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Copyright © Entrust, 2007-2009
Revised November 2009 (update January 2010, January 2011, April 2012)
Entrust
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Colorado Springs, CO 80936-5520
Phone: 719.622.1980 • Fax: 719.622.1992
training@entrust4.org • www.entrust4.org
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Thank you for choosing Entrust leadership training materials. May the Lord use these time- and culture-tested
materials to help you be as effective as possible in your ministry.
To preserve the quality of these materials and to help you be successful in multiplying this material to further
generations, we encourage you to be involved in multiple training opportunities where you will be coached in the
most effective training methods. The principles in this study are most transforming when discussed in a safe,
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copyright law, which includes (but is not limited to) the following:
1.
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2.
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7.
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8.
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content may not be altered without written permission from Entrust.
May the Lord teach and guide you as you study.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Entrust ...............................................................................................................5
Lesson 1: Adult Education: Adult Concerns Versus Teacher Habits .....................................11
Lesson 2: How Did Jesus Teach? ............................................................................................21
Lesson 3: Asking the Right Questions ....................................................................................35
Lesson 4: Equipping Adults: Purpose and Possibilities ..........................................................49
Lesson 5: Facilitating Small Groups .......................................................................................59
Lesson 6: Planning the Seminar ..............................................................................................73
Lesson 7: Designing a Multiplication Strategy .......................................................................89
Lesson 8: Meaning Perspectives and Transformation...........................................................103
Appendices ............................................................................................................................115
Notes ......................................................................................................................................145
iii
Introduction to Entrust
Thinking back over the last thirty years, all of us with Entrust would echo the words of the
author of Lamentations:
The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
(Lam 3:22,23)
From the founding of the BEE (Biblical Education by
Extension) project in 1979 by several mission agencies providing
biblical training to believers behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, through the years of BEE
International working as its own mission agency, to today as Entrust, it is evident that the
lovingkindness and faithfulness of God has carried us through thirty years of ministry.
It has always been the great need for biblical training that has galvanized the efforts of those
who have served on the staff of Entrust. Most of the mission agencies involved in the founding
of BEE were involved in evangelism and discipleship in Eastern Europe. As they worked in the
various countries, it became evident that there was a great need for training of church leaders in
these countries. Seminaries in communist Eastern Europe, if they existed at all, were tightly
controlled by the governments that placed restrictions on how many students could attend. As a
result, BEE was established to take biblical training into these “closed” countries to meet the
need expressed by national church leaders.
During the communist years, the Entrust staff developed a sixteen-course curriculum,
including over thirty textbooks, and translated it all into six different languages. Materials were
smuggled into the various countries, and staff teams traveled in circuits, trying to remain
unnoticed, teaching small groups of church leaders, both men and women, in cities throughout
Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
Totally unexpectedly, the “wall” came down in 1989, and the need for training expanded as
new churches were planted and existing church organizations tried to adjust to life without the
restraints of communism. In many countries the church has multiplied rapidly, making the need
for accessible biblical training even more critical. In these countries and those nearby, our staff
works alongside nationals who are providing the needed training. These were exciting years as
we saw “God’s mercies new every morning” and His faithful provision for the ministry. All of us
5
6
Introduction to Entrust
who were privileged to work alongside nationals in these former communist countries were
blessed by their unwavering commitment to the Lord under the harsh restrictions of communism
and their faithfulness to minister to their countrymen in conditions we, in America, could hardly
imagine.
The need for biblical training in those years was great, but as we look at the world today, it is
immediately apparent that the need for biblical training of church leaders is even greater.
Churches are being planted around the world, and it is estimated that there are three million or
more pastors in the developing world who have had no biblical or theological training.
Seminaries in the United States (and other developed countries) are providing scholarships to
students from developing nations to come to the U.S. to study. While this is an important
contribution, three problems exist. First, the number of those who can come to the U.S. for
seminary training does not nearly meet the existing need for training. Second, seminaries in the
U.S. struggle with the fact that a large percentage of international students who come for training
never go back to their own countries. Third, seminary training is a long-term solution requiring
five to ten years before the student is back in ministry in his or her own country. For those
pastors currently planting and pastoring churches in the developing world, the need is now.
It is this need that has again galvanized the leadership of Entrust. After carefully considering
the lessons we have learned through thirty years of training in Eastern Europe, Russia, and
Central Asia, we have committed ourselves to collaborate with other national and international
organizations to provide accessible, locally owned, reproducible training systems that multiply
biblical leaders.
Our desire is to help establish training systems, run by nationals, that are sustainable in the
national culture—systems that do not unendingly depend on financial help from the West. These
systems will make biblical training accessible to men and women who are currently ministering
in churches, have no opportunity to go to a seminary or Bible college, and who desperately
desire to see the Gospel transform lives in their villages and cities. They desire to see the Gospel
transform not only individual lives, but their communities and their culture as well. These are the
men and women throughout the world that desperately need biblical training now, because they
are leading the church to impact their people and their countries into the future.
Indeed, the Lord’s lovingkindnesses never cease, and we at Entrust are depending upon His
faithfulness and daily mercies as we seek to help meet the incredible need for biblical training
around the world.
Blessings,
Andrew B. Seidel
Chairman of the Board
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Introduction to Entrust
7
Our Vision
To see multiplying leaders for multiplying churches.
Our Mission
To multiply church leaders through accessible, locally owned,
reproducible training systems.
Our Verse
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
2 Timothy 2:2
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8
Introduction to Entrust
Our Values
The Local Church
Because God has chosen the local fellowship of believers to be the primary vehicle for the
working of His Spirit in the world, our ultimate focus is the health and strength of the local
church, establishing ongoing, indigenous, church-based training of servant-leaders for
generations to come.
Sustainability
Because a vision and strategy for multiplication of servant-leaders through training systems
is critical, sustainable multiplication must depend on local men and women who recognize
the need for transferable training, express the need for assistance in developing a solution,
and are committed to its implementation and long-term success.
Transformation of Communities
Because the Bible connects loving God with loving our neighbors, we equip servant-leaders
who, working through their local church, biblically and holistically transform their local
communities.
Mentoring through Small Groups
Because the church is best strengthened through relevant training for both men and women
through interactive adult learning, we use Jesus’ model of life-on-life discipleship in small
groups.
Collaboration with Partners
Because current leadership training efforts are unable to meet the vast need, we work
together with our larger “kingdom team” through partnerships and collaborative efforts with
like-minded missions, local organizations and other networks.
Accessibility
Because we want to see well trained men and women in every local church in the world, we
enable indigenous leaders to equip others through biblical leadership training that is
accessible financially, geographically, culturally and educationally. Since over half of church
membership is female, we also offer unique women-to-women leadership training.
Accountability
Because we take assessment seriously, we build it into our reproducible training systems in
order to achieve excellence in the services we provide. We are also designing continuing
educational experiences specifically aimed at improving the quality of the trainers’ skills.
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Introduction to Entrust
Statement of Faith
We believe the Bible to be the fully inspired, infallible, inerrant, and authoritative Word
of God (2 Tim.3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).
We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit (Matt. 28:19; Eph. 4:4-6).
We believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, fully divine and fully
human. We believe in His virgin birth, His sinless life, His miracles, His
substitutionary and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to the right
hand of the Father, and His personal second coming in power and glory (John 1:1,14;
Luke 1:26-35; 2 Cor. 5:21; John 14:10-11; Rom. 3:23-26; Luke 24-6-7; Eph. 1:20-21;
Acts 1:10-11; Matt. 24:30).
We believe that all are sinful and lost. The consequence of this condition is eternal
judgment (John 3:18, 36; Rom. 3:10-23; 6:23; Heb. 9:27).
We believe that all can be saved from this eternal judgment only by grace through
personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, apart from works (John 3:16; Acts
4:12; Eph. 2:8-9; Heb. 9:28).
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit who regenerates, indwells, and
enables the Christian to live a godly life (Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19; Gal. 5:16).
We believe in the bodily resurrection and judgment of all people. Believers are
resurrected to enjoy eternal life with God, and unbelievers are resurrected to
experience eternal punishment away from the presence of the Lord (John 11:25-26; 1
John 5:11-12; Rev. 20:4-15).
We believe all who are united to the risen and ascended Son of God are members of
Christ’s universal church. We also believe that the local expressions of the universal
body of Christ are essential in the plan and purpose of God (1 Cor. 12:12-27; Eph.
4:1-13).
We believe it is the responsibility of all who are saved to work toward the fulfillment of
the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8)
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9
1
Lesson
Adult Education:
Adult Concerns Versus
Teacher Habits
John had gone to high school, but his experience had not been very pleasant. The other
students seemed to catch onto the concepts more quickly than he did, and the lectures seemed
irrelevant to his life. So after the tenth grade he got a job as a car mechanic because he enjoyed
working with his hands. Along the way he finished his high school degree at night school. When
he was in his early twenties, a friend started asking him some tough questions about life. John
did not have good answers. Soon his friend began to talk about Jesus. Gradually John came to
believe that Jesus loved him and was offering him eternal life. John’s life began to change. He
soon was helping to lead the youth group. One day a friend encouraged John to join a very
serious and intense Bible study that could eventually lead to an accredited bachelor’s degree.
John was very hesitant; he wanted to learn more about his faith, but he knew he could never do
the work required of a bachelor’s degree. He knew he wasn’t “smart” enough.
Assignment: Do you think John’s experience happens often to others? Why
or why not? How would you help John overcome his anxiety?
This lesson will help you look at learning through the eyes of the adult learner and then
through the eyes of the teacher, or “facilitator,” of adult learning. We call these teachers
“facilitators” for very good reasons, which will be explained later. The greatest hindrance for
adults in experiencing stimulating, interesting, challenging education is not their own curiosity
and interest, it is in how the teachers understand their role. If teachers have a wrong
understanding or a false view of their role, adult learning can be difficult, tiresome, boring, and
discouraging. But if they have a biblically correct understanding, then the learning experience
can be deeply rewarding.
Lesson Outline
Uniqueness of Adult Learners
The Facilitator’s View of Learning
11
12
Lesson 1
Lesson Objectives
When you finish this lesson, you should be able to:
Understand the unique characteristics of the adult learning experience.
Rethink how you, the facilitator of adult learning, understand your role.
Uniqueness of Adult Learners
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is an adage that implies that adults find it difficult, if
not impossible, to learn. Empirical research debunks this folk theory about adult learning. As a
matter of fact, we now know that unless debilitating illnesses render people unable to learn, they
can continue to learn throughout their entire life. According to Merriam and Caffarella, “adult
intelligence appears relatively stable, at least until the sixth or seventh decade. . . . It has been
difficult for educators and researchers alike to give up the stereotype that young equals sharp and
older means dull.”1
Studies that followed people throughout their life span demonstrate that anyone can learn at
any age. If there is any decline, it is perhaps in the ability to take timed tests—tests that must be
completed in a limited amount of time. Yet adults show an increased ability to assess and make
good judgments.
The reason that adults don’t do as well in some kinds of testing is because the tests “address
only ‘schooling’ kinds of intelligence.”2 When tests use real life situations, adults fare at least as
well as their younger cohorts; “as adults age they may ‘substitute wisdom for brilliance.’” 3
According to Brookfield, adult learners generally have four common characteristics:4
The first characteristic is that most adults have multiple responsibilities and roles. Because of
this they are very careful to evaluate the kinds of learning they will do. An adult wants to make
good use of her finite time. Since time is very important, adults usually choose to learn only
those things that they feel they really need.
The second characteristic is that they have collected many experiences. These experiences
range from how they fared in school to how they have processed deep emotional and spiritual
experiences, such as the death of a close relative. All these experiences form a rich resource for
adults in the learning context. Adults want to relate their past experiences to their present
learning.
Third, adults have undergone several phases over their lifetimes—physically,
psychologically and socially—that cause them to look at their past experiences differently.
And, finally, adults often experience anxiety or ambivalence about a new educational
experience. For many, several years may have passed since they were in school. They question
their ability to learn and their ability to compete with younger students. To assuage this anxiety,
the teacher has to reduce competition and increase cooperation in an adult learning environment.
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Adult Education: Adult Concerns Versus Teacher Habits
13
All of these characteristics underscore the necessity of dialogue in any adult learning
experience. The teacher ought to engage adult learners in conversation that reveals their life
experience on the subject at hand. This dialogue can help adults evaluate how they interpret
information and then develop more adequate ways of dealing with life.
Assignment: When you hear the word “education,” what words come to
mind? What have been your experiences in education? Is education
different for children than for adults? What is the difference between being
taught and learning? What do you agree with or disagree with in the above
section?
Assignment: Reflect on how you have been educated in the church. What
aspects of church ministry (pulpit ministry, Sunday school, youth group,
small groups, etc.) have helped you in your journey to know God and be
discipled? What have been the weaknesses?
The Facilitator’s View of Learning
Why do we use the word “facilitator” instead of “teacher” when we talk about adult learning?
Adults have a fairly good understanding of what they want to learn and why they want to learn it.
The problem is that most teachers of adults treat them as if they were still children, only bigger:
they line them up in rows at desks, stand in front of them, then lecture to them. Why does this
happen?
The primary culprit is tradition. Almost all of us have gone through some years of schooling
where we were forced to sit at desks and learn large numbers of facts, if we were able, without
having any idea why these facts were important. And so we do to others what was done to us.
Out of habit we recreate the kind of learning experiences we had in school without realizing how
deadening to the learner this can be.
Why do we repeat our flawed learning experiences rather than do something different? The
reason lies in how we think about education.
Metaphors of Teaching
The structures that we use to interpret life strongly influence our understanding of the
experiences that we have and determine how we act. Research has shown that metaphor is
pervasive in how we make meaning of our lives. Lakoff and Johnson have argued that our
“conceptual system is largely metaphorical.”5 Difficulty arises when we do not realize how
bound we are to metaphor, or when we use inadequate metaphors to structure our actions. For
example, if we describe marriage as a journey (e.g., “My husband and I have been walking
together for twenty years”), that expresses our experience of marriage. But if the words we use
are more warlike, such as, “It seems like we have struggled for the last six months,” this
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14
Lesson 1
expresses a rather different marriage experience. Each uses metaphorical language to talk about
marriage.
All of us think in metaphors, which means “to understand and to experience one thing in
terms of another.”6 Teachers also use metaphorical structures that determine how they view their
role. Inadequate metaphors undermine their efforts and affect the quality of the experience for
them and for the learners.
Let us look at two of the metaphors that Ted Ward suggests are prevalent:
What education is, and how it can be used properly, are matters too important to
be left vague. Education suffers from over-popularity. Everyone has experienced
it in one or many of its forms. Indeed, everyone “knows” what it is; education is
commonplace. Self-appointed experts on education are everywhere. Small wonder
then that so many ill-advised assaults on the human spirit are passed off as worthy
educational ventures. . . .
Essentially different metaphors of education account for most of the thinking,
planning, and operation of formal education. Each of these ways of
conceptualizing education should be evaluated in terms of the Christian concern
for spiritual development. . . .
Consider two of the most common metaphors: education as filling a container and
education as a manufacturing process. These two are closely related, though they
use different symbolism. They are both faulty. . . .
One of the key problems in both of these concepts of education is their rooting in
a tabula rasa view of childhood. Worse yet, this view of the learner as an empty
slate to be written on by “those who know” is even applied to the teaching of
adults. The result is high-cost “kiddie schools” with larger chairs and less
interesting teachers.
The learner is more acted on than active. The learner, especially in the “filling”
metaphor, is essentially a blank page to be written on by those doing the
educating. This orientation demeans the image of God shared in each person and
it encourages a passive receptivity, ultimately lacking in creativity and skills of
evaluation.
In the “manufacturing” metaphor the learner is assumed to have characteristics
which the machinery must chip off and grind down. Irregularities and peculiarities
in the learner—the “raw material”—are usually regarded as a nuisance. The
system could be so much more efficient if everyone were exactly alike, it argues.
This metaphor makes a teacher preoccupied with “the system” and its gadgetry.
The learner is an object—something to be shaped and molded. . . .
Rather than inviting learners into a shared relationship, they expect them to
submit themselves to being “processed.” The learners often interact and become
more active in the whole experience than is possible in the filling metaphor, but
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Adult Education: Adult Concerns Versus Teacher Habits
15
the goals are usually firmly fixed. The goals (often stated as “behavioral
objectives”) are in the system, not in the learner’s experiences or interaction with
the learning system. 7
In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire suggests a metaphor similar to Ward’s filling
metaphor:
Narration (with the teacher as the narrator) [you should read “narrator” here as
lecturer and “narration” as lecture] leads the students to memorize mechanically
the narrated content. Worse yet it turns them into “containers,” into “receptacles”
to “be filled” by the teacher. The more completely he fills the student the better
the teacher is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the
better the students are.
Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the
depositories and the teacher is the depositor. . . . This is the “banking” concept of
education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far
as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits. . . . But in the last analysis it is men
themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and
knowledge in this (at best) misguided system. For apart from inquiry, apart from
praxis men cannot be truly human. . . .
In the banking concept of education, knowledge is a gift bestowed by those
who think they are knowledgeable upon those that they generally consider to
know nothing. . . . Education must begin with the solution of this teacher-student
contradiction, by reconciling the poles of the contradiction so that both are
simultaneously teachers and students. . . .
The following [are] attitudes and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a
whole:
a) the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
b) the teachers know everything and the students know nothing;
c) the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
d) the teacher talks and the students listen—meekly;
e) the teacher disciplines and students are disciplined;
f) the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
g) the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the
action of the teacher;
h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not
consulted) adapt to it;
i) the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional
authority . . .
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16
Lesson 1
j) the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the students are
mere objects.8
A preferred metaphor of education is to see it as a life-walk to be shared. In this “travel”
metaphor, students become travelers who experience their educational journey differently based
on their own unique experiences, which thus determine how and what they learn. Effort is put
into an educational “adventure” that will result in a rich and rewarding journey.
Assignment: What do you find to be true about the metaphors that Ward
and Freire suggest dominate how teachers view their task? How do these
metaphors harm the learning experience? What metaphors do you think
are the most common metaphors in your own culture for the teaching task?
Assignment: If teachers in your culture understood their task as a journey
in which they accompany people for short periods of time, as they walk
through life, how would the teaching and learning experience be different?
Another common metaphor used is gardening. Plants do not have to be told how to grow, and
gardeners don’t make them grow by pulling them up out of the ground! They grow by
themselves as part of a natural process that God has instigated. The gardener does her job,
certainly, but must be patient in waiting for the plants to grow into the desired harvest.
So what is the purpose of the teacher in this metaphor? God is the one who causes the seeds
to grow into fruit-bearing plants; the teacher is the gardener. The teacher-facilitator is responsible
to make the environment hospitable for the learner.
There are other excellent metaphors for teaching in Christian education worth considering.
One is the metaphor of “mission,” where every believer embarks with Jesus on a mission to
redeem the world.9
Several different metaphors could structure our thinking about the teaching/learning
experience. Rarely does a teacher rely solely on one metaphor. Some of the possible metaphors
we could use to structure how we think and act as a facilitator of adult learning are: filling,
manufacturing, gardening, journey and mission.
Assignment: What new insights did you gain about teaching and
learning from thinking about these metaphors?
Each person comes to the teaching/learning experience with some picture of how Christian
education ought to take place. The metaphor(s) we use will determine how we go about shaping
the learning experience and determine its quality.
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Adult Education: Adult Concerns Versus Teacher Habits
17
Assignment: What metaphor(s) do you want to adopt as the way that
you view your role as a teacher? Explain why you have chosen those
metaphors.
Choosing an appropriate metaphor that structures the way we think about teaching and
learning will take us a very long way toward creating the kinds of experiences that will move
people toward spiritual maturity.
Facilitating Learning
Seeing teachers as facilitators of learning also takes into account the Hebrew view of
education, where teaching and learning are different sides of the same concept. A true teacher
“causes” learning, or facilitates it. A facilitator of learning defines the role of the teacher as a
helper, guide, and companion in the process. Teachers in adult education call students to join
them as peers, as equals, shifting the focus to the subject being studied and away from the
teacher and learner—a major shift.
One of the objectives of the facilitator is to enable students to think critically and reflectively.
In order to accomplish this task, the teacher-facilitator must be ready to take on many different
roles and not simply be a lecturing ideologue. The teacher will sometimes be a trainer, counselor,
model, resource person, guide, expositor, demonstrator, enlightener of values, taskmaster, and
helper.10 The facilitator must be flexible to adapt to the necessary role with each adult.
However, the major role of the facilitator-teacher is to provide a safe place where discussion
can take place. Those who have studied adult education consider the discussion method an
irreplaceable part of adult learning.11
How a person thinks about teaching and learning, the metaphors used, and the practical
application of these insights during the teaching event will vary. As we all grow and go through
different stages of development, so teachers also mature in how they understand and practice
their craft.
Developmental Stages of the Teacher
As teachers mature in their profession and think about their role differently, they pass
through different phases. Ward suggests that a teacher goes through stages of self awareness:
Reflecting on my own career as a teacher, I see changes that fall into a pattern. This
pattern is not unique to me. Through many professional and personal experiences with
other educators, I have discovered that there is a predictable series of stages through
which teachers develop. . . . In this first level of orientation the motive is to bring valued
content into the lives of others. A concern for the learner is present, of course, but as
Figure 1 indicates, the focus of the teacher is in the content.
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18
Lesson 1
The frustrations that the Level 1 teacher feels most deeply arise from the learner’s
disinterest or lack of appreciation of the content. . . .
Not every teacher reacts negatively to the apparent disinterest of students. Some,
fortunately, come to see the sour signals from their students as a symptom of a deeper
problem. As teachers gain experience this deeper problem can be recognized and
identified: the students, individually and as a group, have needs that the content is not
meeting. Sometimes the needs of students are so fundamental to personal identity and
self-worth that they are virtually blinded to the learning environment. . . .When the
teacher begins to take the importance of the needs of learners as seriously as the value of
the content, the teacher turns a corner. A new level of development has been reached.
Figure 2 suggests this “turning of a corner.”
Sooner or later a new concern emerges in the developing of the Level 2 teacher. The
limitations of Level 2 become a burden and what had seemed so satisfying begins to go
sour. . . . In time the teacher tires of investing so much of the time and effort in
diagnosing and prescribing. The limitation of Level 2 is that it does not allow for the
closing of the social distance between teacher and learner . . . .
When properly understood, this [next] level [Level 3] is also a matter of vertical
integration. It rejects neither the importance of content nor the importance of learners’
needs; but it represents a different sort of relationship—one in which the teacher becomes
a full participant in the life-walk of the student.12
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Adult Education: Adult Concerns Versus Teacher Habits
19
In other words, the teacher and the student journey together for a short time as they explore
and learn about a subject of common interest. The teacher acts as a facilitator of learning, a guide
along the path, a fellow learner and explorer.
Assignment: Evaluate yourself as a teacher. You probably have already
had some experience with informal education in your home, in a
nonformal situation like your church, or in a formal education setting like
public school or a seminary. In which phase do you think you are? How
might you move to Ward’s suggested last stage of development?
Summary
This lesson explores adult learning from the vantage point of both the learner and the
facilitator. Adults come to any new learning experience having a reasonably clear picture of what
they want to learn and why. Teachers, on the other hand, often get in the way of adult learning
because they treat adult learners like big children, sitting them in rows and lecturing (which is
difficult for children as well!). Teachers of adults must see themselves as facilitators of learning.
This perspective change comes from adopting the right metaphors that we use to think and speak
about the adult learning experience.
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2
Lesson
How Did Jesus Teach?
George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “He who can does. He who cannot teaches.”13 In this
aphorism Shaw revealed how completely he misunderstood the human condition. Teaching and
learning have always been the path to real change. That is why Jesus was called Teacher or
Rabbi. He is acknowledged to be the most prominent person in the history of the world, the
person who brought the most profound changes, and yet he was primarily a teacher.
Jesus is the Master Teacher. To help people grasp the incredible fact of the presence of the
Kingdom, Jesus was constantly teaching.
Jesus taught as he told stories and as he asked questions. He taught as he performed miracles
and wept over Jerusalem. In his interactions recorded in Scripture, Jesus is almost always
teaching. Only in the privacy of his most intimate relationship with his Father is he not. Yet even
when we are allowed to overhear one or two of these conversations, we are taught how to pray.
And as Jesus was leaving this earth, because he knew that truth is the soil in which Christian
faith grows, he tells us that he will send the Spirit to be our teacher, “to guide us into all truth.”
Not only is the Spirit to be our teacher, but Jesus asks us to make disciples. When Jesus walked
the earth he discipled the first twelve disciples, who in turn discipled others who then discipled
still others over the centuries, until someone finally told us the good news of the Kingdom. But
why did Jesus call twelve disciples instead of just one? Without doubt, Jesus had many reasons.
Assignment: Ask five people in your community how decisions are made
in their churches, places of work, or in the political life of the community.
Ask if there are differences in decisions that are arrived at within a group,
as opposed to those that are made solely by an individual.
For the kind of maturity that Christ wanted, the intensity and the diversity of a small band of
followers was necessary. As these disciples got to know each other and Christ, they were able to
challenge each other’s thinking, reflect together, and test the validity and adequacy of their own
beliefs. Most importantly, they were able to simply speak about their experiences as they walked
with Christ. These disciples were in a constant cycle of action and reflection as they followed the
Master Teacher.
