5Q Method of Discipleship, Matt Friedeman talks about the dangers of being in groups that simply like to talk about the Bible and not focus on the doing of the Bible. Friedeman is not saying anything new. James, the earthly brother of our Lord says in James 1:22, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Yet, how many times do we focus our small group time on doing a lot of talking and not on doing what we are talking about?
We know that when we obey the word of God, big things happen. Friedeman says this, “We who know that we are made in the image of a relational, Triune God and are repeatedly instructed to take seriously Christian community ought to recognize the matchless influence of a small group that studies, discusses, and then acts [emphasis mine] on the truths of Scripture.”[i] We are here today because people acted on the Great Commission and countless other teachings of Jesus over the past 2,000 years.
As Kelly and I have joined the Francis Asbury Society and turned our attention towards discipleship among students, this truth has been front and center in our strategy. Students at Asbury University spend the bulk of their days talking through a lot of different concepts and teachings. One important aspect of their journey that we want to provide is a community that will walk with them as they seek to put into practice what they are learning. Each week, we gather with a handful of students for a Bible study, and we have implemented a strategy very similar to Friedeman’s 5Q method. The Discovery Bible Study method was introduced to us while we served as missionaries in Uganda. In this method, a group focuses on a passage of Scripture and wrestles together through three important questions:
- What does this passage teach us about God/Jesus?
- What does this passage teach us about ourselves/humanity?
- If those lessons are true, what am I going to do about it?
That third question is the key. As a small group forms and gets to know each other, trust is built, and they can start holding one another accountable. This model, as well as Friedeman’s 5Q model, is easily adapted to existing small groups that already have that trust. Imagine what our communities might look like when our small groups are holding each other accountable for obeying the Scripture on a weekly basis!
I want to encourage you to check out The 5Q Method of Discipleship and seriously consider implementing its method into your small group. If you are not part of a small group, there is no better time to start! Grab a copy of the book and invite a few people in your community to join you in studying the Word and helping each other to put it into practice. We here at The Francis Asbury Society would count it an honor to help in any way that we can.
[i] Matt Friedeman, The 5Q Method of Discipleship: Five Questions That Will Change Your Life, Telios Press: 2021, 7.