One on One Bible Reading: A Discipleship Multitool by Ben Ruhl
“One-to-one Bible reading is for the disciple maker what the Swiss army knife is for the boy scout, not a silver bullet but a multitool that can be applied to a wide spectrum of needs.”
In 1899, after returning to England from the Second Boer War, Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell wrote a military textbook called Aids to Scouting. This volume was meant to equip British troops with the skills necessary for wilderness survival. While it was well received by the British military, another group got their hands on this book that Baden-Powell never expected: the boys of Britain. Ultimately, it was due to the book’s popularity amongst British youth, that Baden-Powell decided to found the Boy Scouts.
The central value of the boy scouts can be summarized in the official scout motto, “be prepared.” Later, Baden-Powell would expound upon this motto, stating that a boy scout should “always [be] in a state of readiness in mind & body to do [his] duty.” In time, Baden-Powell would develop a system of ranks, badges, and achievements meant to teach these boys what their duty was as citizens of their communities, countries, and world, and help them “be prepared” to do it.
As citizens of the Kingdom of God, Jesus gave us the duty to, “[g]o therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Matt 28:19-20a).” In other words, he left us the job to make (“baptize”) and mature (“teach”) followers of Jesus Christ. That’s the duty that has been given to us by our King, but are we prepared to do it?
Shaping a Culture of Discipleship
Few things excite me more than to hear, second hand, that one member of my church has begun discipling another without the prompting or oversight of our church ministries. While we can’t force people to take this kind of initiative, there are two things a pastor or lay leader can do to make discipleship a natural part of the church culture. First, they can help people believe that discipleship is their duty from the pulpit and other teaching ministries. Second, they can equip the people with a practice or skill that will prepare them to carry out this duty. They need to know their duty and be prepared to do it.
One-to-one Bible reading, though simple, is a deeply relational and powerful way to prepare disciples of Jesus to fulfill this duty to make and mature other disciples (see previous article here). One-to-one Bible reading is for the disciple maker what the Swiss army knife is for the boy scout, not a silver bullet but a multitool that can be applied to a wide spectrum of needs. What might happen in a church where people are simultaneously convinced of the urgent duty to make disciples and prepared with a simple, relational, and powerful way to do it? A church like that would be a danger to the kingdom of darkness. In fact, time and time again, I’ve seen that people equipped with one-to-one Bible reading can see and meet the multifaceted discipleship needs of the body of Christ. Consider these few real examples.
Though Matt didn’t believe in Jesus, he started attending our church when his girlfriend dragged him along. After meeting him a few times, Tim invited Matt to read the book of John together. It only took a few months of digesting Jesus’ words before Matt gave his life to Christ!
When Linda came to Christ, she was zealous and hungry to grow, but daunted by the Bible. Sara, though not a Bible scholar, invited Linda to read the Bible with her. While Sara didn’t have all the answers, she was able to watch as God used his Word to do amazing work in Linda’s life.
When Connor’s faith grew apathetic, Sam invited him to read the Bible together, offering Connor accountability and comradery as God’s living word reignited a passion in him to know and seek after the Lord.
Though Emily was walking faithfully with Christ, she wasn’t connecting with other women in the church. When Deb invited her to read the Bible together, their relationship grew into something deeper than a friendship but a sisterhood rooted in their mutual love for Christ.
Conclusion
Though one-to-one Bible reading is something that, by definition, is done individually with another person, its power to shape a culture of discipleship can best be seen in a community that embraces it corporately. Over the next 5 articles, we’ll investigate ways that pastors and lay leaders alike can help weave one-to-one Bible reading into the culture of a church: model, equip, inject, connect, and celebrate.
BEN RUHL - ONE ON ONE DISCIPLESHIP, PASTORAL MINISTRY, AND PREACHING
Ben grew up in Houston, TX and started following Christ at a young age. After graduating from high school, Ben studied the Bible at Torchbearers Bible Schools in England and Austria, Moody Bible Institute (BA) in Chicago, IL, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div) in South Hamilton, MA. Ben met his wife Olivia while studying at Moody. They married in 2015 and have two kids: 5-year-old Davie Henrietta and 1-year-old Cal McCheyne.
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell in 2017, Ben and Olivia moved to Alton, NH where Ben pastors BeFree Community Church Alton (EFCA) and is the Executive Director of Small Town Summits, a ministry that seeks to provide encouragement, connection, and equipping for small-town pastors, laypeople, and churches. When not parenting, pastoring, or spending time with Olivia, Ben likes to carve wood.