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Lesson 2
We are the body of Christ, and Christ is the head of the body. This means that to experience
the living Christ today, we must experience him through the community of other believers. As
corporate worship was necessary for Jesus and the disciples, it is equally necessary for each of us
to follow Jesus with a small group of disciples, walking with him together for growth. Each of us
needs a small group of people with whom we can talk about our own experiences.
Lesson Outline
Jesus and the Small Group: A Social Context for Learning
How Jesus Taught: The Methods He Used
How Jesus Taught: The Constant Heart Challenge
Lesson Objectives
This lesson should help the learner:
Understand the importance of the social context for bringing the saints to maturity.
Be acquainted with the methods Jesus used as he taught.
Jesus and the Small Group: A Social Context for Learning
Adults learn in social context by observing others and vicariously experiencing what others
experience as they reflect, discuss and debate together. It is not without reason that Jesus chose a
small group: “He appointed twelve—designating them as apostles—that they might be with him
and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark
3:14-15).
These verses give two main reasons for selecting the Twelve. The first is that Jesus wanted
these men to be with him, to observe what he did and what he said. Jesus knew that as these men
saw him in action, they would be changed.
The second reason is that Jesus was going to send these disciples into action. Courage comes
from being part of a group, but not just any group. Courage to witness comes from a group that
has a common purpose, shares common experiences, actively reflects on its experiences, and
encourages each other to act. Jesus knew that these men needed a social setting where they could
discuss and integrate what they were seeing, hearing, and doing. As they went out, they needed a
safe place to reflect with others of common commitment.
Though these men were with Jesus during just a few years of his earthly ministry, they were
also with each other. The lines of relationship connected not only Peter to Jesus and Jesus to
Peter, but also extended from Peter to John and from John to Peter, and from each of these to the
other disciples.
This group of twelve provided a context for deep reflection. The Scriptures often depict the
disciples trying to understand the teaching and acts of Jesus. In one example, the disciples forget
to bring a lunch along for the boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus uses their forgetfulness to
teach them. “Be careful,” he warns, “watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod”
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How Did Jesus Teach?
23
(Mark 8:15). The disciples do not understand what Jesus means, so they discuss possibilities.
Because their conclusions miss the point, Jesus intervenes. He draws their attention to the
negative influence of the Pharisees on the general culture and, specifically, upon them. In this
instance, the reflection and discussion of the group, together with intervention from the Master
Teacher, brings new insight.
On another occasion, the disciples began to argue over who would be the greatest (Luke 22:
24ff). The historian Luke records the following:
Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be the
greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and
those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are
not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,
and the one who rules like the one who serves.” (Luke 22:24-26).
Jesus overhears their conversation and uses this discussion to teach that the “greatest” have to
be the servants of all. This discussion clarifies the disciples’ motives, and Jesus uses it as a
springboard for teaching the difference between power in the kingdom of the world and the
Kingdom of Heaven.
The disciples were always discussing what they had heard Jesus say or what they had seen
him do, how they understood him, themselves, their social context, and how they related all of
this to their worldview. Jesus knew the value of a small, intimate group, and that is why he chose
twelve and not just one, nor a larger group of twenty. Clearly, the small group provides a
superior context for education, for reflecting on our experience as we act, and thus for changing
our worldview—for touching the core perspectives that we all live by.
Group Learning: Peer Discipleship
We seldom see Jesus alone in conversation with anyone. The gospels record just a few such
situations: the Samaritan woman and Nicodemus, for example. In these two cases Jesus really is
helping these people understand who he is so that they can become followers. These are
evangelistic moments and done very privately by Jesus because of the very special situation each
of these two people faced in their communities.
On the other hand, when we see Jesus teaching and mentoring, he does so a small group.
Jesus’ teaching ministry to the masses often took place in open spaces, either in the country or in
the villages and cities of Palestine. If it were better to disciple people one-on-one, the gospels
would have recorded these personal discipleship encounters with Christ, but there is no such
record. Over the course of his ministry on earth, there probably were times when Jesus was with
one disciple. But usually He is seen with the Twelve and often in a crowd, or occasionally with a
smaller group of disciples in more private venues.
Jesus understood the benefits of peer mentoring versus the pitfalls of one-on-one mentoring
for substantive change. Societies that tend to elevate the individual often fail to understand how
important and meaningful the community is, which is why Jesus taught in a small, intimate
community context.
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Lesson 2
The need for an intimate group of fellow followers in our walk with Christ throughout life
remains constant, in all times and all places. Peer discipling makes possible our growth toward
maturity in Christ. We need others. Peer mentoring is necessary for in-depth discipleship because
in the small group setting we are exposed to how others interpret life, invited to be vulnerable
and transparent, and challenged by those who are going through similar experiences, thus leading
to our maturity. Indeed, the community of faith is one of the most important ways God has
chosen to mediate Christ to us.
Assignment: How might the fact that Jesus more often discipled groups
rather than the masses or one single person impact your future mentoring?
Group Learning: A More Powerful Approach to Solving Community Problems
Clearly, a small group process enhances critical thinking. The ability of the whole group to
solve problems is greater than the sum of the individuals who comprise the group—another
reason Jesus worked with a group. In today’s world, hierarchical leadership structures exist, but
those that do not function collaboratively do not thrive or survive, unless they somehow use
some kind of force to maintain positions of power. In Ecclesiastes we read: “Though one can be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Eccl
4:12). In Proverbs it says, “For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make a victory
sure” (Prov 11:14).
What Jesus knew then we have only now come to appreciate: a group has a better ability to
grapple with complex ideas, situations, and truth than does the lone individual in a hierarchy.
From the beginning, leadership in a truly healthy church has always been a collaborative effort of
spiritually gifted people working together. Leadership in all areas of life requires that we work
hard at capturing the intelligence of the group or organization.
Group Learning: A Caring Community that Supports and Encourages
Cooperative learning in a group provides a sense of community. The small group is
invaluable as a place of support and encouragement during difficult times. Adult learners may
reach a plateau, stagnate, or find a particular concept impossible or difficult to understand. Some
learners may be discouraged for reasons having nothing to do with the others in the learning
cohort. Others may be experiencing real persecution and need a safe place to reflect on what is
happening to them. The group members can come alongside and help them through these
obstacles.
In the last days of his life, Jesus wanted his disciples to know that persecution awaited them:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would
love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is
greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:18-20).
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How Did Jesus Teach?
25
After Jesus’ death we see the disciples gathered together, obviously afraid, trying to understand
the death and resurrection of the man they loved. They needed to be together.
From these early examples, we see a vision for how believers ought to relate to one another.
Paul takes up the “one another” theme to express the necessity of intimate involvement for
spiritual growth:
1. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Rom 12:10a).
2. “Honor one another above yourselves” (Rom 12:10b).
3. “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God”
(Rom 15:7).
4. “. . . instruct one another” (Rom 15:14).
5. “. . . serve one another in love” (Gal 5:13).
6. “. . . bearing with one another in love” (Eph 4:2).
7. “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:21).
8. “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up. . .” (1 Thess 5:11).
The small group creates an effective context for encouragement and care. It allows space for
and encourages wrestling with worldview issues and false ways of understanding life. It provides
a place where learning can be analyzed, synthesized, and evaluated so that the intelligence of the
group is higher than the intelligence of any one lone individual, leading to better decisions, new
knowledge, and better courses of action. Small group interaction is an irreplaceable necessity to
bring people to spiritual maturity.
How Jesus Taught: The Methods He Used
Jesus used all forms of human interaction to teach. He preached to large crowds who wanted
to see his miracles. He engaged strangers in life-changing conversations. In today’s vernacular,
he conducted seminars as he dialogued with his disciples.
Miracles: Jesus’ miracles were never random supernatural works. Jesus not only wanted to
demonstrate his power and authority over creation to assert his deity and to demonstrate his
compassion for the sick, but he used physical miracles to lead to an understanding of true
spirituality.
For example, Luke arranges two events to show the teaching power of miracles. In Luke
18:35-43 a blind beggar persistently calls out to Jesus to heal him, and Jesus, with one of his
many powerful and insightful questions asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I
want to see,” the man replies. Jesus heals him, then immediately in the next chapter (Luke 19: 110) Zacchaeus is persistent in his desire to see Jesus. Note that he wants to see Jesus; he wants
spiritual sight. So what happens? Jesus sees him up in the tree and says he is going to eat at his
house. During dinner Zacchaeus believes, is transformed, and really sees the real Jesus. Jesus
then says, “Today salvation has come to this house.”
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26
Lesson 2
What is happening in these two juxtaposed vignettes? A blind beggar persists in wanting
physical sight; Jesus heals him. A spiritually blind man, Zacchaeus, persists in wanting spiritual
sight; Jesus saves him. Jesus’ miracle of physical sight helps his followers and us understand the
more profound miracle of giving spiritual sight to a spiritually blind man.
Yet when spiritual sight is granted, it is such a powerfully transforming moment that
Zacchaeus is joyful—even ecstatic—to repay, by a multiple of four, those whom he has
defrauded, giving half of what is left to the poor.
We all know how guarded people are about their money. Without a doubt, then, Zacchaeus
received true spiritual sight. Miracles provide a powerful way to show and teach about change in
the physical world as an object lesson for transformation in the spiritual world.
Preaching: The teaching method that probably is most associated with Jesus is preaching.
The Sermon on the Mount is the foremost example, yet we do not know how this sermon was
delivered. Did Jesus simply stand up and lecture or was it more interactive, with the learners
asking questions or making observations? Because Jesus miraculously provided food for people
who followed him into the wilderness, these events probably lasted a good part of a day. On
occasion the crowds were enormous, and the only way that Jesus could speak to them was to get
in a boat, go out to sea, and speak from there.
Stories: Jesus also taught in parables: short, simple, yet profound stories that have one major
theme. These stories appealed to rich and poor, young and old, men and women, educated and
uneducated. Jesus captured the imagination of the listener in stories like the lost coin, the tiny
mustard seed, the pearl in the field, the hidden treasure, and the unfruitful fig tree, which taught
timeless principles about life in God’s Kingdom.
The reason that these parables are so powerful is that Jesus knows how humans are created.
We are all bound in our own narrative. We each have a history that informs our personal story,
shaping the way we hope to live in the present and the future.
One of the things that separates us from other animal species is that we each have a story that
we are aware of and understand. This personal narrative lies at the very core of who we are, and
it shapes how we understand and make meaning of life. We are always shaping our existence and
the external world by interpreting everything around us, from the smallest shrug of a shoulder or
glance to our most deeply held beliefs and emotions. As Jesus told these vivid, engaging stories,
he was speaking deeply to the heart.
That is why narrative is so powerful, and good speakers often rely on it. Have you ever been
in church when your mind starts to wander? The speaker then begins to tell a story and suddenly
you find yourself paying attention. You vicariously begin to live the experience and are drawn
into the emotion of it. Why does this happen? Because narrative lies at the very core of what
makes us who we are. It is what it means to be created in the image of God—to be human.
Dialogue: Jesus engaged people in conversations; he used dialogue. He asked astute
questions that challenged people’s thinking, views of life, interpretations of Scriptures, or ways
of acting. In John 4 Jesus invites the Samaritan woman into a conversation that not only helps
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How Did Jesus Teach?
27
her understand her own sin and who Jesus really is, but results in the salvation of many in her
town. Jesus angers the Pharisees on more than one occasion by clearly showing the hypocrisy of
their cherished religious traditions. He strikes at the heart of their false religious beliefs. Through
these dialogues, Jesus always extends an invitation to follow him, to change.
Jesus conducted much of his teaching through well directed questions. In The Questions of
Jesus, John Dear states that Jesus poses a total of 307 questions in the Gospels (not counting
those in the parables).14 Conversely, other people asked Jesus 183 questions. Guess how many he
answered? Only three!15 These questions went right to the heart of people’s belief systems:
If we can understand this basic dynamic, perhaps we can see what Jesus is doing
in asking his own questions instead. . . . Jesus’ questions are to reposition you,
make you own your unconscious biases, break you out of your dualistic mind,
challenge your image of God or the world, or present new creative possibilities.
. . . Jesus asks questions, good questions, unnerving questions, re-aligning
questions, transforming questions. He leads us into liminal and therefore
transformative space, much more than taking us into any moral high ground of
immediate certitude or ego superiority. He subverts up front the cultural or
theological assumptions that we are eventually going to have to face anyway. He
leaves us betwixt and between, where God and grace can get at us, and where we
are not at all in control. It probably does not work for a large majority of people,
at least in my experience. They merely ignore you or fight you. Maybe this is why
we have paid so little attention to Jesus’ questions and emphasized instead his
seeming answers. They give us more a feeling of success and closure. We made
of Jesus a systematic theologian, who walked around teaching dogmas, instead of
a peripatetic and engaging transformer of the soul. Easy answers instead of hard
questions allow us to try to change others instead of allowing God to change us.
At least, I know that is true in my life.16
Too often we hope that Jesus only lectured, preached, and spoke, because it is easy to sleep
through a lecture or ignore the implications of a sermon. We hope that his questions are not
really meant for us, not meant to penetrate our own soul, our own biases. But in fact much of
what Jesus does is ask questions—disturbing questions—that call forth commitment.
Assignment: What type of training would you want your heart surgeon or
airline pilot to have?
The church makes the most significant offer in the world: the offer of a personal relationship
with God to people who are facing eternal separation from God. Why would we then thrust
people into ministry who have only heard about it from a teacher or read about it in a book and
have never been discipled or experienced ministry “on the ground,” or who have never had the
opportunity to reflect on their experiences so they could improve how they minister? Yet we do
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Lesson 2
this all the time—we place people in ministry with no training and no opportunity to interact
with a peer group about what they are learning.
Although Jesus preached to masses of people, this was not his method of choice for working
with his closest followers, those whom he hoped to prepare to change the world. Why? Because
he knew lecture could not get the job done. So if you choose lecture as your favorite educational
form, know up front it does not turn people into disciples. Simply said, it cannot.
There are serious objections to the traditional lecture method, as Christensen and Garvin
point out:17
Objections to the traditional model can be grouped into three broad categories:
cognitive, philosophic, and pragmatic. Cognitive concerns arise because of the
shakiness of the traditional model’s assumption that students can assimilate and
retain information independent of its use. A number of studies have found that,
when lecturing is the dominant mode of teaching, students forget as much as 50
percent of course content within a few months.18 For real learning to occur—what
Whitehead calls “the mastery of knowledge,” or “wisdom”—students need to be
active participants in the learning process, rather than passive recipients of
information.19 Retention, it appears, increases markedly when learning is solidly
anchored in the experience and interests of students.
A second objection to the traditional model is philosophic. Here, the debate is
over ends rather than means. The traditional model implies that the primary goal
of education is information transfer. Facts, theories, and modes of analysis must
be communicated so that each generation can build upon the successes of its
predecessors. According to this view, knowledge lies at the core of learning, and
that knowledge is best transferred from experts to novices via lectures.
Lectures are an extremely efficient method of transferring information. Even with
low retention rates, they are a powerful tool, especially when complex concepts
must be conveyed and facts and theories are unequivocal. But lectures are of only
limited value if the goals of education go beyond information transfer. The
development of clinical judgment, the formation of critical skills, the shaping of
artistic sensibility—such achievements are difficult to nurture through lectures.
Preparing students to think independently is an enormous challenge. And if the
goal of education is to help students grow as individuals and forge their own
identities, the teacher-centered model has even less appeal. Rather than immersing
students in learning opportunities, it floods them with facts. All too often, the
result is loss of interest and a deadening of curiosity.
Such effects suggest a third objection [pragmatic] to the traditional model: many
students don’t like it. . . . Students today are distressingly disaffected with formal
education. For many of them, class time is more of a chore than a delight. For
such students, any alternative to the traditional approach is certain to be an
improvement.
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How Did Jesus Teach?
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In addition to the cognitive, philosophic, and pragmatic objections, let us add a theological or
biblical objection. The Bible tells us that “God created man in his own image, in the image of
God he created him, male and female, he created them” (Gen 1:27). This verse is one of the most
defining in all of Christian theology.
Assignment: What are the implications for teaching and learning from
Genesis 1:27?
Christians believe that God is Trinity; that is he is three equal persons who are one in
essence. We believe this because Scripture clearly teaches it, but there are other reasons to think
that the Trinity is the most adequate way to understand God.
Yahweh, our God, is supreme to all other gods. He claims to be, and the evidence verifies the
claim. One character trait of the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—is that they are
eternally in loving communication with each other as equal persons, as peers. It is not that they
have the potential to communicate as equals; rather, they actually do communicate as equals.
The state of actuality is a higher state than the state of potentiality.
Suppose an athlete achieves the times necessary to compete in the marathon in the Olympics.
The minimum times are set by the International Olympic Committee to ensure the high quality of
the event. Let’s say an athlete from your country qualifies. Let us also imagine that there is a
high school athlete from your country who seems to have the potential but has not yet achieved
the necessary times. Which athlete is considered to be at a “higher” level: the one who has the
potential or the one who has actually achieved the required times?
The Trinity, being in constant, loving, eternal communication, is clearly a being of a higher
state than gods of other religions, who do not actually communicate or love others who are equal
in essence. This higher state of existence, of being, sets the Christian God apart from any other
god.
Scriptures tell us that God created man in the image of God. Part of that image is the ability
to communicate the narrative of our lives with others of equal essence as ourselves—in other
words, other human beings.
What are the implications of this fact for education? First, if we are made in the image of
God, we each have a “library” within us, no matter how illiterate we appear. This understanding
is contrary to the belief first proposed by Aristotle, that when we are born we are tabula rasa—
empty slates waiting to be written on. Indeed research now proves that there is much more innate
to us than we ever imagined.
Another implication of the Trinitarian view is that God, a person whose essence, whose being
is infinitely greater than our own, invites us into and desires us to be in conversation with him.
Yet when it comes to teaching, we often only lecture. We do not even invite other people, people
who are of equal essence as ourselves, into the learning conversation. We keep the learner in the
potential state (not communicating, though they could); we do not allow the learner to actually
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Lesson 2
participate in the learning conversation. By so doing we mar the image of God in them. We rob
them of their dignity because we treat them as less than human by not allowing them to speak.
We appear as the “experts,” occupying all the “verbal space” in the learning environment. If
God, who is almighty, does not relate to us solely in that way, why do we think we, as teachers,
have the right to treat others that way?
God created us to communicate with him and with each other. Clearly God designed
communication so that when it is at its best, it flows in two directions: between God and us and
between ourselves and others.
Lecture has dominated education almost everywhere in the world—some studies indicate up
to 80 percent.20 How might the evil one want to influence education, especially if it has the
potential to free us? If our enemy wants to keep us ignorant and destroy the image of God in us,
how might he hinder community by making education about mere information transfer?
Assignment: When might lecture be considered sinful? How might it
enhance or diminish the image of God in others? In what contexts might it
be helpful?
When people find their “voice,” they begin to grow spiritually. To “find one’s voice” is a
concept that means being able to actually speak about one’s deepest concerns and beliefs, to have
enough confidence to share one’s own perspective on a subject, and to defend that perspective. It
means to be open to dialogue in a constructive way that both takes critique and is willing to
provide critique to others. The best way to encourage learners to speak is to create an
environment that is invitational. They must know that the teacher genuinely desires to hear them,
to know what they think, and to invite them into the learning conversation.
Clearly Jesus, the Master Teacher, understood the necessity of a social context for learning.
He understood that the best learning takes place in a community. He taught in a way that took his
disciples through a continuing cycle of action, reflection, then action. He invited questions and
engaged in dialogue. If Jesus, the One to whom all praise is due, could invite others into dialogue
and ask questions without “losing face,” should we not invite questions as well? If the Master
Teacher did not fill up all the available verbal space with his own voice, but invited and
encouraged conversation, shouldn’t we do the same?
Reflection: Whose voice do you love to hear most: your own voice or the voice of others?
A constant diet of lecture numbs the brain and stifles students’ ability to think and integrate
new information, diminishes their personhood, and ignores their need to question and
understand. When seen in the light of Jesus’ example, to teach solely by lecture could be seen as
an act of arrogance, built on the idea that the teacher knows everything and the adult learner
knows nothing.
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How Did Jesus Teach?
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How Jesus Taught: The Constant Heart Challenge
We find Jesus constantly disrupting inadequate and false ways of making meaning of life, of
understanding it, and of living it. The role of the facilitator/teacher is to help correct and free
adults from these distorted ways of understanding life.
In order for the learner to be shaken from his egocentric views, he must
experience the viewpoints and thoughts of others . . . if he does not, he has no
reason to alter the mental structures that he initially acquired from his selfcentered frame of reference. Social interaction can lead to conflict, debate, shared
data, and the clear delineation and expression of ideas.21
The book of Proverbs advocates this kind of interaction: “As iron sharpens iron so one man
sharpens another” (Prov 27:17). Other passages speak of the power of listening to advice (Prov
12:15; 19:20; 20:18).
Jesus’ teaching was directed toward the heart. His aim was to draw the hearer to himself and
therefore to the Father. To achieve this result in the lives of his hearers, Jesus disrupted their
accepted ways of seeing reality and challenged core beliefs, worldviews, religious beliefs, and
habitual ways of making meaning. In writing on Matthew 8-10, D.A. Carson remarks:
. . . we are presented with a number of things that transpire when Jesus confronts
the world. Some of these are quite wonderful: the healings and exorcisms (8:1617; 9:32-33), and the assurance that Jesus has come to call sinners (9:13). Others
are frankly frightening: Jesus’ teaching that some who expect to inherit the
kingdom are “thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth” (8:12); his insistence that his mission entails the active
disruption of family units as people are forced to choose between family and him
(10:34-36). Still others are simply startling: Jesus’ rather shocking response to the
disciple who wants to suspend following Jesus until he has buried his father
(“Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” [8:22]). And some are
alarming to sincere followers of Jesus, especially the assurance of opposition and
persecution (10:16, 22, 37-39). But always there is confrontation, explicit or
implicit. [Italics and bold ours.]22
Carson rightly observes that Jesus’ teaching is all about confronting and correcting false
belief systems that are so embedded in the larger culture and in the individual that they are
invisible to us unless the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God and through the community of
faith, makes them evident. Almost any interaction recorded in the New Testament between Jesus
and someone else is a confrontation of worldview, of belief systems. Let us look at some of those
confrontations.
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Lesson 2
Assignment: Read John 9:1-34
1. What does this passage tell us about the disciples’ view of disease?
2. How does their view of disease affect how they treat the blind man?
3. What is Jesus’ view of disease? How did that affect how Jesus treated the
blind man?
4. In Jesus’ view, who is on center stage? In the disciples’ view, who is on center
stage? Why is the disciples’ worldview inadequate? How does their
inadequate worldview affect them?
5. What are inadequate beliefs that you might have? How can you become aware
of those inadequate beliefs so that they can be changed?
6. What core belief does Jesus challenge?
Assignment: Read John 3:1-21
1. What does this passage tell us about the worldview of Nicodemus?
2. How and why does Jesus challenge Nicodemus’ worldview?
3. Why does Jesus use analogies like birth to represent coming into the Kingdom
of God, and metaphors like the wind to explain the Holy Spirit?
4. What core belief does Jesus challenge?
Assignment: Read Mark 10:17-31
1. What worldview error does the interaction between Jesus and this young man
uncover?
2. How did Jesus challenge his false worldview?
3. What was the young man’s response to Jesus’ challenge? Do you think Jesus’
challenge of this false worldview was successful? Why or why not? Was it a
successful challenge for the young man, for the disciples, for the other
witnesses?
We have all assimilated much of the world’s system, especially with regard to core issues
like wealth, love, who God is, personal rights, sin, etc. Jesus challenges the belief systems of
outsiders and his disciples. As he said, “I came that you might have life and have it to the full”
(John 10:10). A full and meaningful life comes through the process of transforming inadequate
ways of living life. That is why Jesus was always confronting, always challenging, always
inviting people to follow him.
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How Did Jesus Teach?
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Summary
Jesus came to proclaim the presence of the Kingdom. To ensure that this message would
continue he called twelve disciples, not just one and not twenty. He wanted these disciples to be
so changed that they would change the world. He wanted them to be in constant dialogue about
how their lives were changing and about the experiences they were having as they walked with
him. He wanted them to participate in the action, reflection, action spiral that drives truth home
to the heart and alters worldview. Jesus is not portrayed in the Gospels in one-on-one
discipleship situations, but in a small group, and for good reasons. A group provides a more
robust reference point than the perspective of just one individual.
Assignment: Do you have a band of followers of Christ with whom you
can walk through life? How are you helping each other grow in your
relationship with Christ?
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Lesson
Asking the Right Questions
At one of the country’s leading universities, there was a teacher who was well loved.
Students considered his classes to be stimulating, and so most of his classes had long waiting
lists of students who wanted to get in. But over the years something changed. His end-of-term
reviews by students became less enthusiastic, and when he had openings, no one wanted to take
his class. On one occasion another teacher slipped into his class. They had an appointment to
meet, and the other professor had arrived early, so he thought he would watch his friend teach.
The observing teacher wrote later that this once excellent teacher had slipped into mediocrity
because he “no longer cared what the students thought.”
