Taking the Gospel Home

Making disciples. Discipleship. Mentoring. Teaching others. What do these phrases suggest? Perhaps it makes you think of the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Or possibly the apostles in Acts 2:42. Or maybe a pastor or elder at your church. But do you ever think that these phrases are talking about you?

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul writes this to Timothy: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” I want to draw your attention to three points in this verse. And the last point is where we will spend our time today.

• Paul proclaimed the gospel often (the presence of many witnesses)

• The gospel is meant to be shared (commit to faithful men who will…teach others)

• Biblical discipleship leads to fourth generation Christians

What do I mean by fourth generation Christians? In this context, we see that Paul has discipled Timothy, who is then to teach other men, who will then teach others. So, the four generations are:

1. Paul

2. Timothy

3. Faithful men

4. Others

Now, how does this idea relate to us? Well, each of you who is a Christian has heard the gospel from someone else. Which means that you are in places 2 – 4 from our list above—you have heard and believed the gospel and are now part of the body of Christ. Your role (and mine) is to find other people to teach the gospel to who will take that message to others. When you do this, you are in place 1 on the list—you are teaching and sharing the gospel with someone with the intention that they will carry it to others! This can seem like a daunting, scary task. But, I would like to demonstrate that teaching the gospel to someone is not as scary or as difficult as we often make it out to be.

Here are three steps that you can take to begin sharing and teaching someone the gospel:

1. Think of someone you know

2. Ask them if they would like to study the Bible with you

3. Meet up and study the Bible!

That’s fairly simple, but let’s break it down a bit more.

Think

Most, if not all, of you are going home for the summer. Every one of you has at least one friend or family member you can ask about reading the Bible together. I would encourage you to begin praying now, asking that the Holy Spirit would be working in their heart and life to increase their interest in the things of God. The cool thing about this is: you may not even have to ask them! They may ask you to tell them more about God and the Bible and Jesus. But it all starts with being intentional—in thinking about someone, in prayer, and in following through.

Ask

As I said, you may not even have to ask. But chances are, you probably will. Be bold! God has been preparing them for you to ask. And when you ask, have a few things already in mind—where will you meet, how often will you meet, what book will you study. You want to meet somewhere that is easily accessible for the two of you. It is probably best to start with meeting once or twice a week, unless they request to meet more often. And in thinking of what book to study, one of the gospels is usually a good place to start, especially if they have never read the Bible before.

Meet

Most of us feel confident enough to ask someone to meet up and read the Bible, especially if someone else is leading the Bible study. But we can get very nervous if we are the ones doing the leading. However, that does not need to be the case. There are several simple Bible study methods that allow the text we study to lead the discussion. I will address one here that we use with the Bible talks—the Swedish Method.

The Swedish Method

If you have been meeting with someone from TBT one-to-one this year or have joined the “Read Scripture” group, you have gone through the Swedish Method. Just for a refresher, I will explain it here.

You will want to have something to write with and something to write on. First, begin with prayer, asking God to grant wisdom and understanding as you read and study His Word. Next, read the passage out loud. Once you finish, there are five steps, or questions, to ask:

1. What stands out to you from the passage?

• This can be a verse or verses, or simply a phrase or word. You simply want to share what has stood out, without adding too much explanation.

2. What questions do you have after reading the passage?

• Write down the questions that you have, then share them with each other. See if you are able to answer any of them by carefully reading the passage. It is okay to have questions that you do not immediately have the answer to, especially when reading through the gospels. Just like a good mystery or thriller, the writers tell a story and build to a climax, answering our questions along the way.

3. What is the main idea the author is communicating?

• This is not a summary. Instead, think about the message that the author is communicating. It is helpful to consider repeated words or phrases.

4. Based on the main idea, what do you need to do?

• This will be something specific to you. Perhaps the Holy Spirit has impressed a behavior you need to change or adjust. Or possibly something you need to pray about. Or something you need to do. Be honest as you share here.

5. Who are you going to tell about what you have learned today?

• Lastly, think about someone you can tell. It could be a fellow Christian, it could be a friend or family member, it could be someone else. Share these names with each other and then check in with each other the next day as a way of accountability.

Pray and look forward to your next meeting. And that’s it!

Conclusion

Every Christian is called by God to be on mission with God in making disciples. It can be easy to neglect this area of our Christian walk and pass it off to others—those people we consider to be more qualified than we are to teach about Jesus. However, I want to challenge you this summer to engage in this area with at least one other person. Use the Swedish Method. Or look for another method that works for you. Either way, read God’s Word with someone! And you will get a front-row seat to see how the Word begins to affect your life and theirs. God promises that His Word will not return empty and that it will accomplish what it is intended to do (Isaiah 55:11).