A “Deep” Bible study

benlreed —  May 6, 2010 — 18 Comments

Can you tell me which small group has a “deep” Bible study?

Ever been asked that question?  Ever asked it yourself?

I’m asked the question all of the time.

But instead of posting my thoughts, I’d like to hear from you, so leave a comment below.

What does it take for a “regular” Bible study to turn into a “deep” Bible study?  What goes into making small group time a “deep” Bible study?

I’ll post my thoughts later.  But for now, I’d like your input.

 

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benlreed

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Christ follower, husband, father, writer, pastor of small groups at Long Hollow Baptist Church. Communications director for the Small Group Network.
  • http://www.chadrowland.com Chad Rowland

    I say it's a Bible-centered discussion that engages the heart AND the mind. To me, subject matter is never "deep" or "shallow." What's easy to you may be hard to me, and vice versa. It's more about asking the question, "Does this discussion lead me to action and to ask more questions or just to nod and agree?"

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/noonian nb

    Outlining the differences – even just the major differences – between a deep Bible study (or small group) and a shallow Bible study (or small group) could be a major task. Before I go any further, I want to point out that I intentionally used the word "shallow," instead of "regular," because the converse of "deep" is "shallow," and I feel like "regular" would just be a polite euphemism.

    Due to constraints of space and time, I will just list the six things that are, for me, at the top of the very long list of differences between the two kinds of Bible studies. They are, in no particular order:

    1.) A spiritual teaching environment that cultivates an aversion to mere platitudes in favor of thoughtful, intellectually honest discussions of topics that range from core doctrinal pillars to more obscure metaphysical and ethical concepts and their relation to the accepted belief structure.

    2.) A group commitment to intellectual honesty, founded on the understanding and acceptance of the principle that if one cannot even be honest with himself about his own ideas and beliefs, he cannot be honest with others about anything.

    3.) A group commitment to challenging others to grow spiritually and intellectually to further their commitment to Christ and their understanding of their faith, based on the principle that God desires a real relationship with each of his followers, and that such a relationship must be comprehensible, coherent, unambiguous, lucid and recognizable.

    4.) Strong leadership is essential to directing the flow of discussions in directions conducive to the group's stated goals and to keeping the group on-topic. Wandering minds are symptomatic of a lack of mental discipline. Mental discipline is required for rigorous analysis of complex topics. The ability to perform rigorous analysis of complex topics is required to conduct intellectually honest discussions of topics that range from core doctrinal pillars to more obscure metaphysical and ethical concepts and their relation to the accepted belief structure (see 1, supra).

    5.) Tolerance of opinions or beliefs that differ from those held by the majority of the group or from those that differ from any individual member of the group is required in order to promote freedom of expression. Consider each member of the group to have "tenure," so to speak. Those who become belligerent, disrespectful towards others, or who otherwise go "too far" should still be counseled, and, if their behavior continues along an unacceptable trend, they should be kindly asked not to return. (Mt. 18:15-20; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 16:22; Gal. 1:8)

    6.) Clean bathrooms with soft, but strong, toilet paper. Refreshments are also nice. I'm a big fan of the pot-luck style snack buffet. Okay, this one is a joke, but the rest I am serious about. (^_^)

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      Good stuff here, Noel. Thanks for sharing! I'll give people time to respond before I jump in the discussion.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      Good stuff here, Noel. Thanks for sharing! I'll give people time to respond before I jump in the discussion.

      • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/noonian Noel_B

        Looking forward to it, as always, brother! :-D

  • Chris Beck

    Depends on those involved, how deep do they want to go.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      Interesting, Chris. So you'd put depth back on the group as a whole?

  • Eddie Christenberry

    If its Beth Moore its deep….
    Let me explain just to avoid confusion and a possible law suit. If I had a dollar for every time I've heard it said, "We need to do a Beth Moore Study… something DEEP," I would be a rich man. I love Beth, and I think God has used her tremendously, but if our people would DO what they learn in the so-called "shallow" studies, we would see more spiritual growth than the "deep" studies could ever generate. Rather than having what people call a "deep" study, what we really need is Christ followers who will do what they've already been taught.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      Who's Beth Moore?

  • Melanie Hill

    This is a great question, and I'm sure it is asked a lot as a small groups guy. It's something I've wrestled with and even made the statement of "I want to go deeper", "I want my small group to go through a deep study", "I wish worship services were more deep". But, as I've dealt with it personally and from others I've been around, here is what I've discovered makes a study "deep":
    I think it's deep when the group involved in the study is on the same page of where they want to go: they all want to take their relationship with God to the next level and are willing to do what it takes to get there (begin consistent prayer life and daily Scripture reading, start serving in the church or community, open themselves up to be transparent and vulnerable to the group about life and spiritual questions they have, etc.).
    I think it's deep when the leader/facilitator of the group is daring enough to ask hard questions, sometimes in addition to or as follow up to the questions listed in a study. But again, the members of the group have to be willing to go there and allow themselves to be challenged and pushed to think.
    I think it's deep when a Scripture, idea or question causes a person to continue to wrestle with the concept or answer. If the study can bring about discussion that is both personal and challenging, it's deep. It has to be something that evokes an emotion and causes the reader/studier to react in a way that leads them closer to Christ.
    A new believer or non-believer, in my experience, is not concerned with depth. It's all new and challenging to them. The "experienced" believer is who is concerned with depth. I've found that the "depth" question is most asked by believers who are not spending quality time in daily Scripture and prayer. They are coming to group or to worship waiting to get something new, be impressed or entertained. If their personal study is growing, their dependency on others to carry their faith (and take them deeper) will lessen.