The skill of asking appropriate questions may be the most important skill for leading a
seminar. Questions can cause something to happen inside our hearts that prompts us to grapple
with important issues that can lead to maturity. Questions are like a fork in the road: they make
the person stop and think, they cause a person to decide which way to go. Questions have the
ability to draw a person into real learning. We are reminded in “Education for Judgment” that:
Whether the setting be home, place of work, or classroom, questions initiate
learning. They can excite, disturb, discipline, or comfort, but they always
stimulate inquiry. And good questions, as John Ciardi reminds us, are infinitely
generative:
A good question is never answered.
It is not a bolt to be tightened into place.
But a seed to be planted and to bear more seed.
Toward the hope of greening the landscape of ideas.23
Lesson Outline
A Powerful Tool: The Question
The Anatomy of Good Questions
Jesus—the Master of Asking Questions
Asking Questions that Move Learners to Maturity
Using Open Questions to Develop a Lesson Plan
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Lesson 3
Lesson Objectives
When you finish this lesson, you should be able to:
Write meaningful, open questions as you prepare a lesson plan.
Lead a seminar using open questions and good follow-up questions.
A Powerful Tool: The Question
Questions are the most important tool in a good teacher’s toolbox. The discussion leader can
use questions to help the students learn or to intimidate them, to encourage or to discourage
them, to help shy students value their contributions or to humble the arrogant, to embarrass the
learners or to build them up. Questions have power. The discussion leader recognizes the power
of questions and uses them to create a hospitable, inviting, stimulating environment that
motivates students to learn.
In fact, questions are the key to knowledge, as Postman and Weingartner remind us:
Knowledge is produced in response to questions. And new knowledge results
from the asking of questions; quite often new questions about old questions. . . .
Once you have learned how to ask questions—relevant and appropriate and
substantial questions—you have learned how to learn and no one can keep you
from learning whatever you want and need to know.24
The Anatomy of Good Questions
A great learning experience stands or falls on the ability of the teacher to ask good questions
and to elicit adequate responses. Asking good questions is as much art as science. It is also “like
singing or orchestral conducting, [which] can be observed, described, analyzed, studied,
consciously practiced, and stamped with each practitioner’s style.”25 And yet, as with singing or
conducting, asking good questions is more than can be described or analyzed. There is art to it.
We can study what makes good questions and how to use questions in effective seminar
leadership. Not asking questions, or asking bad questions, will bore the student, weaken the
reputation of the teacher, and kill the seminar. If you have had difficulty in making a seminar
work, the problem may lie with the questions you ask. Before you can confidently ask good
questions, you ought to be alert to what kinds of questions will cause you to fail as a discussion
leader.
Questions that Kill Discussion
Two categories of questions minimize discussion. These questions are answered by a simple
“yes” or “no” or are leading questions.
Yes-or-No Questions. Questions that can be answered by a simple “yes” or “no” kill
discussion. Why? First, people may fear to give an answer because they have a fifty-percent
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Asking the Right Questions
37
chance of giving the wrong answer! Such questions do not focus on thinking about the subject,
but rather on the potential embarrassment of giving a wrong answer.
Second, yes-or-no questions are often too simple. Because the answer is obvious, nobody
answers. Most people consider this kind of question a waste of time, degrading to their
intelligence. Yet most beginning discussion leaders fall into the trap of asking one yes-or-no
question after another.
My daughter came home from high school once and reported, “The teacher asked a question
and nobody answered.” When I asked why nobody bothered to answer the question, she replied,
“Because the question was too simple; everybody thought it was stupid to answer.” It was a yesor-no question.
How did this teacher get out of this predicament? He told the students that they were not
going to leave unless someone answered the question. To accommodate the teacher, my daughter
eventually gave the answer. The point is, if a question is too simple, even high school students
feel uneasy and embarrassed about the value of answering.
Here are some examples of yes-or-no questions developed from three events from the life of
Christ in John 3:1-18, John 4:1-42, and Matthew 19:9-12:
1. Has every person who is a true Christian had a personal encounter with Christ?
2. Did the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well change her life?
3. To become Christians, do people have to recognize their personal need?
Clearly, all of these questions can be answered without stimulating any discussion.
Leading Questions. Questions that also tend to kill discussions are leading questions that
seek a very definite answer. With these, the learners expend their creative thought trying to
discover the specific answer buried in the folds of the teacher’s brain. Here are a couple of
examples of leading questions:
1. With what three ways did the woman at the well try to divert Jesus’ attention from her
past? (John 4:1-30)
2. In Matthew 9, what does Jesus say is the reason the Pharisees would have a difficult time
getting to heaven?
In some instances a leading question appears as an open question, but it really isn’t. These
kinds of leading questions look good on the outside but because the teacher already has an
answer in mind, students spend the whole time trying to guess it, rather than delving deeply into
the subject. The teacher tries again and again to lead the student to the correct answer.
The students often do not know what specific answer teachers are trying to extract from
them, so why does this happen so often? Because teachers fail to recognize that they might
categorize the world differently from students. Teachers who insist that the world be seen as they
see it—in other words, that students come up with the answers the teacher wants—are stuck.
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Lesson 3
They are no longer learning themselves. They do damage to the learner and to the teacher-learner
relationship.
How do you, as a facilitator, fall into this seductive trap? The first stage of this trap looks
quite innocent. In your personal study of Scripture or a lesson you make a wonderful discovery,
have a very meaningful insight, or see something fresh and powerful for your own life and for
your personal walk with the Lord. Naturally you want everyone to share the joy of your insight.
So when you lead the group discussion, you so desperately want everyone to have that same
wonderful experience, you keep repeating the same question, or variations of the question, until
either everyone gives up and shuts up, or some lucky person guesses the answer that you are
fishing for. Many of us have experienced this as participants in small groups.
How can this situation be overcome? First, it takes an attitude of humility. You must realize
that the Holy Spirit works in people’s lives at different times, in different ways, and at different
rates. What is a wonderful insight for you may mean nothing to anyone else in the group. The
others may actually find your insight mundane or even boring. Second, it takes a willingness to
be open to input from others, to welcome critique.
The best way to present an insight that has proven to be especially helpful to you personally
is to realize that it is only one of many insights the group has had about the passage. Instead of
trying to extract your answer from the group, simply and clearly state what you have seen in the
Scriptures or in the lesson. Then ask the others in the group to think with you about that insight.
Ask how they see your insight fitting into the subject you are studying. Ask if they think your
insight is biblical and helpful. In this way you can have an honest, in-depth discussion around
your insight that is far more profitable than wasting the group’s time as you make them fish for
the answer you want. As a matter of fact, you might learn that some of the insights that the group
has are even better than your own, and that trying to get people to give a specific answer usually
results in poor quality discussions or, ultimately, silence.
A good rule to follow when forming questions is to ask yourself if you are curious about the
answer. Do you really want to know the answer to the question yourself, or do you believe you
alone have the greatest insight or answer, and you just want everyone else to see it? Are you at
least curious to know what the others think about the subject in question? If you really believe
you already know the answer, and you merely want the others to know it, then you probably
shouldn’t ask that question because you are simply not interested in learning more than your own
opinion.
Some obvious leading questions could be:
1. What are the two differences between Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman and
the rich young ruler?
2.
When did Nicodemus come to visit Jesus?
3. Who died to save you from your sins?
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Asking the Right Questions
39
Questions that Generate Discussion
Questions that stimulate discussion and promote conversation have common characteristics.
Think back to a time when you were having a great conversation with friends on a topic of
mutual interest. Remember how engaged you were not only with the topic but also with the other
participants?
That is the kind of atmosphere that ought to exist in your seminar. Encourage intensely
focused conversation that fully engages each of the participants. They ought to leave the seminar
having thought carefully about the content, and having felt they had a deep, rewarding contact
with each of the other people in the group and with God. Note the words, “with each of the other
participants and with God.” Too often the conversation is only between the teacher and himself
as he lectures. Promoting this kind of hospitable atmosphere succeeds or fails with your ability to
ask good questions and to guide the conversation toward the heart of the topic being studied.
“Open” questions are the best ones for encouraging conversation. They cannot be answered
by “yes” or “no,” nor can they be answered by a specific list of items. Rather, an open question
has many right and helpful answers. An open question stimulates reflection. Many different
answers are needed for full meaning and understanding. Open questions ought to be significant
and strike at the heart of the issue, causing the group to break through cliché answers.
One of the characteristics of children who attend church regularly is their ability to quickly
answer most questions with pat answers. Their standard answers are: Jesus, prayer, the Bible,
and God. The story is told of a Sunday School teacher who asked her seven- and eight-year-olds
this riddle: What is furry, climbs trees and eats nuts? The children looked quite puzzled at the
question and sat silently. Then a brave little boy raised his hand and said, “I know the answer has
to be Jesus, but I think it’s a squirrel.”
The children had become so used to cliché answers that a simple question caught them off
guard. They could hardly force themselves to break out of the restraints on their conditional
thinking. Significant, open questions break through clichés. Adults can become used to cliché
answers as well, unless they are forced to think more deeply. Good questions cause deep
reflection.
If the children were asked the question, “How do we talk to God,” the immediate answer
would probably be “Prayer.” Instead, you could ask, “What does it mean to pray?” or “What are
the differences between praying with our eyes closed or our eyes open?” These kinds of
questions move beyond the superficial.
Open questions based on John 3:1-18, 4:1-42, and Matthew 9:9-12 could be:
1. Why do you think a personal encounter with God is important for salvation?
2. In what ways are Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritan woman, the religious ruler, and
the tax collector the same, and in what ways are they different?
3. Why do you think God chose to provide salvation as an act of grace rather than as a result
of works?
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40
Lesson 3
These questions have no specific answer, but they are significant. They invite learners to
explore their understanding of the Scriptures and integrate those Scriptures into their lives. Any
of these questions could provide the springboard for an extended discussion.
Questions are, therefore, your most powerful tool. They help you discover whether the
students understand the content. They open the hearts of students to new perspectives; force
them to integrate new information with life; and cause them to stop, evaluate, and to make
judgments. You must become as skillful with this tool as the artist is with her brush or the
sculptor is with his chisel.
Jesus—the Master of Asking Questions
“Who do the people say that I am?” (Mark 8:27)
“Who do you say I am? (Mark 8:29)
“Jesus asked Peter ‘Will you really lay down your life for me?’” (John 13:38)
“Why do you call me good?” (Luke 18:19)
“If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how then shall you believe if I
tell you heavenly things?” (John 3:12)
“What do you want me to do for you?” (Matt 20:32; Mark 10:36, 10:51; Luke 18:41)
Jesus asked a lot of questions! When Jesus asked questions that demanded a yes-or-no
answer, there usually was a crisis in the person’s life. Jesus asked it because he was looking for a
commitment. When Jesus asked questions about his identity, he wanted to be certain that the
disciples came to grips with the meaning of his words and deeds. When he asked Peter if he
would give up his life for him, Jesus knew that Peter would deny him, but he wanted to hear how
Peter saw his relationship with Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, a customary gesture of
friendship. Perhaps Jesus asked Judas about the kiss to drive home to Judas the hypocrisy in this
act.
There may be occasions in the seminars when we want to ask questions that require learners
to reflect and to make that kind of committed decision. Usually, though, seminars are not the
place where people are making crisis decisions, but where they are in the process of altering their
worldview.
Many of Jesus’ questions were open questions. Although he really did not have to ask
questions (he knew the answers), Jesus asked questions to confront people, to make them think,
and to force them to commit to him.
Assignment:
1. Go through the 25 questions given below and state whether they are:
a. yes-or-no questions
b. leading questions
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Asking the Right Questions
c. open questions
2. Rewrite yes-or-no and leading questions to make them open questions.
Rate them either as:
a. very significant
b. significant
c. not important
Questions
1. What do you think is necessary to enter the Kingdom of God, to have eternal
life?
2. Who did Jesus meet on his way through Samaria in John 4?
3. Was going through Samaria a customary route for Jews to take?
4. How did Jesus treat the Samaritan woman?
5. As you read the story, what changes did you see in the Samaritan woman?
6. Did Jesus take the most direct way to Galilee by going through Samaria?
7. What three things did Jesus know about the Samaritan woman?
8. What resulted from her testimony?
9. What was the greatest problem that the religious leader, Nicodemus, had when
it came to faith in Jesus?
10. In Matthew 9:9-12, what do you think Jesus meant in His reply to the
Pharisees in verse 12?
11. What is the most important issue that Jesus deals with in his encounter with
the Samaritan woman?
12. Why do you think the Pharisees found it difficult to become followers of
Christ in Palestine in the first century?
13. Do you think the Samaritan woman, the religious ruler, and the tax collector
would be welcomed in your church?
14. Do you find your own experience with God like that of the Samaritan woman,
Nicodemus (the religious ruler), or Matthew (the tax collector)?
15. Based on these three vignettes from Scripture, what is the insurmountable
obstacle that keeps people from coming to Christ?
16. What are important truths we can learn about salvation from Jesus’ encounter
with Nicodemus?
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Lesson 3
17. Based on Jesus’ encounters with the Samaritan woman, the religious leader
and the tax collector, how would you define grace?
18. Who were Matthew’s friends and what does this tell us about him?
19. What does the question the Pharisees ask about Jesus tell us about them?
20. Do you think that a person can become righteous by being obedient to the
law?
21. Define sanctification in your own words.
22. Why do you think Matthew put his encounter with Jesus between Jesus’
healing of the paralytic and John the Baptist’s disciples asking Jesus about
fasting?
23. How did Jesus’ reply to the Pharisees, who questioned the choice of his
company in Matthew 9:9-12, strike at the heart of the Pharisee’s biases?
24. How do you think the other disciples felt about Matthew?
25. Are there many paths to God? Do these three encounters provide evidence that
there is more than one path to God? Why or why not?
One of your purposes as a facilitator is to help students progress in their ability to evaluate
and make good judgments. The seminar time ought to move learners from basic knowledge to an
ability to evaluate critically and integrate new learning into their lives. Questions can promote
movement toward spiritual maturity.
Asking Questions that Move Learners to Maturity
Learning has been categorized in many different ways. For example, Benjamin Bloom
identified six stages in the process of learning: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis, and judgment.26 Others have proposed different processes for learning. Based on these
different views of the learning sequence, we can develop our questions.
For the purpose of this course, we will look at three stages in the integration of truth into life.
These three stages are observation, interpretation, and application. Observation is the point when
we try to determine what is actually being said. Interpretation is the process of trying to
understand the meaning. Application happens when we integrate new information into our lives,
resulting in change. These stages can be used in a range of applications: from studying the Bible
to thinking through a meaningful conversation you had. The following section of this lesson will
help you learn to develop questions that move the student from gathering the content
(observation), through interpreting the meaning, to then making application.
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Asking the Right Questions
43
Observation
Observation is the ability to see all that is there. Do not allow your observation process to be
superficial. The quality of the interpretation and application is dependent on the accuracy of the
observation, so don’t give observation short shrift; spend time observing. Often our ability to
observe is limited by our perspectives—we do not see much. Help your students become keen
observers, especially of the human condition.
Students also ought to be able to recall facts. Observation questions are not usually very good
at promoting discussion, but they help determine if your students know the material. Some
observation questions from John 3:1-18, John 4:1-42, and Matthew 9:9-12 could be:
a. From the Scripture, what are common factors in Jesus’ encounter with these three people:
Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and Matthew?
b. What do we learn about Samaria from this text?
c. What metaphors for salvation does Jesus use with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and
Matthew?
Interpretation
Questions of interpretation take the learner another step in the direction of full understanding.
Interpretation questions show that the learner knows the facts and understands what they mean.
Examples of interpretation questions from the same passages could be:
a. Why do you think Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born again?
b. Why do you think Jesus asks the Samaritan woman where her husband is?
c. What did it mean to the Samaritan woman that Jesus offered to give her living water,
taking into account her situation in the community?
For interpretation to be accurate, learners must analyze content, synthesize the new learning
with previous learning, and evaluate the correctness of new learning. These three steps in the
interpretive process (analysis, synthesis and evaluation) provide a framework for asking
stimulating, challenging questions.
1. Analysis is the ability to break information into parts and to explore the significance of
these individual segments. Examples of questions that could stimulate analysis are:
a. How are sanctification and salvation alike and different?
b. How did Jesus treat each of these people? Can you discern any differences or similarities
in how they were treated?
c. How is grace evident in Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and the
tax collector?
2. Synthesis is the ability to put ideas together in a new way. The ability to synthesize causes
learners to bring together new learning with other previous learning to arrive at a new
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44
Lesson 3
understanding, a new way of thinking, or a new way of acting. Some questions that might cause
your students to synthesize the information could be:
a. In today’s world, what groups of people would be similar to Nicodemus, the
Samaritan woman, and the tax collector? Explain.
b. If John were going to describe an encounter with Christ today, how do you think he
would write about it? What terms would he use, what metaphors, what stories would
he choose?
c. How does Jesus’ discussion of the Spirit relate to the salvation of Nicodemus and the
Samaritan woman?
3. Evaluation is the ability to judge the value of the material, the content, or the idea, using a
specific set of criteria. There are two parts to evaluation. First, there is the ability to judge the
value. Second, there is the set of criteria by which one judges. Both aspects of evaluation are
important. Seek to develop the ability of the learner to judge accurately. Base the judgment on a
standard. For the Christian, Scripture is the standard.
As a facilitator in a church-based training center, try to help students gain the ability to
evaluate all that they see, hear, think, and feel against the standard of Scripture. As you help your
students move toward maturity in Christ, their ability to discern right and wrong and then act
accordingly (Heb 5:14) takes on significance. Some examples of evaluation questions from these
encounters could include the following:
a. Which of these encounters with Christ is most helpful to you in understanding grace?
Explain.
b. What other aspects of sanctification would be important to include in order to understand
it better?
c. Which of the terms for belief in your culture are most helpful in understanding
humanity’s responsibility in salvation? Why?
Because asking open questions is critical in guiding a fruitful seminar, seek counsel from
other people about the questions you ask. This is especially important when you first begin to
facilitate. It has been our experience that people who have been teachers for years sometimes
find it more difficult to ask open questions than those who are just beginning to develop this
skill.
Make sure that the questions you ask are open, significant, focused on moving the learner
toward the objectives, and are aimed at the heart of the material. Be aware that facilitators who
have a hard time discerning the difference between an open and a leading question often lead
less-than-stimulating classes.
Application
Application is the ability to apply the content that is being learned to life in our present
context. Some application questions could be:
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Asking the Right Questions
45
a. What are you doing to mature in Christ, to encourage God’s work of sanctification in
your life?
b. How would you explain grace to a scientist?
c. What acts of kindness could you ask others to do for you (like Jesus asked of the
Samaritan woman) that would lead to an open discussion of their need for Christ?
Assignment: Take the list of the twenty-five reworked questions from the
previous assignment. State whether each question involves observation,
interpretation, or application. If you do not find an example of each of the
three kinds of questions, develop two or three questions of that kind.
Using Open Questions to Develop a Lesson Plan
Now that you have had some practice developing good questions, you are ready to learn how
to develop a lesson plan for the seminar. A lesson plan is a map to guide you as you lead the
seminar.
Before you lead a seminar you should know the questions that you will ask, the reasons you
are asking them, and the significance that you place on each one of them. It is very difficult to
ask open questions without having thought about the material yourself. You must take the time to
write questions that get to the heart of the main issues in the lesson. These questions have to
invite discussion; they have to be open and significant questions.
The most important question of the whole seminar is the first question you ask. This
question—the “launching question,” if done well, will help make the seminar a success.
A variety of questions can launch a discussion. Launching questions can create a dilemma,
portray a circumstance similar to what you are studying in the material, or explore the feelings of
the group about the topic. Creative ways that link the material to the students can generate good
launching questions.
An example of a launching question could be: “If you were a Christian in Corinth, and the
church had just read Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians aloud, how would you have felt?” Or, in
the context of teaching a course on HIV/AIDS in Africa, where those with AIDS are judged and
often falsely accused as to how they contracted the disease, you could ask: “Have you ever been
falsely accused?” followed by a second question, “Have you ever falsely accused anyone?”
Make the launching question one that can be answered by everyone, especially when you
first start with a new group of students. People in new groups are usually uncomfortable to begin
with. When uneasiness pervades, have each learner answer the launching question. This brings
all the members into the discussion and builds confidence that each can make a valuable
contribution.
Launching questions ought to be open questions that invite many different responses. No
matter what the person says, the answer ought to be acceptable. Initially encourage and thank the
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Lesson 3
students for their contributions. Beginning discussions in this way helps create a positive
atmosphere and brings even the quieter students into the conversation.
Before you ask the launching question, state that you will give each person the opportunity to
answer it. Then make one or two minutes of prepared comments. Then after asking the launching
question, have each person answer it.
In order to help you decide what is important, use a lesson-planning sheet. If you are
facilitating Entrust courses, “skeletal” lesson plans are provided in the course guides; if you are
not, the Lesson Plan Worksheet in Appendix 3 is an excellent framework for planning a lesson.
You can copy this sheet and fill it in for each lesson.
The last assignment in this lesson asks you to create a plan for a lesson in Entrust’s Walking
with Christ course. Before you can create a plan, you will have to work through the lesson. In
order to help you accomplish this task, we will walk through the worksheet together.
Read Appendices 2 and 3: “Lesson Plan Worksheet”
First, there is a section called Lesson Topics. Fill in under this section the major topics that
are discussed in the lesson you are facilitating. Major headings in the lesson and the lesson
objectives give you clues as to the major topics.
The next heading is Assignments. Write in this space the assignments that are required
throughout the lesson. Many of these assignments provide the best source of material for
stimulating discussions, so make sure the important content they cover is discussed.
The next major section is Develop Your Own Lesson Objectives. The reason that you have
been asked to list Lesson Topics and Assignments is to bring you to the point of being able to
develop your own lesson objectives. In other words, you can look through the lesson topics and
the assignments and from these there should be objectives that arise that address the major
concerns of the lesson. Take into account the objectives given at the beginning of each lesson.
After that, think about your own culture. Integrate the important points of the lesson with
cultural perspectives to develop lesson objectives tailored to your particular situation.
Write your own lesson objectives on the worksheet. Although there are only two spaces for
this in the example, you can list as many objectives as you want. You should select the two or
three objectives that are most important.
After you list your objectives, formulate questions that are pertinent to help you reach those
objectives, writing them under the objectives on the worksheet. Base the discussion questions on
the exercises, the practical assignments, or the reading assignments that will help you achieve
that objective. Do this for all the objectives that you have listed.
Stop! Evaluate the questions that you have written. Ask yourself:
1. Does a simple “yes” or “no” answer these questions?
2. Is this a leading question? Does the question assume that there is a very specific answer
that the teacher already completely knows?
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Asking the Right Questions
47
3. Is this a significant question? Does it drive the student to think about the core issues in
the lesson or the learning objectives of the lesson?
4. Is this an open question? Does this question require several different answers from
different perspectives in order to achieve a more adequate understanding?
5. Is there a progression to the questions? Do they lead a person from observing the facts,
through interpretation, and then on to application to life?
Read Appendix 1: Verbs for Developing Good Discussion Questions
If you are not sure that your questions progress from observation to interpretation to
application, refer to the chart in Appendix 1. Look at the verbs in the right-hand column in the
three different categories. Review these verbs, because they will help you write the kinds of
questions you need.
Additional Teaching Topics is the next heading. This heading encourages you to think
through the lesson and add teaching or information that you think will enrich the lesson. You can
develop that material and teach it as a “mini lecture” of five to fifteen minutes. Mini lectures can
be quite effective when combined with discussion.
The next part of the lesson plan is to Summarize the Key Points. This section has been
included to remind you that at the end of every seminar you, or someone in your group, should
summarize the lesson. There may be rare times when summarizing is inappropriate, but most
often summarizing helps cement the important points of the lesson in the minds of the students
and provides a sense of security. The students will then know they have actually accomplished
good work and covered significant ground.
The next heading of the Lesson Worksheet is Creative Teaching Methods. Often teachers
rigidly use the same methods over and over again, to the boredom of the learners. Try to think of
creative ways to teach that will enhance the learning process for everyone. You may ask them to
perform a skit, do field research, debate an issue, or role-play a situation to instill and improve
ministry skills. Use different, creative teaching methods. Write the one or two you might use
during the seminar.
The next part of the Lesson Worksheet is Preparation for the Next Lesson. Fill in the
assignments for the next lesson. During the seminar, refer to this section of the worksheet to help
you prepare the students for the next assignments.
The final section is the Examination. Not every lesson has an examination. The most
important reason for an exam is to help students to discover those areas that they do not yet
understand. To encourage learning through the examination process, do not simply mark the
answers “right” or “wrong.” Within the group, discuss the right answers and why they are right.
Issues: Be careful about adding additional material to the lessons. The critical mistake that
most teachers-facilitators make is delivering way too much content. Understand the core
concepts and make sure the learners grasp those concepts in ways that they can actually use. A
key principle in being an excellent facilitator is to develop new, interesting, stimulating,
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48
Lesson 3
significant questions about the same things the learner has probably already encountered in their
personal study. Help the student approach the same content in new and refreshing ways. This
will reinforce learning and make it more usable.
Assignment: Develop a lesson plan for one lesson in the Walking with
Christ course. You will lead your group through this lesson. Evaluate the
seminar, led by each of the students in your group, by using the evaluation
sheet given in Appendix 4.
Summary
This lesson introduces you to the skill of writing good questions and creating a lesson plan
for a seminar. Good seminar questions are open, significant, and clear. They cannot just be
answered by a “yes” or “no,” they do not seek a specific answer, nor is the answer assumed in
the question.
