The Best Way to Grow Your Bible Study Group

I don’t lead Bible studies just to make myself feel better; if that were the case, I could find many other ways to spend my time. No, I do it to help grow the kingdom of God. I want God to use me to influence others and draw them closer to him. If you’re leading a Bible study, I imagine you have similar motives.

So if we want to influence others to know God through Christ, we’ll want to have this influence on as many people as possible, right? That means we’ll want the group to grow. If we’re content with the group and never want it to change, perhaps we should reconsider our motives for having the group in the first place.

Grisel D’An (2015), Creative Commons

But this leads us to ask a valuable question: How do we grow the Bible study?

I could answer this question in many ways, depending on your cultural background, environment, unique strengths and weaknesses, and the makeup of your current group. But this post will highlight what is certainly the most important technique you must master if you want to expand your reach for the Lord’s sake.

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim 2:1-2)

Before you can master this technique, you must be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:1). You will always feel unworthy for what you’re about to do. Except for those times when you feel eminently worthy for this task, at which times it’s even more urgent that you be strengthened by the grace of Jesus. Draw your sustenance and power from the lavish mercy and free forgiveness of your Master and King. You are approved to study the Bible. And you are approved to lead others to study the Bible.

And what is this most important technique for growing your Bible study? “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim 2:2). Take what you’ve learned and teach it to someone else.

Pick someone with godly character in your group to be your assistant leader. Give that person some responsibility in the group. Follow a plan for progressively entrusting both the good deposit of the gospel and the skills of leadership to your assistant. Your plan could look like this:

1. Come and see (John 1:39), aka “I do, you watch.” Invite this person to become your official assistant leader. Meet with your assistant before the group meeting to go over the passage. Teach that person how to do OIA Bible study. Practice it with that person over the course of a few months.
2. Come and follow me (Mark 1:17), aka “I do, you help.” Ask your assistant to evaluate your leadership and make suggestions for improvement. Give your assistant particular assignments to carry out during the meeting. “Please help me to draw out the silent person.” “Please feel free to ask a key question if you think the discussion is lagging.” “Please come early and be ready to help welcome people.” “Please let me know what you hear that will enable me to make the next study more relevant to them.”
3. Go out and come back (Luke 10:1-24), aka “You do, I help.” Let your assistant lead one of the meetings, and then meet to give that person feedback on how it went. You now play the support role during the meeting, helping with difficult situations or participants. Encourage your assistant with what went well and offer suggestions for improvement. Avoid correcting every minor mistake; focus on broad patterns that might hold back this person’s leadership ability.
4. Go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), aka “You do, I watch.” Right when your assistant starts being truly effective, you’ll need to send that person out to start a new group without you. This is painful, because it will feel like your own group is moving backwards. You’ll lose the momentum and excitement of forward movement. But where there had been one group, now there are two. This is worth it.

After your assistant starts a new group, you’ll probably want to continue meeting for a time. You’ll want to discuss how the meeting goes as it gets off the ground. You’ll discuss the new challenges and opportunities faced by this fledgling leader. But most of all, you’ll want to make sure the new leader wastes no time in looking for a new assistant to train. And you’ll be looking for another assistant yourself. And before you know it, you’ll have four groups going.

I didn’t invent this model for growth. Jesus instituted it from the start of his ministry, and it has been changing the world ever since. It’s not flashy,  and you’ll rarely be able to wow people with your dramatic growth figures. (“I trained one new person this year!”) But the power of multiplication is like a silent infection, wreaking havoc on the forces of darkness. Don’t neglect this best way to grow your Bible study group.