    I think depth hugely depends on the individual. It depends on where they are spiritually and where they want to go. The responsibility of a person who desires to go deeper is to be seeking growth and be willing to make the appropriate steps to get there. Through this, they are going to broaden their thoughts and move into action (which I think is what equals the opinion that something is deep). If the person is solely dependent on the communicator (be that a group leader or pastor) to change them, or waiting to be impressed by an author, they will continue to be disappointed on many accounts. Francis Chan's "Crazy Love", for example, is hugely challenging. But, for someone not interested in taking next steps to increase their love for God and people, they may still write off the book as "Interesting, but if only it had more Scripture references, and was deeper, I might agree with it." I think the idea of depth comes from a past "high" spiritual experience that people are trying to recreate… they are merely looking for the next book, person, event to get them there, but not always willing to do the personal work take themselves.

    I think the responsibility of a communicator/leader and a study is to be concerned with the question, "Are we speaking/leading/writing in a way that will cause someone to evaluate (life, spiritual things, questions, past and future) and move (take the next step to reach a goal)?" Depth is all in asking the right questions.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      There's a whole lot of wisdom here that I need to take time to wrestle through. You've obviously thought about this a ton, and I love the direction you've gone.

      So boredom, the feeling that, "I've gone over this before…" is what leads some to think that a given study is "surface-level." I think you're onto something. I'm not saying that those people who are bored are correct in their feeling that a study is surface-level (because they've done it before), but I'm agreeing wholeheartedly with your analysis.

      • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/noonian Noel_B

        I only have time for a very quick response, here (I know, "Thank God," right?), but I'd like to return, later, when I have more time ("Oh no!").

        I just want to say I agree with the notion that "boredom, the feeling that, 'I've gone over this before…' is what leads some to think that a given study is 'surface-level,'" I want to point out, however, that boredom is merely a symptom of (over)exposure to a topic, not necessarily an indicator of the depth of the subject matter.

        There is a line that should be drawn between the amount of exposure one has to a topic and how "deep" that topic actually is. You can be bored with a deep topic, if you have enough exposure to it. For example, some people consider the complex topic of the Bible's teachings of what will happen at the end of time (prophecy, etc.) to be a "deep" topic; but I'm as bored as a person can be with it, because I have had WAY too much exposure to that topic, and because, ultimately, it does not matter with regard to my daily walk.

  • http://www.glow4him.com Gloria

    I too have heard this on several occassions. Granted, its been more inreference to a Sunday's sermon, However, can VERY much "apply" to small groups.

    My thought/response has always been, How deep can you get in an hour? And the level of "deepness" that is expected, most of the times, can ONLY be experienced in Personal study time.

    If deepness is expected or even desired out of a small group, I truly believe deepness takes time, commitment & patience. Time to build the relationships, commitment to follow through even when it gets tough and patience to deal with the tough stuff. And of course, last but CERTAINLY not least, Major Prayer.

    Those are my 2cents ;)

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Benlreed Benlreed

      I like that…time, commitment, and patience. I'd add one more: trust. Those three, combined with trust, help with depth for sure.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/gavmbree Gavin Breeden

    A Bible study goes from "regular" to "deep" when it starts to focus more on God rather than me, me, me.

  • Lawrence Gunnells

    For our group, I'm rotating between verse-by-verse textual studies that requires "homework" and topical studies that usually involve a DVD with another teacher and very little preparation before the lesson. The deeper one is almost certainly the verse-by-verse because, frankly, it takes more work and thought on everyone's part. We have folks in our group that are at different stages and seasons in their spiritual walk so I vary the format to keep it interesting and give some of our newer Christians a chance to approach Bible study from different angles.

  • http://twitter.com/NateEdmondson @NateEdmondson

    This question has caused me to reevaluate my thought process in the structure of groups. I've always started the thoughts in the "how" to group life… when really (as you suggest here) the thoughts should start in the "what" of group life. What is the goal? What is deep? What difference does it make?

    I haven't had time to think about this as much as I want to yet, but here's 4 points I've got so far:

    1. Growth in understanding- moving from point A to B in their thoughts on a spiritual subject.

    2. Application- gained insight on how a Biblical principle relates to life.

    3. Processing- having to wrestle with the the truth discussed when the discussion is over.

    4. Ability to recap- being able to verbalize the steps taken to land on a Biblical conclusion.

    As I think to times when I've left a discussion and felt like I "went deep" these 4 things have always happened.

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/noonian Noel_B

    Conversely, a "shallow" topic might not bore someone. Take, for example, the words ascribed to Jesus, when the Gospel author says that He said: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." That's pretty simple, right? Consider the application. Now you have a topic that is incredibly simple, but which, in discussing its application, is rarely boring.

    So, to bring this comment full-circle, just remember that, just because you're bored, that doesn't necessarily mean you're discussing a shallow topic, and just because you're engaged, that doesn't necessarily mean you're discussing a deep topic. Boredom is a symptom of exposure, not an indicator of depth. I think this is really just an elaboration of the last sentence of the comment Ben made directly above this one, but I thought it was worthwhile to explore in a little more depth, pardon the pun.