Lesson plan worksheets and their explanations (Appendices 2 and 3) are helpful guides to
clarifying the major topics in the lesson, focusing the attention of the seminar on the most
important issues. Appendix 1 will assist you in developing questions that start with observation,
proceed through interpretation, and end with application. Appendix 4 helps you evaluate the
success of your seminar.
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4
Lesson
Equipping Adults:
Purpose and Possibilities
John is pastor of a church. At first he greatly enjoyed the work, but the increasing demands
of the task are wearing him down. His marriage is affected, he has little time for his children, and
his personal time with the Lord seems dry. He can go for days without really praying or reading
his Bible, except to prepare for a sermon. Often he feels that he has to do everything at church.
He has reached the point where being a pastor is no longer a joy but a burden, no longer
something he desires to do but something he wants to run from. He cannot figure out why he is
always so busy, and he knows the job is killing him.
The church members seem unable to handle their own problems, and there are growing signs
of dissension. People are not getting along with each other. John worries about these things. He
struggles to find people who are willing to work in the church’s educational programs, disciple
others, or engage in evangelism. Few volunteer.
Assignment: What are the dimensions of John’s problem? If you could
prescribe one solution, what would you recommend?
So you want to disciple others, help others grow, teach the Scriptures—that is why you are
taking this course. What outcomes do you hope for? What results do you expect in the lives of
those you disciple and teach? Do you know what the results of your training are in the lives of
the learners? Or do you teach because you get personal satisfaction from the experience? Do you
know how adults learn? If not, can you consider yourself an effective teacher of adults?
Assignment: Before you read further, write down what you hope to see
accomplished in the lives of those you teach and disciple.
Lesson Outline
Spiritual Maturity – To Be Like Christ
The Competent Servant-Leader
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Lesson 4
Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson you should be able to:
Clarify why you disciple and teach people in the church.
Develop a solid biblical basis for the results you want to see in the lives of the people you
equip.
Spiritual Maturity – To Be Like Christ
This lesson of the facilitator training experience is designed to help you think about why you
teach adults. It will also help you answer the question, “What outcomes ought I to be looking for
when I disciple and teach others?”
Teaching toward Maturity
The Apostle Paul thought carefully about his purpose in life. In Colossians he tells us, “We
proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present
everyone perfect in Christ” (Col 1:28). In this text Paul states his goal: to see people become
mature in Christ, to see Christ formed in them. Paul wrote, “My dear children, for whom I am
again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you . . .” (Gal 4:19).
Paul could explain his purpose simply. As we equip leaders for the church, we often lose
sight of the goal. We teach a book of the Bible because it interests us, or we study a topic in
Scripture because people are curious about it. Because of this, our congregations often have a
piecemeal, disjointed view of the Scriptures and of the Christian life. We forget that the ultimate
goal is to bring people to maturity, to see Christ formed in them.
Assignment: Tell a story, draw a picture, write a poem or do some other
creative activity that describes the process of Christ being formed in a
person. What educational tasks could you design that would encourage
this process? What outcomes in the person’s life would be indicators of
progress in Christian maturity?
As the narrative of people’s lives provides a window through which we may see the quality
of their relationship with God, so the stories of Scripture provide reliable guides by which we
glimpse what it is to become like Christ. And indeed the Scriptures hold out a breathtaking
standard by which we are to compare our progress toward maturity. The standard: “Be holy for I
am holy” (Lev 11:45, 1 Pet 1:16) is certainly one beyond our reach. Except for Christ and an
utter dependence on God and his grace, this standard would leave us despairing. So as you think
about these narratives, remember that it is the work of God in the hearts of these people that
transforms them.
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Equipping Adults: Purpose and Possibilities
51
Assignment: Choose at least two of the people from the following
passages of Scripture. From their examples, describe what it means to be
mature or to be Christlike. Compare and contrast their lives. Look for
aspects of maturity as well as those moments of failure that reveal areas
where spiritual maturity is lacking. Support your observations through
specific vignettes. Look for common characteristics that would be true of
all of these people. We often learn much about people through their
prayers, so some passages containing their prayers have been included.
Joseph
David
Ruth
Mary
Genesis 37-48
1 Samuel 16-30; 2 Samuel 7, 9, 11-12
Ruth 1-4
Luke 1:26-56, 2:41-51; Mark 3:20-35; John 19:25-27
Almost every person’s life in Scripture gives us clues to what it means to
be Christlike, so you may choose other people from Scripture as well.
One specific aspect of spiritual maturity that we want consider further is that of being a
competent servant.
The Competent Servant-Leader
When we equip God’s people to serve in God’s Kingdom, the result must be that they think
like a servant. Yet today, as in the time of Christ and throughout history, leadership is most often
used as a way to exploit, do violence, take advantage, and steal from others—to engage in selfaggrandizement. Very few leaders in the secular world or in the church actually act as if they
understand that leadership is about serving. Spiritual leadership requires the attitude of a servant,
because Jesus is our ultimate model.
Servant-Leader
Jesus taught about and lived out his life as a servant. The disciples balked at this, for they
hoped for an immediate earthly reign of glory. Being a servant did not fit into their worldview of
the coming Messiah. To really be a servant is a major shift in self-definition that’s not easy—few
achieve it, but Christ commands it.
Assignment:
1. Read Matthew 20:1-28. In this passage Jesus challenges the thinking
of his followers by pointing out the difference between those who are
“first” in the Kingdom of God and those who are first in the world’s
kingdom. What are the differences? Why did the disciples struggle
with this concept of serving? Jesus even describes himself as being
one who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life
as a ransom for many” (v. 28). How did Jesus serve others while he
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52
Lesson 4
was here? Everyone struggles with being a servant. Describe your own
struggle.
2. Read 1 Peter 5:1-4. Why do you think Peter included this instruction in
his letter? What attitudes and actions does Peter commend to those
who find themselves in positions of leadership?
As you equip others for ministry, instill in them this critical element of maturity: an attitude
of humble service, of putting others first. As we look at the previous Scripture (Matt 20 and 1 Pet
5) and additional examples such as Luke 22:24-30, Ephesians 4:1-16, and 1 Thessalonians 2:112, we can see that the following attributes describe a godly servant-leader, as summarized by
Dr. Andrew Seidel:
1. Servant-leaders are self-sacrificing rather than self-seeking (Luke 22:24-27), [also Matt
20:25-28].
2. Servant-leaders lead by relationship and example rather than position and pressure
(1 Thess 2:7-12), [also Eph 4:11-12, Matt 20, 24-28, 1 Pet 5:1-4].
3. Servant leadership is active rather than passive (1 Thess 2:11-12, 1 Pet 5:1-4).
4. Servant leadership gives direction rather than allows drifting (1 Thess 2:11-12).
5. Servant-leaders exercise appropriate authority, always for the fulfillment of their mission
rather than for personal gain or advantage (1 Thess 2:11-12), [also 1 Pet 5:1-4].
6. Servant leadership functions best by equipping and empowering others to work together
rather than by functioning alone (Eph 4:11-16).
7. Servant-leaders lead by personal involvement in caring for people and their needs rather
than demanding their own needs be met (1 Thess 2:7-8), [also Matt 20:1-16, 1 Pet 5:1-4].
8. Servant leadership is a matter of character and gift rather than position and connections
(Luke 22:24-27; Eph 4:7, 11-12).27
Competent Leader
Christ directed his disciples to be servant-leaders, but he also expected them to actively
engage in ministry and be reasonably good at it. He wanted them to be competent, so he gave
them ministry assignments and coached them.
Assignment: Briefly scan Luke 10:1-24 and Matthew 10:1-42, and note
the length of the passages surrounding the sending out of the disciples.
Why do you think so much space in the Bible is devoted to these events?
Drawing on these and other passages you remember from Scripture, how
does Jesus coach and help his followers become competent in spreading
the good news of the Kingdom?
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Equipping Adults: Purpose and Possibilities
53
Those who want to serve well in God’s Kingdom need to develop skills in ministry. These
skills are the competencies that help make a person effective in God’s Kingdom. Drawing from
the experience of church leaders all over the world, Entrust has found that the foundational
competence is a person’s ability to take responsibility for and actively seek to develop Christlike
character. This is a process that occurs internally, within the person. There are important
community aspects to growth in maturity, as well.
Assignment: What skills or competencies does a leader or pastor in your
situation or your country need? Which are most vital?
One reason we have chosen a competence approach to ministry skill development is that we
want to provide a framework that can be used to build sustainable training systems anywhere in
the world that are not dependent on a “packaged program” imported from an outside culture.
The process for developing this is quite simple, and here are the steps:
1. Decide what a healthy church looks like, where people are growing in spiritual maturity
and making Christ real in their communities.
2. Decide what competencies are most needed in a servant-leader for the church to be
healthy.
3. Decide what insights a person must have in order to be competent in the ministry skills
required in that context.
4. Choose practical assignments that will guide a person to becoming competent in these
ministry skills.
5. Decide on the minimum amount of content a person needs in order to do the practical
assignments.
After you have carefully defined all of these steps, you are ready to build the curriculum for
the training system you have envisioned. Below are the eight competencies we have found
necessary in many different cultures, and upon which we have built our curriculum. How they
look from culture to culture is quite different. No one is an expert in all these competencies, but a
skilled leader either grows in these skills or builds a team with these skills.
1. Administering is the ability to organize, manage, and administer effectively in any setting.
One who is competent in administering:
1. Plans and organizes the means to help people reach specific ministry goals.
2. Sees the potential in people, is optimistic, delegates appropriately, listens actively,
and confronts with grace and humility.
3. Manages others without dominance or “lording” over others, but with confidence,
humility, and seeking only God’s glory.
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54
Lesson 4
4. Has a moral compass that protects from subtly compromising biblical morality for the
sake of reaching a goal.
An assignment that would test evidence of competence in this skill might be organizing and
delegating responsibility for a Christian program or event.
2. Discipling is the ability to guide a person to become conformed to the image of Christ.
One who is competent in discipling:
1. Establishes with the disciple a relationship as a spiritual guide, spends regular time
with the disciple, and helps the disciple mature into the likeness of Christ.
2. Develops in the disciple a commitment to the Great Commission—evangelism and
discipleship.
3. Exhibits many supportive, compassionate traits as an expression of a strong desire to
see people grow in Christ.
Evidence of this skill competence could be discipling a person or leading a small group to
ground them in the basics of the Christian life, using a specific, systematic plan. When
possible, these sessions should be observed and evaluated by a qualified trainer.
3. Evangelizing is the ability to present the gospel in a way that people come to a saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ.
One who is competent in evangelizing:
1. Shares the gospel clearly and succinctly, keeping the focus on the person and work of
Christ and the need to believe in him for salvation.
2. Shares one’s personal testimony verbally and demonstrates its effects in daily life.
3. Explains one’s personal beliefs on issues involved in evangelism, such as repentance
and eternal security.
4. Handles typical objections (e.g., “What about those who have never heard?”)
correctly but concisely, without offense, seeking to keep the focus on the gospel
presentation.
5. Does not evangelize mechanically or merely to achieve numbers of converts.
6. Speaks easily with and relates well to people, speaking persuasively but without
manipulating or coercing.
Evidence of competence for this skill could be communicating, on two separate occasions,
the essential elements of the gospel effectively to a non-Christian in the presence of an
evaluator.
4. Lay Counseling is the ability to work knowledgeably and sensitively, from a biblical
perspective, to encourage and guide a counselee toward resolutions of personal problems.
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Equipping Adults: Purpose and Possibilities
55
One who is competent in lay counseling:
1. Establishes a humble, trusting, supportive relationship with the counselee.
2. Listens actively to gain understanding into the counselee’s problem.
3. Helps the counselee identify and understand the problem and determine steps toward
a solution from a biblical perspective.
4. Recognizes problems that are beyond one’s scope of abilities and refers the counselee
to someone with more knowledge or a professional counselor.
Evidence of competence for this skill could be to role-play three counseling situations
(determined by an evaluator) in which the following skills are demonstrated:
a. Conducting a complete counseling session
b. Using questions and guiding comments
c. Appling biblical principles in a appropriate and timely manner
5. Leading is the ability to motivate, guide, and equip people to reach common biblical or
ministry goals.
One who is competent in leading:
1. Has a moral compass that protects this person from subtly compromising biblical
morality for the sake of achieving a goal.
2. Has a vision for future ministry and motivates others to follow in reaching that goal.
3. Leads others in a new direction in a biblical way.
4. Is willing to change the status quo with resolve—even risks—but with the heart of a
servant.
5. Works well with people in any setting.
6. Sees the potential in people, is optimistic yet realistic, delegates appropriately, listens
actively to people, and confronts—when necessary—with grace and humility.
7. Uses authority wisely and biblically.
8. Recruits others who have gifts lacking in the leader for reaching a particular goal and
delegates to them responsibilities to help in reaching that goal.
Evidence of competence for this skill could be to assess one’s ministry setting, identify and
plan a new ministry opportunity based on shared goals, drawing in others to participate, and
establishing a plan to measure progress toward reaching those goals.
6. Pastoring is the ability to shepherd spiritually.
One who is competent in pastoring:
1. Enters into and shares in the lives of those being pastored.
2. Ministers to others in a variety of situations.
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56
Lesson 4
3. Seeks to be a peacemaker in the family, church, and community; manages the family
well; maintains good relationships with spouse and children; and promotes good
relationships.
Evidence of competence for this skill could be to minister in real-life situations—two
pleasant and two difficult—with an evaluator.
7. Preaching is the ability to communicate God’s word effectively in sermonic form.
One who is competent in preaching:
1. Prepares for a sermon with a biblical study that is exegetically accurate and identifies
eternal principles for application.
2. Prepares a sermon that is well organized.
3. Preaches clearly and with humility a sermon that exhibits at least the following:
a. Good preaching techniques
b. Application that is transformational and according to the culture of that setting
Evidence of competence for this skill could be to require the preaching of three sermons in a
church ministry context, with at least one from the Old Testament, one from the New
Testament, and one on a biblical topic. Each would be evaluated by at least three qualified
people. The student must preach satisfactorily on all three sermons.
8. Teaching is the ability to communicate biblical truth effectively in any setting.
One who is competent in teaching should be able to:
1. Prepare a lesson that is well organized.
2. Prepare a biblical study that is exegetically accurate and identifies eternal principles.
3. Teach clearly and with humility a lesson that exhibits at least the following:
a. A variety of teaching methods according to the characteristics and needs of the
students
b. Application that is transformational and according to the culture of that setting
Evidence of competence for this skill could be to teach three lessons in a ministry context:
two on a biblical passage and one on a biblical topic, showing knowledge of effective
teaching skills and a variety of methods of involving students in the learning process. Each
lesson would be evaluated by at least three people according to established educational
criteria.
In your situation you may not want to or be able to address all of these competencies, or you
may categorize them differently or have different competencies. What matters is that you clearly
understand those a servant-leader needs in your context.
After you describe these competencies, the next step is to decide in what situations people
must exhibit typical competence in that ministry skill. Then ask yourself what insights people
must have if they are going to be able to transfer that competence from one situation to another.
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Equipping Adults: Purpose and Possibilities
57
The next step is to establish the assignments that they ought to do if they are going to achieve
typical competence in a skill area. Finally, the last step is to decide what is the minimum amount
of content people need in order to do the assignments.
As we write or facilitate courses, we need to keep in mind the skills a leader needs to
develop. Rather than do a random study, keeping these competencies in mind can help ensure
that when we are finished facilitating the learning experience, the individual has the skills to be a
good leader. These skills help an individual meet the challenges of leadership.
Another powerful aspect of the competence approach is that it frees you to design leadership
training that is not dependent on a particular program or study materials. When you understand
the competence-based approach, you will be able to choose the materials that are already
available in that language.
Keep in mind the meaning of the word “competent.” It does not mean that a person is an
expert; it means that a person is able to do something adequately. Usually one person cannot
achieve excellence in all these areas. But an individual may be able to function reasonably well
in more than one area. As we learned in the section on servant leadership, it is important to look
for fellow team members who are strong in our areas of weakness.
Summary
This lesson has provided a biblical rationale for equipping others. Why do we equip? So that
we can help people become mature, to become like Christ. Two aspects of spiritual maturity that
are of particular importance for equipping laborers for God’s harvest are both the heart of a
servant and the competence in skills needed to serve and minister. By God’s grace we seek to
grow and become the leader others can follow.
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5
Lesson
Facilitating Small Groups
John was excited about learning through small groups, so he offered to lead a discipleship
group in his local church. His pastor gave him a list of people. John called them and arranged for
the first meeting. They met, but the Bible study did not go as John had envisioned. He prepared
questions ahead of time based on the Scripture passage, but he could never get the conversation
to flow. The dialogue felt awkward and stilted. John tried to fill in those embarrassingly long
silences, but he just could not get people to participate. To say that they had a discussion would
be an overstatement! What really happened was that John asked questions, and then answered
them himself after long silences. He felt that those who came to the study left wondering if they
would come back.
Assignment: What went wrong in John’s first small group? What should
he have done differently? How could John have prepared differently?
What could he have done to involve more people in the group?
Lesson Outline
Responsibility and Trust
Discussion Techniques
Choosing the Right Response
Responding to Inadequate Participation
Lesson Objectives
This lesson will help you to:
Encourage balanced participation by everyone in the discussion.
Use silence to strengthen the group.
Listen for real understanding so that you can guide the discussion and respond
adequately to the unfolding conversational dynamic of the group.
When you think about learning, you often think about a classroom where the teacher speaks
and the students listen and then repeat. Learning through small groups is totally different, and
sometimes we need to make sure that the student understands this clearly. In small group
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Lesson 5
learning, the teacher actually facilitates the learning by group discussion. The teacher believes
that each participant has value to add to the learning experience.
Responsibility and Trust
The Facilitator-Learner Contract
One of the best ways to ensure a successful seminar experience is to establish a facilitatorlearner contract at the very first meeting. The contract makes the responsibilities of the learner
and the facilitator explicit. Everyone knows what the expectations, roles, and responsibilities are
for themselves and others. We use the following contract or modifications of it, depending on the
circumstances, and we go over it with the group, so that each person clearly understands what the
expectations are:
1. The quality of this learning experience depends on each person in the group; therefore,
attendance is absolutely necessary. This is a peer learning experience. If you miss a
session, the rest of us suffer personally, because 1) we are trying to establish close
relationships, and 2) our learning experience will be diminished because we will not be
able to draw on the treasure of your experiences and insights. The facilitator will learn as
much or more than you will, so attendance is absolutely critical.
2. Your responsibility is to do the assignments before the seminar starts. Why is this so
important? Because you are a valuable member of this learning group. Your very best
participation benefits the rest of us. The only way that you can participate adequately is if
you faithfully complete the assignments.
3. You have another equally important responsibility, and that is to actively participate in
the group. You do this by sharing your prayer requests and praying for others,
contributing to the conversation on the subject we are studying, respectfully challenging
statements that are made with which you do not agree, asking questions when you do not
understand, being aware of the other participants and ensuring that everyone is
contributing, carefully listening to others so that you can build on what they say rather
than only thinking about what you want to say next (maintaining continuity), encouraging
the shy or quiet person to contribute, and encouraging the talkative person to listen.
4. Another important responsibility is to guard the confidentiality of personal information
that is shared by individuals in the group. There must be a climate of acceptance and trust
that allows people to genuinely participate in the discussion.
5. My responsibility, as the facilitator, is to guide the learning experience, not to dominate
it. I want each of you to find your “voice;” that is, I want each of you to feel safe enough
to tell us about your life experiences, your insights, your feelings, and your beliefs about
the subject we are studying. You are also free to point out to me if I lapse into “lecture
mode” or don’t allow enough time for others to speak.
6. My responsibility is to ensure that the homework is completed adequately.
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Facilitating Small Groups
61
7. My responsibility is to encourage the shy person to contribute because we all really do
need to hear what you think and why you think as you do.
8. My responsibility is to ensure that the more talkative ones do not dominate the group. If I
think you are not allowing enough time for the voice of others, I will tell you privately
and ask you to be self-observant about the quality of your participation. Remember, you
are an integral part of a learning team; there are no superstars, no solo learners. If the
behavior continues after speaking with you privately, my responsibility to the group for
the quality of the learning experience requires that I tactfully bring to your attention in
front of the group the need to let others speak.
Usually a contract like this helps everyone understand the expectations and helps them rise to
the challenge of creating a life-changing learning experience.
The Importance of Trust
In a regular classroom, it is not crucial that students know each other that well, because they
will only have incidental contact with each other. But in a small group, it is vital that students not
only know each other, but that they trust each other. This takes time. Introductions are vital in
small group settings. Knowing names, backgrounds, salvation “histories,” reasons for wanting to
study, and expectations for being in a small group can all contribute to a trusting atmosphere. As
individuals in a group know each other better, they can pray more thoughtfully for each other
and develop a trusting environment that allows for the free sharing of ideas.
Assignment: If you are in a new small group (maybe this facilitator
training is one of those times), what do you want to know about the others
in your group? What would make you feel more comfortable? What would
help you share your real thoughts, your honest opinions?
There are many questions that can help a group of people get to know each other. It might be
helpful to start each session with a nonthreatening open question that lets people get acquainted.
Examples could include some of the following:
What is your name?
What brought you to this meeting?
Where were you born?
How did you become a believer in Jesus Christ?
If money and time were no issue, what would you do with the next five years of your life?
Describe your favorite birthday present.
What is your favorite dessert?
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62
Lesson 5
Discussion Techniques
Follow-up Questions
Sometimes a question is too good to leave after a few minutes of discussion. Students can be
encouraged to go deeper. In fact, a stimulating discussion can take place with one good question,
and then the follow-up question, “What else do you think about this?” There are many situations
when a follow-up question would encourage healthy discussion. Remember that the tone of your
voice and attitude of your heart speak as loudly as the actual words you use. Following is a list of
plausible generic problems and ways to respond that enhance discussion.
1. If you don’t understand what a student has said:
a. Ask, “Why do you say that?” or ask, “What do you mean when you say…?”
b. Or you can refer to a specific word or phrase and ask, “What do you think this
means? How does it fit in?”
2. If you think a student is confused in a position taken:
a. Ask, “Would you explain your statement?”
b. Or ask, “Could you take us to the text and explain to us how you reasoned to your
conclusion?”
c. Or you can ask others for their view to clarify the situation by asking, “What do
others of you think about that?”
3. If you think a student is incorrect in the use of a word:
a. Ask, “Why do you use this word?”
b. Ask, “Is this what the author intended?”
4. If the student is talking too fast or speaking without thinking:
a. Say, “I don’t quite follow you; would you explain? Would you repeat your
statement?”
b. Or you could say, “Could you help us follow a little more closely what you are
suggesting?”
5. If one or more students are puzzled about something in the reading:
a. Ask them what it is that is puzzling. Locate the specific word or phrase and construct
an accurate meaning.
b. Use an example to illustrate the polar positions and to force choice questions, such as
“Is it yes or no, or is it X or Y?”
6. If you want to involve other students:
a. Ask, “What do you think about that last statement?”
b. Ask, “Do you agree with…?”
7. If you think the group or student is straying too far off the subject:
a. Ask, “How do you relate that to the reading?”
b. Say, “Interesting point, but let’s focus on today’s reading. With regard to today’s
reading, how would you explain…?”
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Facilitating Small Groups
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8. If you think the student needs some assistance:
a. Ask, “Do you understand the question?”
b. Ask, “Do you think it is _____ or ____?”
9. If a student does not answer:
a. Wait awhile.
b. Rephrase or clarify the question.
Silence
But what about silence? If this is supposed to be a discussion, then are times of silence a sign
of failure to be avoided at all costs? Not at all. People need time to think and formulate their
thoughts before they can express them in words. In fact, good thought-provoking questions
require more time to think than do poor questions. Make sure the question is clear and open.
Sometimes there is silence because people do not understand the question—it’s too complicated.
Beware of complicated questions, especially if you are working with an interpreter.
Sometimes people refuse to answer if the question calls for an answer that is too simple. Or
they will not answer if they think you are fishing for a specific answer. But if the question is a
good one—that is, it’s open, it’s interesting even to you, it’s not too simplistic, it’s not leading,
and it’s not a yes/no question—and there is still silence, you could say, “I want you to be
comfortable with this silence, because silence does not bother me. I appreciate that you are
thinking about the question. When you have collected your thoughts on this question, feel free to
break the silence and share your thoughts.” Usually this relieves the tension that silence may
cause. It gives participants freedom to think as well as talk. Two minutes of silence can seem like
torture. But choose to be comfortable with it. If you want to get to a dynamic, interesting,
challenging discussion, you should not fill the silence with your own voice.
But what if you have a group of very quiet people and there is no discussion at all, only
silence? In these rare situations, you could structure the small group time differently. Ask a clear,
open question. Make sure everyone understands the question. Then suggest that each individual
think about his or her answer for five minutes, and then write them down on paper. After that
time, explain that you would like everyone in the group to share what has been written. If this is
still too threatening, suggest that they meet in pairs to discuss their thoughts. Then have people
share with the whole group the significant thoughts from their partners. In this manner, people
are validating comments as being significant, giving the quiet ones more confidence to share
ideas.
If your group is still silent, then look at your responses to students’ contributions. Are you
critical or accepting? Are you listening to what they are saying? Do the students feel that you
value their contribution? Are you so desperate for participation that you are embarrassingly too
enthusiastic whenever anyone makes any sort of contribution? Make sure you set the example of
caring, listening, and discussing.
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64
Lesson 5
Listening is Hard Work
At the beginning, you may find listening difficult. You may be worried whether people will
respond or not. You may find yourself thinking about the next question you want to ask. Over
time, these nervous reactions (and that’s really what they are) will subside. Soon you will find
yourself listening intently to the other participants as you become fully engaged in the
conversation.
People are often given awards for their ability to speak in public. Debate teams teach the skill
of reasoned argument in public debate, and clubs are formed to help people learn to speak
publicly. The best speechmakers of the year receive honors.
Yet seldom are people given awards for their ability to listen carefully. Scripture values the
person who listens: “He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame,” (Prov
18:13) and “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (Jas 1:19).
As a seminar leader, one of the necessary skills to develop is the ability to see from other
people’s viewpoints. This is called “perspective-taking,” and it is a mark of maturity. The first
step toward being able to see from other people’s perspectives is to listen. Listen for substance,
logic, accuracy, continuity, emotional involvement, and selection.
1. Substance. First, listen for the student’s command of the substance of the material. Does
the student know the material? Is his knowledge reflected in his answer? Some students may try
to participate in a discussion without thinking seriously about the material.
2. Logic. Listen carefully for the logic of the argument. Is it evident that the student is
thinking correctly? Is the argument reasonable and logical, or is it quite obtuse and whimsical?
Does the logic seem faulty? Give other participants the opportunity to respond. Their responses
will often correct faulty logic without your having to intrude.
3. Accuracy. Listen for the accuracy of the answer. Sometimes the logic may be good and
compelling, but the answer may be wrong. If the student arrives at a wrong answer, give the
other participants a chance to correct and refine that answer through their responses. If you have
to correct, be careful to affirm the student as you correct the answer.
4. Continuity. Listen carefully for continuity in the flow of the discussion. You want to
encourage your students to build on each other’s answers. Often students fail to listen to the
answers of their peers because they are too busy formulating their own responses. They don’t
think that the response of a peer can be as good as the teacher’s response or as good as their own.
The result is that they fail to connect their answers to the contribution of the last person. When
this happens, a discussion becomes disjointed, with random answer following random answer
and no sense of a real conversation. Real conversations are characterized by continuity.
We probably all have had the experience of being in a discussion where people made
contributions, but never with continuity. They would make a point that was related to something
said earlier or something that was tangential to the conversation. Their comments created a
peculiar feeling; it was like being involved in a deep discussion with a good friend and having a
stranger suddenly interrupt.
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Facilitating Small Groups
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Continuity can be encouraged by asking the person to explain how his or her answer fits with
the contribution of the previous student. Or you can have a student ask a question that
appropriately builds on the last person’s contribution. You will probably be able to think of other
ways to build continuity, but make sure the group realizes the important contribution that it
makes in leading the whole group toward a genuine conversation.
You have achieved a great deal as a discussion leader, and your group has taken a step of
maturity when it enters into a conversation where each person listens to the others and builds his
or her response on what others have said.
Listen carefully for the ability of the participants to listen to each other. Students sometimes
become so involved with their own thoughts that they fail to grapple with the contributions of the
other participants. Create an environment that requires students to listen to each other by
modeling the behavior yourself—build on their comments and contributions instead of just your
own. When you create this environment by modeling it, the learners will also value the
contributions of their colleagues.
5. Emotional Involvement. Listen carefully for the emotional involvement of contributors.
Do they sound detached, or are they truly engaged with the material and with the other people?
Can you sense emotion and feeling in their answers?
Listening not only involves our sense of hearing but also our sense of sight. Students speak
with their body, not just with words. Watch for students who detach with their body language:
they often fold or cross their arms, they look at the teacher but not at the rest of the group, they
are nervous, they look down, or they look away. Perhaps your culture uses other body language
to convey detachment. Know what that body language is and look for it.
Detachment arises for several reasons. The learner may be tired or may be undergoing some
unusual stress at home or at work. It may result from external causes that may soon pass.
Detachment and disinterest also arise from an inability of the student to deal with the study
material. Try to determine the cause of the detachment and privately pray for these students. If
you have a chance, try to help them recognize their detachment and help them through the causes
of it.
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66
Lesson 5
A discussion group leader leads her group much like the conductor leads an orchestra. 28 In
other words, the group leader must hear each student and listen carefully to what each has to say.
At the same time, she must listen for continuity and for the direction of the whole conversation.
She must guide it so that the contributions of all the students, when woven together, will reach
the objectives of understanding that she has established.
6. Selection. The possibly apocryphal story of a reporter visiting Robert Frost illustrates the
importance of selection:
Frost did not like to be interviewed so he glared at the visitor and asked, “You got
one of those machines—those recorders?” “No sir,” the reporter responded.
“Well, all right,” Frost said. “Come on in. Those people who take down every
word never get anything right.” 29
Frost understood the importance of listening selectively. Reporters who took recording
machines and copied every word failed to understand the significance of the conversation. When
you try to hear everything, you fail to screen out the unimportant, the tangential, the vacuous;
you fail to get to the heart of the issue.
So it is when you lead a discussion—you have to be selective in choosing those contributions
that are most appropriate for moving the conversation along the most profitable paths. This
ability to be selective provides you with the raw material from which you will fashion your
responses throughout the lesson. Listening is hard work. As a discussion group leader, you must
master the ability to hear your students—not only their words, but also the nuance of their
emotion and meaning.
Assignment: When you are listening to others, what is your greatest
obstacle to hearing what is said? What causes that problem for you?
Choosing the Right Response
After you have listened, you then have to respond appropriately. Each contribution opens the
door for multiple responses. One of the most challenging aspects of discussion leading is to
choose an appropriate response. Your skillful responses will greatly enhance the discussion
within the group. Responding correctly to the various situations that arise during a discussion—
the comments made, the nuances of meaning, the emotions displayed—requires practice. Perhaps
the most difficult of all the skills that a discussion leader must master is the skill of responding
appropriately.
Your response has great power. The problem is that you have very little time to make choices
in this area. You must quickly analyze what is going on and choose your responses
appropriately.
Perhaps a simple “decision tree” will help you visualize and understand what possibilities are
open to you as you respond. At first, this tool may seem too complicated and unwieldy to
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Facilitating Small Groups
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remember, but if you work with it for awhile, you will become more adept at correctly choosing
a good response.
Decision trees are a simple tool to help you make choices in responding. When you choose to
go one way or the other, your remaining choices are limited to those along that “branch” of the
tree. Every time a student offers a comment, you have a choice: you can either continue the
dialogue with that student yourself, or you can allow the students to converse among themselves.
Either choice you make opens the way for a few other choices, as described in Figure 1.
To encourage student-to-student interaction, simply repeat the same question and ask others
to comment. Encourage students to look at each other instead of always looking at you as they
respond. Another way to engage students with each other in a discussion is to provide a structure
for dialogue between two students. Ask one student to present his or her views, then contrast or
compare them with the student who just contributed. When you first begin leading discussions, it
is quite difficult to remember the choices you have. As you review and practice using this
decision tree, you will find that your ability to select the right choice becomes more natural. As
mentioned earlier, becoming a discussion leader is a lot like riding a bike: at first, you feel
wobbly; you even fail, but eventually you forget the process and become a full participant in the
experience.
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68
Lesson 5
As you choose your response, consider the impact of your choice on the whole group and on
the particular student. Some considerations, suggested by Christensen, will help you evaluate the
quality of your response and its potential impact:
1. Will my response put the speaker at high risk in terms of self-esteem or peer
relationships? Scoring a teaching point, even a very important one, is never worth
sacrificing a student.
2. Will my response balance the needs of the individual student and the wider group? Will it
focus attention on matters of interest to many members of the class and not simply the
speaker of the moment?
3. Will my response balance the immediate interests of the class with the need to cover the
instructional program of the day [objectives of the seminar]? Ignoring students’ interests
minimizes their involvement; failure to cover material essential for understanding
upcoming assignments threatens future progress.
4. Will my response stretch the group’s knowledge of subject material and its discussion
expertise and yet permit honorable retreat if my expectations are unrealistic?
5. Will my response fit the norms and values of the learning community—cohere with terms
of the teacher-student learning contract?
6. Will my response balance the amount of available class time with that needed to explore
the topic in appropriate depth? 30
Not only do you have to know how to respond to good contributions, you also need to know
how you will deal with inadequate responses or participation of people in the group, which tends
to destroy the positive environment of the group and distracts it from the core issue of learning.
Responding to Inadequate Participation
One of your greatest challenges as a discussion leader is to choose how to respond to
inadequate participation, of which there are several different forms. Sometimes students give
wrong answers, fail to recognize an excellent response from a peer, become overly emotional,
are too shy to speak, or speak too much. As a discussion leader, you must deal with all of these
problems.
Assignment: Have you ever led a discussion where one participant
dominates the conversation? What have you found to be effective ways to
handle this situation? Conversely, have you led a discussion where one
person never participates? What have you found effective in helping that
person overcome his or her shyness?
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Facilitating Small Groups
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Wrong Answers. How should you respond to wrong answers? An important guideline to
follow is to seldom call a wrong answer into question publicly. Only if a student makes a terrible
mistake of fact or judgment should there be any focus on it. Even in these cases, the best way to
handle a wrong answer is to rely on the group to correct it. Try not to correct the answer
yourself. An easy question you can ask the group when the answer is blatantly wrong is, “What
does someone else think?” Almost invariably, other people in the group will share a perspective
that corrects the wrong answer. This saves you, the leader, from having to correct the mistake.
Why would you want to shift correction to the group? For one thing, it maintains your
position as the person who makes the group a safe place. Furthermore, it lets the group know that
they are all equally responsible for keeping the group traveling in the right direction.
Try not to be the one who does the correcting, but rely on the discipline and intelligence of
the group. It is an ineffective use of class time to try to correct every minor error that arises, so
be selective about the errors that you correct. Remember, you have the opportunity to speak last,
to summarize. At that time you can select the appropriate answers and pass over those that are
inadequate.
If students come to a wrong conclusion or make statements that seem to confuse the issue
rather than clarify, offer them another opportunity. Simply ask them to explain what they said in
more depth. You could also pose a situation that exposes the fallacy in their thinking, and then
ask how their statement relates.
For example, suppose a student states that a person cannot really be a Christian and be a
member of denomination X (substitute any denomination here). You might ask, “How important
is it which church you attend?” Allow a few minutes of discussion. Then ask, “Does salvation
come from the church you attend? Explain.” Allow a few minutes for discussion. That kind of
insightful question helps students comprehend the ramifications of their conclusions. As you
become a skillful discussion guide, you will be able to ask students to validate their conclusions
through these kinds of questions. Be very gentle. Think of the impact that your questions will
have on the person and the whole group. Do not cause the person to feel degraded or threatened.
Failure to Recognize an Excellent Response. You will want to draw attention to good
responses. Sometimes learners fail to appreciate excellent responses that come from people other
than the leader. They do not grasp the importance of the insight and experience of the other
people in the group. When this happens, stop the discussion and focus on the value of the
contribution. Simply ask the student to repeat what he or she said. Then ask the other students
the significance of that contribution. By focusing on excellent answers, you can help the group
learn to value the contributions of others.
Remember that praise and blame include some perils. Praise motivates students. When you
praise a good response, a few learners may become so self-confident that they cross the line of
discretion and begin to think that all their contributions are invaluable. Be careful about giving
too much praise during the discussion, although at the beginning of a new group, when the
students are unsure of themselves, your affirmation will help them become less self-conscious.
Their confidence will grow until all fully participate. At the beginning, be more liberal with your
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70
Lesson 5
encouragement. As the group matures, as they know each other better, and as they begin to work
together, your statements of encouragement and praise can begin to diminish. Learners will then
receive affirmation from the whole group, and not just the leader.
Overly Emotional Responses. When confronted with a very emotional response, it is
important to recognize the emotion. Some subjects, especially those that deal with the study of
Scripture, can be very emotional. What people believe lies at the very core of who they are, at
the very center of their being. When a lesson presents a different view from the person’s tightly
held core belief system, the teacher can expect some emotion!
You must defuse what could become negative emotional responses. The way to defuse the
situation is to openly recognize that people often have strong feelings about the issue. This
acknowledgement validates the emotional person’s feelings and recognizes that people have
different views. Explain that these feelings are not wrong. Try to lower the passion level and
focus instead on more rational and logical ways of viewing the subject. Again, do not expect all
the group members to believe what you believe. That kind of conformity would weaken the
group and diminish the learning both for you and for them.
The Shy Person. As mentioned before, you will find it necessary to gently lead shy people
into the discussion. Choose a simple question that you are sure they can answer, even a question
with a straightforward yes/no response.
Once they answer, gently ask them to explain it in more depth. When they enter the
discussion, offer them a supportive, positive response, even if their comments are of marginal
quality. You can always find something of worth in their contribution that will allow you to
proceed to the next step of your inquiry. Then choose, as the next person to respond, someone
you know who will be positive and supportive of the shy person’s contribution.
Another way to integrate shy people into the group is by asking a thoughtful, yet relatively
simple question that everyone in the group answers in turn. Even then, when the quieter person
answers the question, she may say, “My answer is just like John’s.” Or she might say, “I really
don’t have anything to add.” When this happens simply ask, “What do you understand the other
person’s answer to mean?” Once you get a response, then ask her to expand or explain her
response in more depth. In this way, you demonstrate the value you place on her contribution.
Some people may just try to avoid answering at all. You need to keep people from being
comfortable with this silent “role.” Probably, the best way to avoid this problem is, from the very
beginning, by setting the expectation and requirement that each person answer your launching
questions.
The Overly Talkative Person. Some people just talk too much! Many times they do not
recognize that they tend to dominate the conversation, filling up most of the verbal space. When
this happens during the meeting, you could say, “Let’s get someone else’s opinion,” or “Let’s see
what someone else thinks.” If they still dominate the discussion, you will have to deal with them
in a gracious way. Privately remind them of the learning contract, and explain why you think
their participation is diminishing the quality of the learning experience. Ask them to be mindful
of how often they speak. If this does not help, ask the talkative person to keep track of the
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Facilitating Small Groups
71
number of times each person speaks during the next seminar. Having the person make a simple
list of each participant’s name in the group and then marking each time someone contributes,
often clarifies and resolves the problem. If this still does not work, ask the person for permission
to remind them publicly, but graciously, of the need to let others speak.
Responding to these different discussion challenges may well be the most difficult task of the
group leader. The suggestions above will guide you in choosing adequate responses that will
allow the discussion to flourish and grow.
Assignment: Thinking back to the example given at the very beginning of
this lesson, what advice would you give John to help him avoid having the
same experience the next time the group meets?
Summary
The seminar leader’s most powerful tool is the question. Carefully planned and written
questions can stimulate deep thought within each learner. Beyond the individual, good questions
can bring a group of adults in conversation to a more comprehensive and adequate understanding
than the sum of the understandings of the individuals in the group. If student contributions are
inadequate, the facilitator must carefully respond to them so that they are properly dealt with,
without humiliating the students. The best seminar discussion looks and feels like a deep
conversation, with everyone contributing, listening intently to what others have to say, and
responding in a way that builds continuity of thought.
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6
Lesson
Planning the Seminar
Sarah was grateful for all the Lord had done in her life to allow her to study, grow, and
develop her skills as a facilitator and discipler. When she was a student, she was often not as
prepared as she wanted to be for her seminar times, but she knew she needed to grow in her
ability to think ahead and plan well for the precious time she would later have with her own
students. Now that she was a leader/mentor, she felt the weight of the privilege she had of
investing in other’s lives: being prepared, being on time, and being available to her students. She
knew they were all very busy people, and she wanted to honor the time they were committing to
being trained. Being a facilitator was much more challenging than being a student!
Too often the precious minutes of the seminar time were gobbled up with the details of
getting started, having personal conversations, arranging the room, checking homework, waiting
on students, or providing food and drink for the breaks. While there would always be surprises to
deal with, Sarah felt sure that much of this “wasted time” could be avoided.
Assignment: Why do you think Sarah’s experience as a facilitator and
leader was so much more challenging than when she was a student? What
are some of the factors she might be dealing with now, that she did not
have to deal with as a student? How might she address her frustration over
the “wasted time”? How might she prepare her students to be more
effective in this area of their training?
Lesson Outline
The Flow of the Seminar
Effective Resolution of Problems
Facilitator Responsibilities Summary
Lesson Objectives
This lesson will help you:
Plan and implement a seminar based on interactive teaching.
Understand your responsibilities to lead, administrate, and facilitate adult learning.
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Lesson 6
Become aware of some of the problems you will face as you facilitate adult learning and
will help you overcome those problems.
The Flow of the Seminar
Keep in mind that every seminar is part of a larger curriculum. Be aware of which lessons,
issues, and training activities occurred in the seminar before, as well as which ones will come
next, so that you make your particular seminar a connected part of the overall training goals. You
have the freedom to structure the seminar time any way you choose. However, important aspects
of a training experience need dedicated time in each seminar. These aspects will be discussed
separately. Remember, training involves the development of skills, vision, and a lifestyle of
discipleship, not just the transfer of content. The outcome we want is not just trained teachers
but—even more—shepherds, disciplers, and equippers for the church, which will help lead to a
healthy multiplying church. Are we planning our seminar times around the development of these
skills through actual practice, interaction, and evaluation?
Preparation
1. Prayer. The most important aspect of preparation is prayer. Ask God to work in the
students’ hearts to encourage them to be diligent in their studies. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach
them important truths from the lesson that they are studying. Pray for the health of the students,
so that they will be able to attend the seminars. Ask God to bless homework assignments. Many
of the assignments require that the learner be involved in doing actual ministry. Ask the Holy
Spirit to cause students to have a unique experience tailored for them as they engage in these
practical assignments. Ask that each student come back to the seminar ready to reflect deeply on
what they have experienced. The importance of prayer for your students cannot be over
emphasized, so pray for each one of them.
Pray for yourself, as well. Ask God to give you a real curiosity about the lesson and a
genuine curiosity about how the students relate the lesson to their life experiences. If you are not
curious about how the lives of the students are challenged by the lesson, the questions you ask
will probably be more tangential rather than to the heart of the issues. And if you think you grasp
the material completely and the students’ insights will not be valuable for your own learning,
then you will not really listen for understanding. Pray that God will give you a deep love for each
student, and a true curiosity.
Pray also for the seminar event. Ask God to protect the time of the seminar, so that the
discussion will be rich and rewarding. Ask God to place in the heart of students burning
questions for which they feel they must have an answer. Ask God to give them real insight, so
that their contribution in the discussion will be significant and helpful to the others. Ask God to
give you wisdom as you lead the discussion, especially if you encounter difficulties.31
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Planning the Seminar
75
Assignment: Read Titus 2:1-13. What do you think would be involved in
the kind of teaching Paul is exhorting Titus to carry out in this passage?
What might it look like? What do you see in the passage that you would
want to consider in how you carry out your own training ministry?
2. The Schedule. Mapping out your priorities for the seminar time is valuable in making the
best use of this entrustment of time. Though it shouldn’t be a straight-jacket, the schedule can be
an invaluable guide for staying on track and re-orienting students through the ebb and flow of
interaction. The better you plan, the more flexible you can be during the seminar itself. Write up
a basic schedule for each seminar, because “if you aim at nothing, you usually hit it.” The
schedule can be evaluated day to day and adjusted if you are doing back-to-back seminars over a
weekend or several days. Consider how much of your seminar time will be used for:
1. Starting and ending on time. Maybe include a social time before the session, especially
when students have to depend on buses and trains to get to the seminar.
2. Responsibilities of each team member: communicate these well ahead of time.
3. Prayer time.
4. Personal and/or ministry sharing.
5. Announcements. These should be seen as a key part of effective body life, so keep them
organized and focused, not haphazard or trivial.
6. Administrative tasks or exercises. Include time in the schedule for both learning to plan
and then actually planning (church ministry assignments, special events, next-level
training, next seminar schedule, etc.).
7. The lesson plan: teaching/training/discussion questions specifically related to the lesson
content.
8. Skills practice. Plan adequate time for students to practice doing what they are learning:
writing and sharing questions, leading the group through questions, facilitating part of the
lesson, organizing a project, building/evaluating teams for next-level training, resolving
any actual conflict that might arise or interact on case studies, interpersonal issues, drama
and role play, etc.
9. Fellowship times. Find time with students in which you are not in your teacher role, so
they can make a more personal connection with who you are. These times can include:
a. Breaks in the session
b. Meals around the session
c. Home visits outside the session
d. (Other)
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Lesson 6
Remember, planning and activities must be done in light of desired outcomes in the life and
ministry of the student. Ask yourself, “Does it support what we want to see happen, or is it just
an activity that we perform because that’s how we’ve always done it?” Everything in your
schedule should relate directly to your goals of promoting character, skills, relational growth,
vision, knowledge and understanding. As a facilitator, you need to do the personal work of
evaluating and describing how each part of your schedule contributes to your outcomes. You
may discover you need more of something and less of something else, or you may see something
that is not necessary after all. Always ask yourself why a particular element is in your schedule.
The seminar begins several days in advance of the actual meeting. On the day of the seminar,
it is important to arrive at the site early so that you can ensure that the setting for the seminar is a
welcoming one. You must prepare well; otherwise, you might revert to lecture, which can kill
learning. Preparation also includes time to pray for the students, to meet privately with those
students you personally mentor, to remind people of the meeting (if that is necessary), and to
ensure before the others arrive that the meeting place is arranged in a way that will be inviting
and hospitable.
Assignment: Observe the sample schedule in Appendix 9. How many
different modes and/or foci of learning do you see? What are they? How
might they serve the outcomes of servant-leader training regarding
character, content, relationship-building, vision, and skills?
3. Course Content. Before you begin to facilitate an Entrust course, you must have
completed the entire course yourself as a student. It is important that you grasp the subject of the
lesson and understand the core issues that are addressed throughout the course, not just a few
parts. Students who have worked hard and faithfully to complete their ministry assignments are
eager to share and will have many questions. Good preparation is the only way to ensure that you
manage the seminar time well. It is possible to come to the end of the seminar and realize that the
most important material was not discussed because time was lost on less important issues. By
having a good understanding of the overall course, as well as the content of each lesson and the
core issues in each lesson, you can focus on what is essential. Be sure that you understand and
keep in mind the learning objectives stated at the beginning of each lesson; this awareness will
help you stay focused.
What is essential will not be the same for every group in every place. Because of the cultural
context or current needs of the learners, certain parts of a lesson may be more valuable for one
group, and other parts of a lesson will be more valuable for another. You, the facilitator, need to
have a good grasp of both the lesson and the context for your learners to be able to make those
adjustments.
As a facilitator, you will always face the tension between wanting to cover what is in your
lesson plan and responding to the discussion as the students interact. The better you know your
material, the freer you are to lead interactively, since you will know how to bounce back and
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forth from issue to issue covered in a different order. Good lesson planning and familiarity with
your training goals not only keep you more flexible, but also more focused on your overall
target.
During your preparation, there may be times when you want to introduce extra, relevant
content that enhances a lesson. Inserting this extra content requires careful consideration, since
seminar time is already precious. Keep extra written material to a minimum, since your primary
goal is to have students discuss what they have already studied, rather than digest extra material
they are not familiar with and that may not be transferrable. Extra content may be introduced in
different ways: handouts, film clips, role play, debate, and so on. Often extra content comes
through a short, well-constructed lecture.
4. Mini Lectures. If you need to lecture, do it right! Lecture has been a major method of
teaching since the beginning of education. In some sense, any speech is a lecture. Preaching is a
form of lecture; Moses lectured when he spoke to the Israelites at various times in Egypt and the
wilderness. The prophetic messages were frequently lectures (or we call them “messages” or
“oracles”). Jesus delivered “mini lectures,” discourses intermixed with his everyday life teaching
methods. Paul’s preaching was, at times, given as a lecture.
Lecturing, on the surface, may seem boring and dull, and it certainly can be. There are those
rare, gifted individuals who lecture in a way that captivates their audience. Our experience shows
that those who have this gift speak in such a way that raises and answers the questions their
listeners are curious about. Because the talk flows from question to answer without audience
interruption, a lecture of this caliber can be a very satisfying experience. But few have this gift,
and few students ever walk away from such a well constructed lecture and think to themselves,
“I could do that.” Yet, that is the way we want our students to feel after a seminar. We want them
to think that if they worked at it, they too could lead a seminar, because it is this attitude leads to
multiplication. And multiplication is what Jesus is after.
Note that research shows that people learn more through methods like interaction, practice,
modeling, and interactive thinking—all of which Jesus used. Lecture seems contrary to this
principle, and therefore is a poor method for teaching. But is there a legitimate place for
lecturing? Of course!
Lecturing is primarily used for imparting content. It can also be used to clarify, illustrate, or
highlight principles or points of discussion. Any lecture should be kept short or broken into small
segments, with time for interaction. A mini-lecture should last between five to ten minutes
maximum before students are invited into the discussion.
5. The Lesson Plan. A lesson plan is really like a road map. It helps keep you keep going in
the right direction and, if carefully crafted and followed, will help you reach your intended
destination. Appendix 2 provides a description of the different parts of a lesson plan, and
Appendix 3 provides a worksheet you can copy and fill in to create your own lesson plans related
to the course material itself. The lesson plan provided encourages you to think about your
students and your context, as well as write objectives for the seminar that combine the stated
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Lesson 6
lesson objectives with your context to come up with truly meaningful learning objectives for the
unique people in the group.
A curriculum that is truly transferrable covers key areas of the Bible and theology. As a
facilitator, you need to know the broad scope of what is being covered in the entire curriculum
and how it fits together or builds on itself. What part of the curriculum are you focused on in
your seminar time? What objectives do you have for covering the most important elements of the
material students have studied? Are your questions well prepared to guide good discussion of
what they have studied?
Co-leader/Trainee Selection
For many reasons you need to be equipping someone else to facilitate the group with you.
You could get sick or have to travel. Modeling teamwork is invaluable. But the most important
reason is that the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20) depends on your ability to
make disciple-makers. Mentoring co-leaders is part of a strategy that multiplies equipped
servant-leaders for the church. Co-teaching a group also adds interest for the students, especially
if they know that at some point they are going to be asked to help you facilitate, as well.
To prepare people to co-facilitate, first help them think through the part of the lesson for
which they are responsible. Help them develop reachable objectives and write good questions for
discussion. During the seminar, pave the way for them by introducing them and explaining that
they are going to lead a part of the seminar. The group must have the attitude that you are a
group of peers on a journey together with Christ during this period of your life. How you view
your co-facilitators, how you introduce them, and how you speak about them will determine if
the group respects them and receives them warmly. The group will probably be very gracious if
they know that they will also be asked to facilitate later on! After the seminar, provide an
evaluation that is both encouraging and also instructive for your co-facilitator, much as a coach
would for the players on her team.
After you are confident of your preparation, the next step is to think about the setting for the
seminar.
Create a Healthy and Hospitable Environment
When Jesus was with his disciples, he created a healthy environment for learning. Clearly the
disciples felt comfortable enough to ask him questions and to let him in on their discussions. The
environment Jesus created could be described as inviting and hospitable. Different facets of the
environment must be managed properly for adults to learn.
The psychological environment contributes the most to the quality of the learning experience,
and this includes intangible aspects that cannot be seen or heard directly, but rather are
experienced intuitively. The atmosphere must be hospitable; everyone, including the facilitator
and student alike, must feel welcomed into the learning experience.
The responsibility for providing this inviting environment falls to the facilitator. Adults
require a safe place where they can talk freely about how they think, why they think as they do,
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Planning the Seminar
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and how they feel. They need a place where they can bounce their views and values off of other
people’s perspectives, so that they can see their own foibles, weaknesses, and strengths.
Students feel safer to share if they know they are loved, and they will be able to sense if you
truly love them or not. One question we try to ask ourselves before we go into each learning
event is, “Do we really love these people, or are we just faking?” We bring to mind each person,
pray for them, and ask God to demonstrate his love through us for each person. It’s no wonder
that the disciples felt safe with Jesus; it is because he loved them so very much, as illustrated in
the following Scripture passage:
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him
to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the
world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.
The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas
Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all
things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel
around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his
disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him (John
13:1-5).
1. Enjoy Silence. One aspect of a hospitable environment is silence.32 Today many cultures
surround people with sound and images. Television, radio, movies, cellular phones, the internet,
and portable electronic devices all contribute to the audible and visual “noise” that envelope us.
All of this encroaches on our opportunity to reflect.
Teachers constantly bombarded by sound can easily think that they must fill every classroom
moment with anything but silence, a view that can be counterproductive to learning. Students
need time to think. A good facilitator will use the seminar time to allow everyone to be
comfortable with silence. Chet Myers says that “good teachers know that serious thinking
requires periods of silence, reflection, and incubation that are uninterrupted by any words, no
matter how well intended or ‘meaningful.’” 33
Periods of silence demonstrate to students that the teacher also needs time to think, and
assures the students that the teacher actually listens to them and thinks about what they say. Do
not think that you or the students have to respond immediately to the questions that arise; don’t
fall into the trap of answering your own questions if students do not respond as quickly as you
would like. Let them take their time to think.
2. Elevate the Life Experience of the Student. An environment that invites learners to share
their personal experiences so that others can reflect and grow from their journey truly values the
person as made in the image of God. The hospitality of this environment engages the learner at
the deepest levels. Henri Nouwen states this well:
Not only in the relationships between parents and their children but also in those
between teachers and their students, hospitality can be seen as a model for a
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Lesson 6
creative interchange between people. If there is any area that needs a new spirit, a
redemptive and liberating spirituality, it is the area of education in which so many
people spend their lives, or at least crucial parts of their lives, as students or
teachers or both. One of the greatest tragedies of our culture is that millions of
young people spend many hours, days, weeks and years listening to lectures,
reading books and writing papers with a constantly increasing resistance. This has
become such a widespread phenomenon that teachers on all levels, from grade
school to graduate school, are complimented and praised when they can get the
attention of their students and motivate them to do their work. Practically every
student perceives his education as a long endless row of obligations to be fulfilled.
If there is any culture that has succeeded in killing the natural spontaneous
curiosity of people and dulling the human desire to know, it is our technocratic
society.
As teachers, we have even become insensitive to the ridiculous situation in which
adult men and women feel that they “owe” us a paper of at least twenty pages. We
have lost our sense of surprise when men and women who are taking courses
about the questions of life and death anxiously ask us how much is “required.”
Instead of spending a number of free years searching for the value and meaning of
our human existence with the help of others who expressed their own experiences
in word or writing, most students are constantly trying to “earn” credits, degrees
and awards, willing to sacrifice even their own growth.
. . . One of the greatest problems of education remains that solutions are offered
without the existence of a question. It seems that the least-used source of
formation and information is the experience of the students themselves.
Sometimes teachers speak about love and hate, fear and joy, hope and despair
while students make obedient notes or look out the window in boredom. This is
understandable only when we realize that the students themselves have not had
the opportunity to make their own experience of love and hate, fear and joy, hope
and despair available to themselves and allow their real questions to be born from
their personal source. But in a hostile climate nobody wants to become vulnerable
and make it known to himself, his fellow students or his teacher that some of the
most central questions of life are still untouched.34
Assignment: From your experience as a student, what constitutes a
hospitable environment for learning? Why do you think it is important for
the facilitator to make space in the seminar for sharing and reflection on
the personal experience of the students?
3. Shape the Physical Setting. The room needs to be arranged in a way that encourages
discussion. You wouldn’t picture the twelve disciples sitting in four rows of three when Jesus
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was teaching them, would you? They probably sat around Jesus in a way that all could
participate, so they could be close to him.
The physical environment is very important for stimulating a conversation about the subject
being studied. It is difficult, if not impossible, to have a discussion if people are sitting in rows
that prevent them from seeing the other people’s faces. It may be a simple concept, but it is
crucial that the seating arrangement for the discussion group enables everyone to see everyone
else. It is also important that the facilitator be situated in an “equal” position to the other
members of the group. Look at the seating diagrams below, and imagine how you’d arrange your
group to reflect these situations.
Sometimes it is important to divide into even smaller groups for discussion. But be aware
that distractions can inhibit concentration and discussion; if two discussion groups are meeting in
one room, they can distract each other because comments from both groups can be easily
overheard by each other. If groups must stay in the same area, it is best to divide into three or
more groups, so that the background noise creates a conversational “hum,” rather than separate,
individual comments from one other group.
4. Shape the Spiritual and Social Climate. The spiritual climate is important in a hospitable
environment. Time for worship, sharing, and prayer helps create a bond of trust. If the group
enjoys singing together, have them choose appropriate songs. After a time of singing and praise,
you might ask the students to share what God has taught them since the last time you met. The
social climate is also important. If the students don’t know each other well, you might have each
of them answer one or two questions, such as the following (or ones appropriate for your
culture):
1. How did you come to know Christ? Could you share something of your spiritual
journey since you became a Christian?
2. What are your hobbies or other interests?
3. What is the best thing that has happened to you this week?
4. Do you have children, grandchildren? Tell us about them.
5. What are one or two things that trouble you now?
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Lesson 6
This time of fellowship helps students be at ease with each other. We recommend that you
always include a time of worship, sharing, and prayer. Do not minimize its value to the
cohesiveness and the longevity of the group; worshipping together, learning more about each
other, and praying for each other create a bond that will continue to draw the learners back to the
seminar.
If the students already know each other well, you can begin this time by asking them to share
the personal lessons God has been teaching them since the last seminar. This time could also be
used to share aspects of their ministry that have been encouraging to them or the difficulties they
are facing. You could also simply ask them to share prayer requests, so that they can relate
aspects of their own life for which the others could pray. Take time to pray for the items
mentioned, and encourage all those in the group to pray. Keep a list of prayer requests, so that
you can review them and note the answers that God has graciously given.
Another helpful way to pray that more accurately reflects its nature as conversation with God
is to focus on one request at a time. When we hold normal conversations, we do not bounce
around from item to item like we often do in prayer. Our prayers, then, ought to be more like a
thoughtful conversation, and less like mere recitation of a shopping list.
To accomplish this, have different members of the group pray for one particular request—
one person following the other until everybody has prayed who wishes to. Then you, as the
group leader, can introduce the next topic for prayer, and repeat the same process. This method
allows serious conversation with God over one issue at a time, versus skipping around randomly.
Do not move on to the next issue until you sense that you have “prayed through” the issue at
hand.
Administrate
The administrative segment of the seminar provides the structure for tracking student
attendance and assignments. Often it helps to have a person other than the lead facilitator take
responsibility for the administrative details of the group. If this person keeps track of attendance
and completed assignments in a timely and gracious way, the students will be motivated to be
punctual in their attendance and diligent in completing the work required. Doing the
administrative tasks in a careful and thorough way communicates the seriousness of this study.
Ask for all the assignments, and record which students have done them and which students
haven’t, because those students who haven’t completed them need to be encouraged to do so. A
plan ought to be made to help students catch up with the rest of the group, and the administrator
could then follow up to see that all late assignments are completed. If you choose to give tests,
keep in mind that this, too, is really an administrative task. Test-giving should be done in a
hospitable environment, with the goal to produce personal spiritual growth. To maximize the
seminar time, we recommend that the students do oral or written exams at home before coming
to the seminar; then, depending on your setting, you can use them as part of the pass/fail
determination, or you can review the answers in class as an overall review. Make sure you allow
sufficient time to discuss the exams during the seminar time.
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Other logistics you may need to pay attention to:
1. Have needed materials ready to be in the hands of students ahead of time.
a. Distribute hard copies ahead of time, most likely in an earlier seminar.
b. E-mail portions when appropriate and possible.
c. Give electronic copies to students, if appropriate.
d. Plan for translation of materials, if necessary, which more than likely should be done
before the seminar begins.
2. Plan ahead to secure and prepare a good interpreter (if applicable). A poor interpreter not
only badly stifles the process, but can actually distort the precious truth being
communicated. Make the effort to secure an excellent interpreter who is familiar with the
vocabulary and context of your material. Make every effort to have the same
interpreter(s) over the life of your training project with whom you and the students both
can build a relationship. The interpreter is your mouthpiece and will greatly impact the
effectiveness of your communication. Some points to remember:
a. Send the basic outline ahead so the interpreter can be familiar with it.
b. Have the interpreter prepare whatever lesson is being taught, for familiarity’s sake.
c. Spend time with interpreters before the seminar, so that they can be familiar with
your voice and speech patterns.
Of course, working directly in the language is far preferable, especially for leading small
group discussions where interpretation has to be two-way instead of one-way (this decreases
time and spontaneity significantly.) If interpretation is absolutely necessary then, at least at the
first-generation level of training, try to keep the group size small (five to eight) so you have more
time to communicate and build relationships. At the next level of training, the students can do
much of the facilitating themselves in their own language with a larger group.
Realize, though, that unless your language skills are very good to excellent, it may be
preferable to do some of the teaching through an excellent interpreter, because poor quality
language skills by a foreigner can be as detrimental to the learning process as a poor quality
interpreter. Still, even mediocre language skills are more than adequate for relationship-building
and some small group interaction, and they add significantly to a second language situation.
Follow the Lesson Plan
Most of the seminar time will be used to work through the lesson. As a facilitator, you have
already prepared your lesson plan, which includes the objectives you want to accomplish, the
direction you want the discussion to take, and carefully written questions that will help learners
analyze, synthesize, and integrate the lesson content. The intent of this phase of the seminar is to
ensure that the students understand the material, reflect on their ministry assignments, analyze
what they have learned, practice skills, and integrate their new learning with their ministry and
life. All of this requires careful planning.
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Lesson 6
Summarize
As the discussion ends, you or another person could summarize. It is best if you can ask one
of the students to summarize after he or she has seen you do it a few times. Highlight the main
topics you have covered, repeat the conclusion at which the group has arrived, and draw on
contributions that were made during the discussion. A good summary helps draw together the
major issues. It also demonstrates that you have heard, appreciated, and valued the contributions
of the other participants. However, if there is really no common conclusion, simply review the
alternative positions taken, and acknowledge that people hold different views. Occasionally,
summarizing can detract from the impact of the seminar, so exercise discernment in this area.
Conclude: Home Assignments and Next Seminar
During the conclusion of the seminar, look ahead to the next lesson. Bring to the attention of
the students the assignments that they will need to complete before they come again. Establish
the time and the place of the next meeting, and make sure the students mark this on their
calendars, or wherever they keep track of their schedule.
Another useful question during this concluding time is to ask, “What in this lesson has helped
you the most?” This will cause students to think through all the content and to select one or two
of the items that were helpful. This kind of question requires analysis, synthesis, and judgment—
all higher order thinking skills. As students listen to each other, they are reminded of the
different aspects of the lesson that they may have not carefully thought about.
Then, close in prayer. Use this time to ask God to apply what you have learned to the lives of
the students and to your life.
Usually, if these phases of the seminar are included, and if the facilitator becomes adept at
leading discussions, the seminars become a time of discovery and joy for the learners. Within a
short period of time, the students will look forward to meeting, not only because they are
growing intellectually, but also because they are being encouraged spiritually through the
hospitable and open nature of the group. They are being discipled by their peers, just like Jesus’
disciples.
Evaluate
The final step in the seminar is evaluation. Leading a seminar is a skill that you can acquire
and improve over time. It can be compared to learning to ride a bike, play soccer, or play a
musical instrument. These kinds of activities require practice followed by periods of evaluation,
in order to improve the quality of the performance. Leading a seminar requires the same kind of
practice and evaluation for improvement.
See Appendix 4 for some questions that work well to evaluate yourself after the seminar.
Some people may find themselves hesitant to ask for evaluation or to evaluate themselves, but
don’t let this keep you from going through this process. Be honest with yourself: ask God to
show you how you might improve the seminar, and expect him to use comments from people in
the learning group as a way to help you improve.
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After you have consistently evaluated seminars, it will become a natural part of the process
for you. As a matter of fact, when we lead seminars, we find ourselves naturally evaluating and
thinking about how to improve the following seminar. Often, we will slightly alter either
questions or approach, or sometimes even the objectives that we want to see accomplished for
the next seminar. It is of great benefit to stop and reflect, to evaluate, and to use that reflection to
improve the seminar process.
Effective Resolution of Problems
The facilitator needs to be aware that problems will arise from time to time that need to be
addressed individually or with the whole group. Here are some common ones and possible ways
to deal with them:
1. Not completing the assigned work. You need to be aware throughout the course how each
student is progressing with the required work. Sometimes, students begin with lots of
enthusiasm but finish poorly. Students need to clearly understand that in order to
satisfactorily complete the course, they need to do the assigned work.
Some students may need help scheduling time for course study. Often, students are
overwhelmed with the amount of work and have underestimated the time needed for the
course. Others have not studied in this way since completing their school studies, and so new
habits need to be developed. Sometimes it will be helpful to have the students work in teams
of two or three to complete the assignments. It may be helpful for you to demonstrate, in
person, what the assignment is asking.
If appropriate, emphasize the importance of small groups that meet in between the seminars,
as they will be a great encouragement in helping to deal with this problem.
2. Sloppy work. Do not accept assignments that are illegible. Have the students re-do the work,
if necessary; this will encourage good habits for future study. Also, remind students that the
work they do now will be helpful in their teaching of others in the future.
3. Tardiness. Student need to know that being on time is important in encouraging the entire
group. Being late is disruptive to the seminar and sets a bad example for the others. Speak
individually with those who develop a pattern of tardiness, explaining to them the importance
of being on time. Remember, however, that at times there are good reasons for being late, so
show understanding in these situations.
4. Difficulty initiating discussion. For some, learning through discussion is a new concept, but
time spent together as a group will often solve this problem. Take time to talk about the
importance of group discussion in the learning process. During your first seminar together,
establish the facilitator/learner contract and make sure everyone understands it.
5. Unrelated course issues. From time to time, unrelated course issues will arise that can
dominate the seminar time. These may relate to individuals, the church, or problems in the
country. Because they are unrelated does not mean that they are unimportant, but remind the
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Lesson 6
students of the purpose of their meeting, because if the course material gets overshadowed by
other issues, key concepts may never get discussed. Encourage the students to talk about the
unrelated issues at some other time—maybe schedule another meeting time to deal with these
issues, particularly if they affect the whole group.
Facilitator Responsibilities Summary
“Be there, be prepared, be available.” This motto describes the basic responsibilities of the
facilitator. First, with every degree of diligence, be there. Your students have made sacrifices to
be present, and you are modeling commitment and faithfulness by being physically and fully
present, whatever challenges arise. No matter who else shows up, you need to be there. Second,
be prepared. No more discussion is necessary on this point! Third, be available. Offer yourself
during break times, at meals, in personal visits outside the seminar time, or by e-mail. This is
often where the personal issues that really lead to growth are discovered. Show, by example, that
you are available to them personally and interested in their progress.
Requiring students to attend sessions faithfully and complete homework is critical to the
learning process. Not only is the personal interaction and growth in the relational learning
environment key, but as servant-leaders they must be present and prepared for their own students
later on. This priority is modeled in the requirements they submit to as students, first. And,
obviously, the facilitator needs to model it, as well.
The facilitator has many responsibilities, as we saw from the discussion of all that must be
considered in the seminar planning. To summarize, these basic responsibilities are given below
in outline form. Your responsibilities as a facilitator include the following three distinct
functions:
1. Leader - You are to provide the necessary leadership to insure that the seminar is
conducted in a responsible way. You serve the group by providing effective leadership:
modeling, excellence, enthusiasm, love, and grace. This includes:
a. Deciding, with the help of the group, where and when to meet.
b. Ensuring that each seminar starts and ends on time.
c. Creating a hospitable climate.
d. Ensuring that the discussion/teaching aspects for the seminar are adequate. You
should involve others to co-facilitate as soon as possible.
e. Working with students to re-shape suggested assignments, so that the assignments
accomplish the same learning objectives, but are tailored to fit the ministry context of
each student.
f. Sharing the vision of your training goals with your students. Repeat the vision often,
and allow it to become their own. Help them to see their part in it and to understand
that they are part of something significant.
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Planning the Seminar
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2. Administrator - To make the seminars a success, certain administrative tasks are required:
a. Ensure that the required materials are available (workbooks, etc.).
b. Prepare the meeting place to accommodate the group. Arrive early to be sure all is in
order for a good start; you are modeling good preparation.
c. If interpreters are needed, be sure excellent ones are available and secured. Meet with
them and have them read the material to be covered ahead of time, so they are
familiar with your speaking style, as well as the main issues addressed in the seminar.
d. Maintain accurate records in the following areas: (Appendix 6, Sample Record Sheet)
1) Attendance
2) Completed work assignments
3) Percentage of work completed in workbooks
4) Completed in-ministry assignments
5) Finances (if required)
e. Prepare an effective schedule for the seminar time.
f. Train your students to fulfill necessary administrative functions in the process of their
experience.
3. Facilitator - Your role is also that of a “facilitator,” which basically means “helper” or
“guide.” Your objective should be to help the students learn by guiding them through the
study of the course materials. This will involve several additional responsibilities for you:
a. Establish facilitator/student relationships. The facilitator helps to do this by
communicating to the students that she has:
1) a personal interest in getting to know each student and seeing him or her grow in
the Lord.
2) a vital interest in the subject and a sense of its relevance to the Christian life.
3) enthusiasm for the work that lies ahead, based on the knowledge that diligent
study can produce real fruit in changed lives.
4) a sense that the facilitator is also a student in this experience and is eager to learn
from it.
b. Affirm the students’ work, both in and out of the seminar.
c. Encourage the students to persevere when they are discouraged.
d. Answer the students’ questions as best you can.
e. Evaluate the students’ work.
f. Lead stimulating small group discussions.
(For a review of the importance of this, see “Leading a Small Group Discussion,” in
Appendix 7.)
g. Teach on particular subjects that can help to clarify or strengthen the students’
understanding.
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Lesson 6
h. Effectively resolve problems that may arise in a small group. See more on this above,
and also Lesson 5 for help with resolving problems that occur during the discussion.
i. Help the group to summarize what has been learned.
Summary
This lesson has given an overview of the seminar, the cornerstone in the adult learning
experience. The effectiveness of the seminar rises or falls on the environment that the facilitator
creates. If the environment is open and honest, if it is an environment that is hospitable and
inviting, then the seminar will be very effective. On the other hand, if the environment of the
seminar is boring, cool, hostile, or adversarial, then the seminar will fail.
There are several ways to help create a hospitable environment. First, make it possible for the
participants to learn more about each other. Include times of worship, sharing and prayer. As the
learners draw near to God, they will draw closer to each other.
Second, make certain that you have a well defined lesson plan with clear objectives. This
lesson plan need not be a rigid formula that you follow without any deviations. And, finally,
evaluate what happened when you finish. The quality of the lesson-plan phase of the seminar
depends on the quality of the questions that you choose to ask. It also depends on your ability to
encourage the discussion that flows toward the objectives.
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7
Lesson
Designing a Multiplication Strategy
An often overlooked element of training is helping students design models for multiplying
servant-leaders. Most existing models focus on training teachers and preachers at the “first
generation” level, but there is a stunning lack of intentional ongoing training for servantleaders who equip, shepherd, and disciple the saints as a primary function of the church.
Whether in the local church or in a larger training system, it is easy to think that our job is done
after we deliver content to students, assuming they will somehow figure out what to do next.
While something certainly will happen, are we really helping them develop a clear vision for
what they would like to see happen, then giving them the practical skills to carry it out? Creating
effective, ongoing, sustainable systems of training for disciplers and equippers for the church is
key.
Lesson Outline
The Biblical Model for Multiplication of Disciples
The Ultimate Goal: A Healthy, Disciple-Making Church
Accessible Training for Every Local Church
Training, Coaching, Supervising, and Encouraging in a Multiplication Model
A Basic Strategy to Fulfill the Vision
Case Studies (Optional)
Lesson Objectives
When you finish this lesson, you should be able to:
Describe a theology of training that has its roots in multiplication of disciples.
Describe a philosophy of training that clearly has the local church as its primary
beneficiary and vehicle for God’s purposes in the world.
Identify the existing need for training and its hopeful outcomes.
Create a basic strategy, with necessary logistics, for fulfilling the long-term need for ongoing training.
This lesson focuses on the practical planning and implementation of a long-term, sustainable
strategy for training servant-leaders, which transforms lives, churches, and communities as it
multiplies accessible training into even more areas where its needed.
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The Biblical Model for Multiplication of Disciples
God’s plan for seeing his church survive and thrive was multiplication of disciples by
disciples. Through the Holy Spirit’s work in the personal relationships of believers, truth was
taught in word and walk—hearts and perspectives were drawn to the Savior and his eternal
purposes, devotion grew, hope and service blossomed. It’s the model Jesus gave us in his
ministry with the Twelve. It is the model he gave us in the Great Commission of Matthew 28 and
in his last words before his ascension in Acts 1. It’s the commission Paul gave to his disciples in
2 Timothy 2:2 and Titus 2—life-on-life modeling, teaching, and mentoring. The body of Christ
is the instrument of choice established by Jesus and endowed with the supernatural resources and
responsibility to be salt and light in the world: “And the things you have heard me say in the
presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others”
(2 Tim 2:2).
Let us illustrate 2 Timothy 2:2 and consider the powerful effects of real multiplication:
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We see Paul in the diamond (first generation) as he disciples Timothy (in the triangle, or
second generation). Upon maturity, Timothy reaches out to other “reliable people,” or faithful
ones, and Paul does the same again with others. In the fourth generation, we see Paul, Timothy,
and “reliable people” all continuing to reach out to others. As the disciples of Jesus live out this
lifestyle of discipleship, the body of Christ continues to grow and mature. We have seen that this
type of exponential multiplication has had significant impact on the church in the world—
generation after generation—until the Lord comes.
Assignment: What does discipleship mean to you? If you’ve ever been
discipled, describe that experience. How are you discipling others? How
do you see your own personal ministry within these “generational” levels?
To whom are you entrusting ministry, and how are you equipping them? If
you can, fill in the following diagram. How does following this model
change how you think about ministry?
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Lesson 7
In other lessons we talked at length about the value of using educational principles that
enable adults to learn best, how the teaching of truth and modeling life and ministry by the
facilitator/mentor increasingly involves students/disciples in ministry themselves. The process
and the relationship between mentor and disciple could be described as follows:
Step 1 – I will do it; you watch. (I teach and train you.)
Step 2 – I will do it; you will help me. (I train and coach you.)
Step 3 – You do it; I will help you. (I coach you.)
Step 4 – You do it; I will watch. (I supervise you.)
Step 5 – We will both do it now with others. (We will multiply this.)
Building this process into our efforts provides the time for observation, encouragement,
interaction, and hands-on learning, so that the disciple grows in character, knowledge, and
ministry skills, as well as God-honoring confidence in becoming a discipler of others. In the end,
both the mentor and the disciple continue to grow in Christ as they give their lives away to others
in discipleship, multiplying themselves over and over again. The role of discipleship and
mentoring in our leadership training efforts is KEY to biblical and effective growth, maturity,
and multiplication of the church throughout the generations to come. Leaders who have not been
discipled themselves most often do not disciple others. We do what we experience.
The Ultimate Goal: A Healthy, Disciple-Making Church
In recent years, there has been an increase of efforts to train servant-leaders, but history
shows that years of missionary presence have not always produced healthy churches. Training
becomes training for its own sake—teaching content in classes without the follow-up that
provides discipleship, mentoring, and practical ministry skills that find expression in the church.
Most existing training efforts focus primarily on preparing teachers and preachers, and while
these gifts are clearly needed, they are not sufficient by themselves to provide leadership that
envisions and equips church members. In most churches, there is no priority given to equipping
disciples through life-on-life commitments. If a healthy, disciple-making local church is the hope
of every culture, how then can it provide ongoing discipleship and leadership training as a
foundation of the culture and life of the church?
Let’s make a basic attempt to sketch out how a multiplying, servant-leader discipleship
ministry in the local church might look:
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Designing a Multiplication Strategy
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In this model, you would work for a period of time to train a few other key “reliable people”
in a small peer group. When they are adequately trained, they then would each train another
small peer group of various ministry leaders who are either currently in ministry in the church
and/or have interest and potential to become ministry leaders. In those peer groups, these faithful
people would grow spiritually and personally, develop a sense of teamwork, discover passions
for ministry, and develop skills to carry out existing ministry more effectively, as well as start
new ministry that springs out of their discoveries. These ministry leaders would then serve the
church in various ways, equipping and discipling all the saints and, ultimately, reaching the
world! Over time, new servant-leaders will rise up and be continually fed back into an ongoing
servant-leader discipleship effort that is part of the culture of the church.
Assignment: How is your training ministry impacting your church?
Discuss your thoughts about this multiplication model and its potential.
Sketch a multiplication model for ongoing servant-leader discipleship for
your church and share it with the group, explaining how it would work.
Let’s now go one step further. Assuming a multiplication model is serving your church well,
how might your church become a greater blessing to other churches within your reach? Almost
every church seems to express a need for practical servant-leader discipleship at some level. In
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Lesson 7
keeping with our framework of multiplication, let’s envision a model that would allow one
church that is training servant-leaders effectively to multiply its resources beyond itself. In other
words, how might such a church become a “resource church” to others within a reasonable
geographic distance, say one hundred miles? A suggested model along the same lines follows:
In this model, your church hosts a training center that resources other churches in your
geographic reach. How far is it reasonable for people from other churches to come to your
church for training, and how often? Your team of trainers would work with small peer groups of
“students” sent from these other churches, then these “reliable people” implement ongoing
servant-leader discipleship in their own churches, according to the earlier local church model.
Assignment: Discuss how a resource church model might serve its local
area. Describe the level of need for this kind of ministry where you live.
How would your church move toward such a vision?
Accessible Training for Every Local Church
Now that we have considered the realities of our own churches, let us expand our vision to
the world of missions. Many have recognized that the pressing need for Western missions in the
coming decades is for theological education and pastoral training. Local believers are involved in
evangelism and church-planting around the world, and in many areas, the church is growing
exponentially. In these areas, though, the churches do not have the mature leadership to sustain
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them beyond the initial effort; they may succumb to heresy, internal conflict, cultural pressure, or
other destructive forces. On their own, they are often unable to become mature, healthy
communities that multiply the love of God, both in the lives of their members and to the culture
that surrounds them. And in parts of the world where the church is not growing rapidly, but has
existed for centuries, churches have lost their focus on discipleship and settled for programs,
activities, or empty traditions.
How do you reach the millions of local church leaders that are without adequate training?
Some of us may be in a situation to directly influence a local church or community of churches.
But others of us see such overwhelming need internationally, and we don’t know where to begin.
For example, a seminary in one country was working hard to produce 60 graduates per year
through their residential program. This was surely a help, but the denomination was facing 6,000
churches that needed pastors! How could potential pastors and lay leaders, unable to attend
resident programs, get the training they need to lead those churches? Again, we believe that the
answer lies in effective, accessible, church-based training.
When we realize that the church around the world is growing exponentially and needs not
only pastors, but other men and women to fulfill the work of shepherding, serving, caring for,
and leading the flock, we can see that a practical multiplication strategy of training is our
only hope. How wonderful that this is just what the Bible models for us!
Training, Coaching, Supervising, and Encouraging in a Multiplication Model
Teaching vs. Training. Too often what we call “training” is really only the direct teaching of
content to a first generation of students. We somehow expect our students to develop ministry
that is meaningful in their contexts without modeling strategic implementation with them, and
we are then surprised when meaningful results are rare and haphazard. Besides delivering good
content, we must also ensure that discipleship elements of training, coaching, supervising, and
encouraging are a vital part of the learning experience.
How will our multiplication model result in meaningful training, rather than just teaching
content? We believe that any successful multiplication effort has four basic levels at its core:
training, coaching, supervising, and encouraging.
Diligence to execute these four levels with ongoing evaluation and regular adjustments is
essential. Too often, direct involvement ends after the first level, so that real coaching and
supervision on-site by mentors is sacrificed, and we never really see strong training ministry take
hold in the local church. Experience shows us that it is not what our disciples do (the second
generation), but what their disciples do (the third generation) that indicates a real grasp of
ongoing discipleship and leadership training. Depending on how many multiplication levels
are needed to reach local churches, we must stay engaged—though to a decreasing degree and in
a different role, at least through the third generation—until we see a number of good, solid local
church models develop. And at each level, our students must be exercising practical ministry in
their churches in a way that informs their understanding of building discipleship training in the
local church. Earlier in this lesson, we looked at training from the point of view of the
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individuals involved (Steps 1 through 5). Now let us look at the training from the point of view
of the levels of training from Paul to Timothy (level 1), Timothy to reliable ones (level 2), and
reliable ones to others (level 3).
First Level (Training): This level involves direct, interactive teaching, training and
mentoring of eight to twelve key disciples/students over a period of three to five years through an
identified curriculum. At the end of this period, they are evaluated for their preparedness to
become trainers at the next level. Are they ready to be primary facilitators, or do they need more
practical experience in being assistant facilitators, carrying more responsibility as they gain more
experience? Do they need more experience as small group discussion leaders first, time to
develop more confidence? Evaluate their coaching needs for the next level, and select from these
students training teams who will be ready to be small group mentors and facilitators for the next
level of training.
Second Level (Coaching): After they have completed their training program and are ready,
first-level students can be assigned responsibilities with a group of new students. It is important
to allow the students to progress in their first level training experience before they begin training
others. If they begin training before they’ve had a chance to practice, they may perpetuate old
habits that would be hard to change later.
At the second level, teams of two or three first-level students mentor groups of eight to
twelve new ones. On occasion it is necessary to work with larger groups of thirty to forty
students. In these situations, it is best to divide the large group into groups of six to eight, and ask
teams of first-level students to lead each of the second-level groups as mentors.
The original mentor or facilitator continues to attend regular sessions on-site now, led by
first-level graduates, but participates only in a coaching role alongside the first-level students as
needed. The first-level students carry the weight of the teaching, training, and administration.
The original mentor is available to help in areas of difficulty, teaching in areas that still lack
clarity, coaching in problem-solving and practical issues that arise. In many ways, this is where
the real learning now begins. Meeting with the new facilitator/mentors before and after each
session for debrief, encouragement, and evaluation is invaluable. The mentor’s main role now is
observing, listening, evaluating, and strengthening areas in need of improvement. This second
level, where first-level students shift from a student role to a facilitator/mentor role, is a whole
new experience in their learning process, as they now execute training ministry themselves.
Having the mentors “behind and alongside,” but not “in front,” is crucial at this stage to
effectively transfer responsibility, both practically and psychologically. Being up front and in
control can be hard for the original mentor to relinquish, but it is crucial to entrusting ministry to
others.
Third Level (Supervising): First-level students are now fully in charge of the training of
new groups of third-level students, acting also as coaches to the second-level students as they
begin their experience of becoming mentor/facilitators for the third-level students. At this point,
the original mentors are not present at every session, but rather visit occasionally to meet
personally with the new coaches/mentors/facilitators for encouragement and evaluation, and to
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observe their ministry directly on-site at the third level. The role of the original mentor
significantly decreases at this stage and becomes supervisory.
Maintaining the quality of the learning experience through the third level is key. Dilution of
quality is always a concern the longer the training continues. Personal supervision, evaluation,
and adjustment on-site through the third level is key to the best possible long-term effort. It is
essential that first-level mentors stay involved through this third level of training, so that the
ultimate goal of seeing church-based training led by gifted and prepared local believers is
achieved.
Fourth level and beyond (Encouraging): The first-level mentors are now completely
removed from the process, as the local believers are now the mentors, coaches, and supervisors
in ongoing systems of discipleship and leadership training. Hopefully by this point, there are
solid disciplers to create an unstoppable momentum for effective, ongoing leadership training in
local churches and local centers serving their respective regions. By now, there should be several
local churches that are implementing servant-leader discipleship in their own ongoing ministries,
as students carry out what they learn in the context of their churches. Mentors should visit these
churches alongside their students and encourage them, so that ministry is not haphazard but
intentional and assessable.
A Basic Strategy to Fulfill the Vision
Now that we have considered significant approaches to servant-leader discipleship and
multiplication, what is the impact on the situation you are facing? In order to infuse hope into
situations where biblical training and discipleship is urgently needed, we must evaluate our
scenario. Where are we, and where do we want to be? (See Appendix 8).
Point B: What is the specific vision/need God is calling me to be a part of?
 Describe what a healthy situation would look like in the end (real outcomes).
 What would I like to see ten years from now?
Point A: Where am I right now in terms of accomplishing it?
 What is my understanding of the current situation?
 What is my availability and personal resources for it (time, experience, calling)?
 What other people of like mind (team) can help develop this goal?
Assignment: Before we brainstorm a possible strategy, we need to have
our end point and our beginning point clearly in mind. In a few sentences,
describe Point A (your current situation) and Point B (the vision God has
put on your heart.) Be prepared to share it with the group.
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Now that we have an initial sense of where we are and where we want to go, we can begin to
ponder what it would take to move from Point A to Point B. Considering the various aspects we
have discussed of planning for and implementing a servant-leader multiplication system,
1) What do you need to do next week to implement this strategy?
2) Next month?
3) The next six months?
4) Next year?
Assignment: Based on the considerations involved in a good effort and on
the basic strategy you defined for going from Point A to Point B, what are
your next steps? Be ready to share them with the group.
Be ready to pray and reflect before preparing a clear vision to finish well. As it has been
often observed in life and ministry, many people start well, but few finish well. Certainly this
requires a personal sense of calling and commitment, vision and hope, perseverance and faith, as
well as dependable teammates that can keep each other going through a demanding, but
worthwhile effort.
Case Studies (Optional)
Case No. 1: “Country X”
Entrust ministry in X began when it was still behind the Iron Curtain. Religious life was
restricted by the communist government, and for many, just living was very difficult. Yet the
Entrust ministry flourished as staff traveled to cities and towns all over the country. At one point,
there were over 450 teaching days per year taking place in X. The seminars were conducted by
visiting facilitators with small groups of five to twelve students. Students were encouraged to
start second-generation groups. Entrust training was considered best-in-class, and many church
leaders and leaders of other non-profit organizations credited the Entrust training as the
preparation they needed for roles they were asked to play after the Iron Curtain fell. At times
there were over 4,000 men and women involved in Entrust training.
When X was still communist, several attempts were made to put ownership of the training
into the hands of local leaders. Suggestions were made to form a board from various
denominations or to form boards within individual denominations. All of these suggestions were
discredited by X’s church leaders as simply being too dangerous, as a church leadership training
organization would be anathema to the atheistic government. The people of X did not feel the
risk was worth whatever added benefit would come from their leading, writing courses,
strategizing, and sustaining servant-leader training themselves. They felt the wiser choice was to
import the training from outside the country, with outside leadership and organization.
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Questions:
1. What could Entrust have done better to ensure that the vision of training servant leaders
was more proactively owned by local leaders in this country?
2. In this situation, what would be the best ways to transfer vision, skills, and character?
3. What could have been done to ensure that there was a vision and implementation of
discipleship in the church?
4. What could have been done to help ensure that the church had both vision and a way to
engage the community that would make Christ visible to non-Christians?
Case No. 2: “Country Z”
The evangelical church in Z represented a small, persecuted portion of the population for
many years. However, the underground church was growing slowly, and its leadership was
deeply committed to seeing the church become more established and resourced for the years to
come. A connection was made with Entrust to design a training system for the many pastors that
had no biblical training. Small groups of pastors began to meet regularly around the country for
training and encouragement from each other, with itinerant Entrust staff. As an experiment, eight
key pastors’ wives began to meet regularly in Z’s capitol city with Entrust’s Women-to-Women
Leadership Training staff.
In the decade to follow, the political situation changed so that the church no longer needed to
hide. Also, a small interdenominational Bible school was founded in cooperation with several
missions and denominations, including extension-site ministry in several locations around the
country. Because there were good relationships between the various evangelical denominations,
a cohesive alliance of Evangelical churches was formed for support.
Over time, the Bible school began to draw mostly younger students with no ministry
experience, since existing pastors found it difficult to participate in resident training. At this
time, the group of eight women finished their curriculum of study and began implementing small
group Bible studies and discipleship in their churches. The Evangelical alliance saw the need for
a training program for the pastors who were already in ministry but who could not attend formal
training in the Bible school. Also, they saw a need to train the many committed women in the
congregations in their country. They called on their Entrust friends again to consult on how they
might implement a wider training effort for the country.
Questions:
1. How would you advise the leadership of the Evangelical alliance? How could they draw
on the individuals who were trained already to bring that training to other pastors and
church leaders—men and women—in their country?
2. How could they integrate the Bible school graduates into the ministry of the church?
3. How could the design of the training program minimize the threat that trained lay people
might pose to the pastor of the local church?
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4. How could all this be done when the individuals who want training are busy with their
jobs, families, and churches; are limited in funding; and are separated from each other by
long distances?
Case No. 3: United States
A several-hundred-member church had good adult Sunday morning classes, with an average
attendance of thirty or so in each. The classes were led by excellent teachers, mainly in lecture
mode. However, there were no small groups where individuals could dig into the Scriptures
themselves, share their findings with each other, and seek to discover how to apply those biblical
truths to daily life.
The new associate pastor, who had seen how small groups could help people grow in their
faith, invited six couples to join him and his wife for eight weeks.
The members so enjoyed the group and all they were learning and experiencing that they
wanted to do another eight-week study. This went on for several series. The pastor then
mentioned that it would be good if other groups could be started so more people could discover
the blessings of learning from one another and growing in discipleship. However, the original
group didn’t want to break up. But after prayer they said they would be willing to be trained to
lead groups themselves. The couples were paired together (a “stronger” couple and a “weaker”
couple) and three groups were begun.
After several eight-week series, the pastor asked the group leaders if there were some in their
groups who might make good leaders/facilitators. These potential leaders were invited to join a
group with the pastor and his wife to be trained to lead groups themselves. The pastor led this
group for about six weeks, seeking to model what it meant to facilitate a group. The members
then led a group for one week themselves, with evaluation after each time. The members were
paired off and they recruited members for their group. There were now six to eight groups going,
mostly couples and some singles. This pattern continued, and the number of groups grew until
several hundred people were involved.
Questions:
1. What could be done to ensure that group members are willing to leave their original
group, be trained, and start their own group?
2. What could the pastor have done to get the group members involved in outreach to the
community?
3. In this situation, what are the best ways to transfer vision, skills, and character?
4. What if a senior pastor has no vision of small group discipleship . . . what could associate
pastors or lay leaders do to plant such a vision?
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Case No. 4: Russia
In 1993, the director of Women’s Department for the Union of Evangelical
Christians/Baptists met with two other women to pray for Christian women in Russia. They
rolled out a large map of Russia, knelt on the floor, and prayed. Their tears dropped onto the map
as they considered their vast country—so big, so huge. They asked God for a plan to impact all
the women in their country with training so that the gospel could spread throughout all of
Russia’s eleven time zones. God heard their prayers and began to pull all the pieces together.
They invited several mission organizations, including Entrust, to design and cooperate on a
strategy to provide leadership training for Christian women in Russia.
“Christian Women in Partnership/Russia” was developed in January of 1999. Multiplication
was an essential component of the strategy, with Russian students teaching the succeeding
generations of students. The initial group of students would be taught by a team of American
teachers: twenty-one women from different cities agreed to come to Moscow three times a year
for training.
Two years later in 2001, these same women (in teams of three) opened seven regional
training centers across Russia. They began to teach the course material to another group of
fifteen to eighteen women, using localized curriculum. These students then followed the pattern
in 2004 by opening twenty-two local training centers scattered across the country. The last and
fourth level of training will be city training centers (taught by third-level students) located in
over one hundred towns and villages, accessible to women in local churches.
Questions:
1. What are some strategic ways that Entrust and the partnership could ensure that these
women have the support of the male leadership at both the national and local church
level?
2. What are the things that need to be included in the student selection process to maximize
the potential for a successful outcome/project?
3. How could the project strategically oversee the ongoing multiplication?
4. What are some ways to limit dependency on outside resources throughout the project?
How you would move them toward self-sustainability?
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8
Lesson
Meaning Perspectives and
Transformation
If we want to further understand how adults learn, we see that they often choose learning
experiences that reflect the kind of intelligence they excel in and that are in line with their
preferred learning style. And the primary reason adults continue to learn is that they want to
enrich their life, to add a skill, to understand a subject, and to find meaning for their lives.
Consider the following scenario:
Lidia became a Christian when she was 26. Her parents were acknowledged atheists. Her
dad was an alcoholic, and when her mother tried to commit suicide, Lidia was the one
who discovered it. Before coming to Christ, Lidia lived in a way that was coherent with
her atheistic beliefs. After coming to Christ, she married a man a couple of years younger
than herself, with the warning from their pre-marital counselor that she would probably
end up being the “parent” in their marriage, even though the young man had been a
committed Christian since he was a child. After twenty years, Lidia was feeling
dissatisfied with her marriage; she felt so empty. She wondered if her life really had
meaning. She felt like she was slowly disappearing, becoming a shadow.
The situation described above is only one of thousands of very different situations adults
face. Work, marriage, children, faith, extended family, death and many other experiences pose
questions and challenge how we think and believe. Victor Frankl wrote a book about his
experience during the holocaust titled, Man’s Search for Meaning.35 His proposition is that even
in the worst imaginable circumstances, people try to understand life and instill the circumstances
of their own life with meaning. When people cease to find any sense of meaning, they lose hope.
In the concentration camp, Frankl observed that when people stopped trying to make meaning of
life—when they lost hope—they died.
Assignment: How do you try to either instill or find meaning in the
experiences of life that come your way, either the mundane or the
unexpected, the small or the cataclysmic? What difference do you see
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between “finding meaning in life” and “making meaning of life
experiences?”
This lesson will first explore some of what we know about adult learning, such as types of
intelligence and learning styles. These issues are helpful in designing creative learning
experiences or allowing the adults you teach to design their own learning experiences. The
assumption of this lesson is that the core search for adults is to understand their lives, to make
meaning out of life’s experiences—much of which they cannot control. Your task is to help
adults use their innate drive to search for meaning in life to grow to be like Christ, to become
spiritually mature.
Lesson Outline
Kinds of Intelligence
Learning Style Preference
Making Meaning of Life: The Quest of Adulthood
Transforming Meaning Perspectives
Lesson Objectives
In this lesson, you will:
Appreciate the different kinds of intelligence and learning styles.
Be convinced that adults can learn during the entire age span.
Understand how adults make meaning of their existence and, in so doing, move toward
maturity.
Kinds of Intelligence
In the last century, measures of intelligence focused on the kinds that were easiest to
measure. Now we know that people may have one or more of several different kinds of
intelligence. Howard Gardner comes up with a list of seven, which we have adapted and added
an eighth:
1. Verbal/Linguistic – This involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability
to learn language, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. Writers,
poets, lawyers, and speakers are those who have high linguistic intelligence.
2. Musical – This intelligence involves the skill in performance, composition, and
appreciation of musical patterns. This is evident in composers, singers, and musicians and
runs in parallel with the linguistic intelligence.
3. Logical/Mathematical – This intelligence consists of the ability to analyze problems
logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. This
intelligence is most used in science and mathematics.
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Meaning Perspectives and Transformation
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4. Visual/Spatial – This intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns
of wide space and more confined areas. This intelligence is useful in art and navigation
and observed in artists, pilots, and astronauts.
5. Bodily/Kinesthetic – This intelligence is the ability to control body motions and to handle
objects skillfully. This is found in dancers and athletes.
6. Interpersonal – This intelligence is the sensitivity to people and an ability to understand
what motivates them, how to work effectively with them, and how to lead and to follow.
Educators, salespeople, and leaders all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.
7. Intrapersonal – This entails the capacity to understand oneself and to appreciate one’s
feelings, fears, and motivations.
8. Natural, animal – This intelligence enables a person to nurture and understand animals
and nature. We see this intelligence in veterinarians and gardeners. 36
Assignment:
a. Underline, from the list above, the intelligence style(s) that most
represent your own tendencies.
b. Look back at the passages referred to in Assignments 6, 7, and 8 in
Lesson 2. Design a launch question for one of these passages that
would address a different type of intelligence than the ones you’ve
underlined.
Learning Style Preference
God bestows different kinds of intelligence, and he also instills in each person preferential
ways of learning. These learning styles describe a person’s preferred way of engaging
information. The following describe three different styles:
Visual Learners: These learners need to actually see the teacher to fully understand the
content of a lesson. The teacher’s body language carries necessary information for the visual
learner to comprehend the content of what is being taught. Visual learners like to sit in front of
the classroom so they can see clearly. They may think in terms of pictures. They often learn best
from visual displays, including diagrams, illustrated text books, computer presentations, videos,
flipcharts, and hand-outs.
Auditory Learners: These people learn best through discussions, talking things through, and
listening to what others have to say. Auditory learners interpret the underlying meanings of
speech through the nuances of sound, like hearing the tone of voice, pitch, and rate of speech.
Written information may not be comprehended until it is heard. Reading the textbook aloud often
significantly helps these learners.
Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners: These people learn through moving, doing, and touching
things. Hands-on activities that explore the physical world work well for them. They may find it
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106
Lesson 8
hard to sit still for long periods and may become distracted by their need for activity and
exploration.37
Assignment:
a. When have you observed others preferring to engage information
through sight, hearing, or touch? Relate to the group your own
preference and how that preference shapes how you most enjoy
learning.
b. What would a learning experience that takes into account your innate
intelligence strength and your learning style look like?
We began exploring the uniqueness of adult learners in Lesson 1 and the effects of aging on
intellect and memory. The next section integrates what we now know about adult learning into a
comprehensive understanding about why adults make the educational choices they do and how
they learn and change.
Making Meaning of Life: The Quest of Adulthood
As adults we filter our current experiences through the developmental stage we are in, our
socialization, and our genetic make-up. All of these factors contribute to how we make meaning
or sense out of our experiences. No two people are alike, and each person’s personality and way
of seeing the world is unique. The knowledge that infants have inclinations toward personality
dispositions38 points to a genetically coded proclivity to personality. As we grow, the way we
filter new information and new experiences affects how we understand—how we make meaning,
which, in turn, affects how we live. Jack Mezirow reminds us that “learning means using a
meaning that we have already made to guide the way we think, act or feel about what we are
currently experiencing. Meaning is making sense of or giving coherence to our experiences.
Meaning is an interpretation.”39
We interpret our experiences by developing habits of interpreting life that may be aligned
with what’s either true or fundamentally false. Throughout history and even today, we see
illustrations of good and bad, righteous and evil, adequate or inadequate cultural perspectives.
For example, almost every nationality, race, and language group has been considered “inferior”
by another group, at some point. Each group has, in turn, looked down on another group. Caste
systems and social structures around the world make false judgments about people, their value,
and their potential.
Our world is defined and limited by these personal or cultural perspectives, which often trap
us. We can never make bias-free interpretations of our own existence and experiences. And yet
how we interpret and make meaning of our life is the single most powerful force in our lives—
outside that of the Holy Spirit—that determines our growth toward spiritual maturity. Again,
Mezirow states that “scores of studies have found that it is not so much what happens to people
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Meaning Perspectives and Transformation
107
but how they interpret and explain what happens to them that determines their actions, their
hopes, their contentment and emotional well-being, and their performance.”40
Assignment: How do people’s interpretation of the circumstances and
events of their lives determine their “actions, their hopes, their
contentment and emotional well-being, and their performance” even more
than the actual events themselves?
The frameworks we use for interpreting life’s events influence both our outer and inner
behavior. For example, an elderly lady interprets the unwanted news that she has terminal cancer
by responding, “I didn’t know God trusted me enough to allow me to suffer this way.” Her
response echoes the words of the Apostle Paul, “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and
I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions; for the sake of his body,
which is the church (Col 1:24).” For both the Apostle and this lady, suffering was an indicator of
being a privileged follower of Christ. Their interpretation of some of the most difficult life events
made a great difference in how they faced their circumstances. Yet, for many, pain and suffering
destroy all sense of contentment.
Assignment: How do you think people’s habits of interpreting life
(meaning perspectives) influence and reflect their spiritual maturity?
We construct our own reality from what actually exists—from true reality—and the way we
interpret it. For example, two people who are witnesses of the same automobile accident will, to
a degree, provide similar information about what happened. The amount of common information
might actually be quite small. In addition they will also provide their own unique set of
information about the accident. The way they report the accident may differ for various reasons,
such as where they stood, what they were doing, and so forth. In addition, habitual expectations
might govern how they interpret and process the event of the accident and influence what they
remember and how they report it.
Uncritically assimilated habits of interpreting life’s experiences serve as frameworks for a
person to make meaning. These habits of interpretation—meaning perspectives—constitute our
boundaries, our limits for perceiving and comprehending new data.
Meaning perspectives act like networks of arguments for validating reality the way we
choose to see it. They are the structure of assumptions within which new experiences are
absorbed. Most meaning perspectives are acquired through cultural assimilation. Others are
deliberately learned, like Marxism. These habits are, for the most part, uncritically acquired in
childhood through the process of socialization, often in the context of very emotional
relationships with those close to us: our parents, teachers, siblings, peers, or other “mentors.”
The more intense the emotional aspect of the learning event and the more reinforced, the more
impervious to change these perspectives become.
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108
Lesson 8
All of us, to one extent or another, substitute a distorted understanding of reality for truth in
order to reduce the intensity of the anxiety we have faced or are facing. For example, we have
known people who spent four years in seminary studying to be pastors, yet they did not have the
spiritual gifts necessary for this role. As they entered vocational ministry, usually without a team
of people to compensate for their weaknesses, their churches suffered.
When confronted with the possibility that they did not have these spiritual gifts, they
disparaged the people who made these unwanted observations. Over time their hopes and dreams
of being pastors had become intractably fixed as their self-definition, their reality. They had
envisioned themselves as pastors for so long, it was impossible for them to accept the reality that
they were ill-suited for the task.
Assignment: Write a page about an inadequate understanding of life, an
inadequate meaning perspective, an inadequate way of making meaning
out of life experiences that you have personally had. Describe the process
that you went through that transformed this inadequate way of interpreting
life’s circumstances to a more adequate view of life. If you have difficulty
doing this assignment, ask yourself, “Am I listening to the people who are
close to me? Does the way I live my life invite suggestions, assessment,
and critique from others?”
If our meaning perspectives are inadequate, we are diminished as people. As our perspectives
become more adequate, we become more free. And Jesus wants us to be free: “It is for freedom
that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a
yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1).41
For example, during the days of communism, security police in Romania threatened to kill a
friend of ours. He responded, “Go ahead, I am ready.” His response bewildered his interrogators,
because they were accustomed to intimidating people through fear. But if the way that you
interpret life and death leaves you without the fear of death, then the threat of death has no hold
on you. Our friend was free from the intimidation of the secret police and remained free because
he had a proper meaning perspective on death. The fact is, the more adequately we understand
and make meaning of our own experiences, the freer we will be.
Transforming Meaning Perspectives
False meaning perspectives affect how we understand reality. For example, what is riding in
a train normally like? When we sit in a train and objects go past the window, we assume the
objects are stationary and that the train (containing us) is moving. We know the objects are not
moving, but we are. We do not usually think, “Wow! Look at that tree moving through the field
out there,” because we’ve developed the framework or schema for interpreting motion on a train.
Our framework looks something like this: When I am sitting on a train and objects move by the
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Meaning Perspectives and Transformation
109
window, those objects are not moving, they are stationary. I am moving because the train is
moving.
But even this simple way of interpreting reality can sometimes deceive us. Imagine that you
are sitting in a train at a station, and there is another train on the adjacent tracks. You are able to
see people through the windows of the other train. Suddenly, you experience the sensation of
moving. You look at your watch, because it is too early to leave, and you also don’t feel any
perceptible jerks or bumps. Evidence starts to build that your interpretation of reality is wrong:
you look again and now, with some effort, you reinterpret the data to find that the train beside
you is moving and you are not. You feel relieved and a little embarrassed that you were fooled.
The meaning perspective: “When I am in a train and objects move past my window, the
objects are stationary and I am moving” failed you. It proved inadequate for understanding the
situation. Inadequate meaning perspectives can plague much more important areas of our lives,
such as our spirituality, our emotions, our ability to reason accurately, our relationships, our
ability to resolve conflict, and so forth.
Scripture gives insight into the powerful controlling influence of meaning perspectives. In
Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul encourages the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The underlying idea is that we must not structure
our minds—how we interpret life and make meaning of our experiences—in the way the world
does. This includes the mind, emotions, and will. Paul warns the Romans to make sure that the
world system does not become the definitive influence in structuring how they think, how they
make meaning, or how they interpret life.
In John 8, Jesus tells the Jews, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Truth (and its proper interpretation and implementation in lives) sets them free. Jesus knew that
the knowledge and experience of the truth broke the shackles of false ways of interpreting life
and shattered the mental bonds that hold us. He rebuked the Pharisees for their willful choice to
ignore the truth that could set them free. Jesus asked:
Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s
desire. He was a murderer from the beginning [he wanted Adam and Eve to die],
not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his
native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:43-44).
Why did Jesus tell these people they were “unable to hear”? In fact they did physically hear
Jesus’ words; what they could not “hear” was his meaning. The way they structured their
religious beliefs was so distorted that they literally, consistently, and willfully misrepresented
what Jesus intended. Distorted meaning perspectives act like a mental bullet-proof vest to keep
truth from penetrating to the very core of our lives.
Meaning perspectives also define our emotions, which are the interpretations of our feelings.
If we interpret life’s experiences wrongly, then our feelings will be distorted as well. Distorted
interpretation generates false and often harmful emotional responses, and we can become
imprisoned to them.
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110
Lesson 8
As an example: suppose your father paid little attention to you except when you achieved
something. You may develop the perspective that pleasing authorities and God will be based on
your achievement. If such a meaning perspective is deeply embedded, you may have a very
difficult time comprehending and appreciating the wonderful biblical truth of God’s grace. For
you, salvation is a reward for something merited or earned. You do not experience it as an
absolutely free gift in the deepest part of your being. A person with the above-mentioned way of
seeing the world would have a very difficult time understanding and feeling the truth of grace.
If you grew up in a home where conflict was never resolved, you may now feel that conflict
must be avoided at all cost, even if it compromised your own personal integrity. Or, if you grew
up with over-indulgent parents, you may develop the framework that leads you to believe that
other people—in fact the world—owe you a living, and ought to care for you. Or, if people in
your life were overly controlling, you may have developed passive/aggressive ways of exerting
control. For example, a woman mistreated by her husband may develop a life-threatening case of
anorexia. The anorexia is her way of controlling at least one aspect of her life—her eating habits.
As mentioned earlier, false ways of making meaning of life’s experiences can affect every
aspect of life: our understanding, our emotions, and our actions. Since how we view the world is,
to some extent, distorted because of our fallen state, the results will be defective life experiences.
Critical Reflection. How can wrong meaning perspectives, then, be corrected and
transformed? Paul provides the answer in Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of
your mind.” We come to points in our life when information that conflicts with a currently held
view becomes so overwhelming that it begins to penetrate and shake the foundations of what we
have held as valid. We pause and realize that our present way of interpreting this kind of
information really doesn’t work anymore. We then attempt to adjust our current way of
interpreting events to make room for this new, contradictory information.
Critical reflection is the process by which we challenge the validity of the assumptions of our
prior learning. The process of critical reflection can cause emotional pain, because sometimes it
results in the denial or elimination of values that are at the very core of our self conception. Our
meaning perspectives are transformed when we become aware of ways of understanding life that
no longer work. These irregularities come to us in many different forms: a conversation, a book,
a painting, prayer, a sermon, or reading Scripture, to name a few. The Holy Spirit tailors
experiences to lead us into truth.
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his
own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to
you (John 16:12-14).
All of these ways (and others) may challenge our current pattern of thinking. Here is an
example: a man had heard of the Counter-Reformation and of the suffering inflicted on
Protestants in Europe. But this knowledge remained a rather cold, sterile fact of history until one
day he viewed a painting by Francois Debois of the Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, which depicts
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Meaning Perspectives and Transformation
111
the martyrdom of the Huguenots in France. While viewing that painting, he was overcome with
sadness and grief of man’s inhumanity to man. The Counter-Reformation took on emotional
weight when, through that painting, he became a witness of—and in some ways a vicarious
participant in—their suffering. His understanding of the Counter-Reformation became more
adequate.
Irregularities challenge our deep assumptions, assumptions of which we may not be aware.
Scripture provides a profound mirror that helps us see our false and inadequate ways of
interpreting life:
Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man, who
looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the
perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he
has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. (Jas 1:23-25)
For example, one man had the experience of changing his understanding of Ephesians 4:26,
“‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give
the devil a foothold.” He had reflected on that Scripture, yet his wife brought to his attention the
possibility that he was holding anger inside, that he was internalizing his anger and allowing
himself to be angry far too long. As he reflected on the verse, and as he took into account his
wife’s observation, he came to realize that he had to work on responding more quickly to his
anger. First, he had to take the time to think deeply about the real causes of his anger. Then, he
needed to take the time to adequately deal with those causes, which included speaking with the
people with whom he was angry, or changing his way of thinking about the situation that was
causing him to be angry. The Scripture and his wife provided a mirror by which he could see the
distortion in how he was dealing with anger.
When Paul spoke of transformation (Rom 12:1-2) he used the concept of metamorphosis—
becoming something different. The life cycle of a butterfly provides an illustration, as it changes
from egg, to larva, to pupa, then finally to adult butterfly. Each stage requires precise timing for
transformation to occur.
The process of transformation in humans, to some extent, replicates that of the butterfly. The
larva stage could represent the period of time when a person “eats voraciously” or takes in new
information that may not fit previously held assumptions. Then there is the pause when the
person reflects and tries to make meaning of this new information by using old patterns, or
frameworks of understanding. Next, the person realizes these old patterns, frameworks and
structures do not work, and the person struggles to break free. Finally the person uses the new
information to restructure and come to a more adequate framework of meaning. With new
meaning perspectives in place, the person “breaks out” and emerges transformed, having a more
adequate way of being, knowing, and doing.
Assignment: Describe a transformation of thinking that occurred in your
own life. What has changed?
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112
Lesson 8
Negative Capacity. Each of us can encourage the process of transformation in our own lives
and the lives of others by renewing our mind. We are to be engaged in coming to the truth. Yet
our progress depends largely on our “negative capacity,” which Charles Handy says is our ability
to take critique from others and to assimilate it properly, to realize our mistakes and to own
them.42 Assimilating critique means to take the time to process our sins. Often, emotional
integration is given short shrift, but it is crucial in real growth. Negative capacity is the ability to
live honestly, authentically acknowledging failures and sin without either rejecting the critique or
becoming demoralized by it, or rejecting the person who offers the critique.
Below is our adaptation of the Johari Window,43 a helpful tool in personal assessment:
What I see
What I don’t see
What others see
Public
Blind spot
What others don’t see
Private
What God sees
The process of personal transformation involves expanding our public selves, so that we
become more transparent to others. By inviting others into our lives, by accepting their critique
and advice, we reduce the “blind” part of our lives, because we begin to see ourselves as others
see us.
By inviting God into our lives and asking Him to reveal our inner motivations, attitudes, and
ways of making meaning in life, we reduce the hidden part of our lives. In Psalm 139, David
says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if
there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Clearly, David is inviting
God to search and reveal the hidden parts of his inner life. As we reduce both the blind and
hidden part of our inner lives, we live more authentically; we live more transparently. How we
live on the outside becomes more congruent with who we are on the inside.
Proverbs attests to the difference between those people who respond positively to honest
critique and those who brush it aside. The author of Proverbs composed several stanzas, all of
which provide a slightly different way of looking at this issue of negative capacity:
The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice.
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Meaning Perspectives and Transformation
113
A fool shows his annoyance at once,
but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
A truthful witness gives honest testimony,
but a false witness tells lies. (Prov 12:15-17)
Other Scriptures address the need to speak the truth and to listen carefully to advice and
critique from others. One must always seek to discover the truth in the critique of friend or
enemy, as God can use it in our lives.
One reason we find it hard to hear criticism from others is because we have not heard God’s
“criticism” of us on the Cross. Alfred Poirier reminds us:
. . . that we forget that on the cross God ‘criticized’ us—that is, God judged us in
Christ. That is why Paul the Apostle declares, ‘I have been crucified with Christ’
(Gal 2:20) . . . . Knowing this permits us to respond to all other criticism leveled
at us by saying ‘That is just a fraction of it.’ Doesn’t Scripture teach us this?
‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the
Book of the Law’ (Gal 3:10).
‘For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is
guilty of breaking all of it’ (Jas 2:10).
In other words, we can strongly agree with the criticism made of us because
Scripture has already condemned us for failing to keep the whole law. In light of
these massive charges against us, any accusations launched at us are mere
understatements about who we are and what we have done.44
Yet, in spite of all our failings, God still loves us and makes provision for us to live
victoriously as we walk with him.
Assignment: Read the following Scriptures: Exodus 18:13-24; 1 Samuel
25:24-31; Galatians 2:11-21; Proverbs 12:15; and Proverbs 19:20.
Describe how these verses elucidate the concept of “negative capacity,”
the ability to take advice and critique. Evaluate your own ability to learn
from mistakes and to assimilate negative critique. Assess whether you are
able to receive criticism without rejecting it or being demoralized by it.
Assignment: Describe creative ways how you, as a facilitator of adults,
can challenge the inadequate meaning perspectives of adult learners and
guide them toward restructuring these inadequate frameworks for
understanding life.
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114
Lesson 8
Summary
As adults our primary task, which is innate and powerful, is to make meaning out of life. All
the ways that we learn: through the environment, through the stages of life, through interaction
with others, and through our inner motivations, contribute toward helping us make meaning of
life. Thus, for an adult to fully understand something is more than simply doing something.
Adults need coherence—a unity within by which what they know, how they feel, and what they
do is coherent.
We intuitively believe in our hearts that coherence ought to be achievable, so we shed old
meaning perspectives to incorporate new information. We begin an internal conversation, a
dialogue between the new information and our old meaning structures. We broaden the dialogue
to include sources of information that we deem relevant. These sources of new information may
come from reading, art, prayer, or walking in the forest. But, by far, the two most powerful ways
that our worlds are altered is by welcoming, evaluating, and taking to heart the criticism of others
toward us and by honestly answering the questions that life poses to us. As we restructure our
thinking, we then have more adequate ways of making meaning out of life.
The Apostle John, writing about the great emancipator, Jesus, stated, “So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). As we get to know truth in the person of Christ and
become like him, we are transformed; we become spiritually mature—we are set free.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Verbs for Developing Good Discussion Questions .........................................117
Appendix 2: Explanation of Lesson Plan Worksheet ...........................................................119
Appendix 3: Lesson Plan Worksheet ....................................................................................121
Appendix 4: Seminar Evaluation ..........................................................................................123
Appendix 5: Recommended Seminar Schedules for Entrust Courses ..................................125
Appendix 6: Sample Record Sheet .......................................................................................127
Appendix 7: Leading a Small Group Discussion – Summary ..............................................129
Appendix 8: Defining a Strategy ..........................................................................................139
Appendix 9: Entrust Three-Day Seminar Sample Schedule .................................................143
115
1
Appendix
Verbs for Developing Good
Discussion Questions
The way to use the chart below45 is first to decide what kind of learning you want to occur:
observation, interpretation, or application. Then construct a question using an appropriate verb
from the last column. Add as many appropriate verbs to this list as needed.
Expected Cognitive
Activity
Key Concepts
(terms)
1. Observation
(Know the facts)
Student recalls or recognizes
information, ideas, and
principles in the approximate
form in which they were
learned.
memory
knowledge,
repetition,
description
ask
match
identify
locate
read
Define
describe
list
2. Interpretation
(Understand the
meaning )
Student translates,
comprehends, or interprets
information based on prior
learning.
Explanation,
comparison,
illustration
explain
infer
generalize
predict
re-write
Predict
interpret
paraphrase
summarize
Student distinguishes,
classifies, and relates the
assumptions, hypotheses,
evidence, conclusions, and
structure of a statement or a
question with an awareness
of the thought processes she
is using.
Logic
classify
categorize
separate
compare
diagram
dissect
analyze
survey
combine
invent
compose
role-play
develop
write
produce
design
Category Name
a. Analysis
(Examine parts)
b. Synthesis
(Make
something new)
Student originates,
integrates, and combines
ideas into a product, plan or
proposal that is new to him.
Induction and
deduction
formal
reasoning
divergence
productive
thinking
novelty
117
Verbs on which to build
Open Questions
118
Appendix 1
Category Name
c. Evaluation
(Judge the
value)
3.
Application
(Change the life)
Expected Cognitive
Activity
Key Concepts
(terms)
Student appraises,
assesses, or criticizes on a
basis of specific standards
and criteria. This is not
opinion unless standards
are made explicit.
judgment
Student selects,
comprehends, or
interprets information
based on prior learning.
selection
solution
application
convergence
Verbs on which to build Open
Questions
evaluate
rate
judge
debate
discuss
choose
decide
recommend
demonstrate
apply
solve
teach
construct
use
simulate
experiment
do
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2
Appendix
Explanation of
Lesson Plan Worksheet
Lesson Topics
Review the lesson and list the main topics that are covered. Check the lesson outline to make
sure you have not missed key areas.
Assignments
List each of the assignments to be completed. These will include both homework
assignments and exercises completed in the text. Be sure to plan the seminar in such a way
that the students have opportunity to share and discuss what they have done; this can be one
of the most meaningful times of the seminar.
Once you have listed the Lesson Topics and Assignments, take some time to review these, as
you will want to use this valuable information to help set your lesson objectives.
Opening Prayer
Launch Question
Formulate a good, open launch question that will set the tone for the seminar, stimulate
discussion, and be a good bridge question to the lesson’s content. For that reason, you may
want to develop this question after you’ve defined your lesson objectives and/or discussion
questions.
Develop Your Own Lesson Objectives
After you have reviewed the lesson carefully, develop two or three objectives that you feel
are most significant to discuss. Be sure to take into account the objectives given at the
beginning of each lesson, because your objectives should be the same or similar.

Selected Workbook Questions
For each objective you have developed, identify any appropriate workbook questions
(two or three) you feel would help to stimulate the discussion. You may use the questions
as written, or refer to the assigned question and then ask a related one based on it.
Reviewing some of the workbook questions will make use of the students’ preparation
and remind them that it is important to a meaningful seminar.
119
Appendix 2
120

Additional Discussion Questions/Exercises
Write questions of your own that you feel would help toward deepening the students’
understanding and application of the objectives you have developed. Be sure to keep in
mind the principles of developing good open questions covered in this manual.
In addition, the students themselves will often have particular questions that will be
useful for the whole group to discuss. It is important to give them the opportunity to ask
their questions. Be careful not to let yourself be drawn away from the direction you want
the seminar to take. Keeping your objectives in mind, you may want to hold some of their
questions to discuss later or perhaps privately with the individual student.
Additional Teaching Topics
On occasion, you may desire to strengthen the content of a lesson by briefly teaching from a
related passage of Scripture not particularly noted or emphasized in the lesson. Remember,
however, that your teaching should be limited (five to ten minutes) and followed up with a
good question. This should not turn into a lecture time! You can include this mini-lecture at
whatever point you think best.
Summarize Key Points
At the conclusion of each lesson, summarize the Key Points of the lesson. Allow the students
to share what was most meaningful or helpful to them personally. Take the time to show that
the selected topics/objectives have been met.
Creative Teaching Methods
Creative ways should be used to help the students better grasp and apply the content of the
lesson. It also helps to make the seminar more interesting. Some suggestions in this area are:
role play in small groups or one-to-one, visual aids, illustrations, etc.
Example: If students have taken a course on studying Scripture, have them work through a
passage using the method presented. This is a good review and keeps the student focused on
Scripture.
Preparation for the Next Lesson
Be sure you go over the homework assignment for the next seminar. This will help avoid
unnecessary confusion.
Examination
You may or may not decide to give an exam, depending on your situation. If you are
planning to give one, or assign it as homework, be sure to include it in your lesson plan.
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3
Appendix
Lesson Plan Worksheet
(for Entrust courses)
Course________________________ Lesson _______ Lesson Title _____________________
Lesson Topics
Assignments
Launch Question
Develop Your Own Lesson Objectives
Objective 1 Selected Workbook Questions
1.
2.
Additional Discussion Questions/Exercises
1.
2.
Objective 2 Selected Workbook Questions
1.
2.
121
122
Appendix 3
Additional Discussion Questions/Exercises
1.
2.
Additional Teaching Topics
Summarize Key Points
Creative Teaching Methods
Preparation for the Next Lesson
Examination ___
Grade and Discuss
Closing Prayer
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4
Appendix
Seminar Evaluation
Facilitator: _____________________________________________ Date:_____________
Course:______________________________________ Lessons Covered: _____________
Preparation
_______ Did I prepare adequately?
_______ How would I prepare differently?
Create Environment
_______ Did we have an adequate time for worship and prayer?
_______ Did we start and end on time?
_______ Was the meeting place adequate?
_______ Did we create a hospitable environment for learning?
_______ Did the meeting atmosphere invite open, honest responses?
Lesson Plan
_______ Did questions generate good discussion?
_______ Did we cover the main objectives?
_______ Did everyone contribute?
_______ Were teaching methods effective and creative?
_______ Did I or someone else bring closure by summarizing the discussion?
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Appendix 4
Administration
_______ Did students complete assignments?
_______ Did we record the needed information about attendees, assignments, tests, etc.?
Closing
_______ Did I review the assignments for next seminar well?
_______ Did I review the next seminar’s date, time, and place, as needed?
_______ Did we have adequate time for closing prayer?
Evaluation
As a result of this evaluation, what changes do I need to make for the next seminar?
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5
Appendix
Recommended Seminar Schedules
(for Entrust courses)
Weekly
Students meet for an Orientation Seminar for the course, followed by weekly seminars based
upon the number of lessons (a course with twelve lessons would require thirteen seminars).
Bi-weekly
Students meet for an Orientation Seminar for the course, followed by seminars held every
two weeks. Depending on the group, choose one or two lessons to cover in each seminar.
You may want to use small groups between seminars, as described below under the monthly
schedule.
Monthly
Students meet for an Orientation Seminar followed by monthly weekend seminars for ten to
twelve hours to cover three to four lessons. This could be accomplished by meeting on a
Friday evening (three to four hours) and on Saturday (seven to eight hours).
In addition, the group should be divided into smaller groups (three to four people) to meet
together at least once for two hours between the monthly weekend seminars. The purpose for
the smaller groups is for accountability in study, discussion of key issues/study projects, and
prayer together. These groups are very critical for faithful study and completion of the
course.
Intensive
Students meet together for a four to six day intensive time to interact on the course. This
intensive time should be preceded by the following:
a. A one-day Orientation Seminar should be conducted three to four months earlier. It is
very important that the students know all the requirements of the course. Also, it would
be good to have the students work through Lesson 1 in the seminar and have a time of
discussion based on their study.
b. In addition, the group should be divided into smaller groups (three to four persons) to
meet together at least once every two weeks for two hours over the months prior to the
intensive. The purpose for the smaller groups is for accountability in study, discussion of
125
126
Appendix 5
key issues/study projects, and prayer together. These groups are very critical for faithful
study of the material.
The intensive time is ideally spent in a retreat setting for full attention to be devoted to the
course. Another great benefit of this setting is the opportunity to develop closer relationships
and to have valuable discussions develop during the free times.
Note: Whatever seminar schedule is used, it should be workable for all students, and each
student needs to be able to commit to it.
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6
Appendix
Sample Record Sheet
(for Entrust courses)
Country: ______________________
Name
Course Name: ___________________________
Homework/Attendance
Payment
127
7
Appendix
Leading a Small Group Discussion –
Summary
The Small Group
What it is:
The basic small group format that will be studied is the group discussion. By definition, this
is a planned conversation between three or more persons on a selected topic, with a
facilitator.
Generally speaking, the optimum number for quality learning and good group dynamics is
between six to eight people. A larger number is possible, although it will be very difficult to
have the desired involvement from each person.
It is important that the group be seated in a circular form. This enables each person to speak
directly to the others in the group. Sitting in rows only allows them to speak to the leader and
to the backs of other people’s heads!
What it is not:
1. A lecture - the leader talks the whole time and the members in the group just listen and
maybe ask a few questions.
2. A dialogue between two people - the leader has a long dialogue with one of the members.
The rest are just listening or starting their own independent conversations.
3. Several dialogues - the leader has several dialogues with some of the members in the
group. The others are kept outside the discussion and cannot or dare not take part.
The value of the small group
1. It encourages participation from everyone, which results in increased motivation and
commitment.
2. It allows for the development of interpersonal relationships through the sharing of
feelings, beliefs, and needs.
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130
Appendix 7
3. It stimulates the sharing of new ideas and convictions.
4. It develops leadership potential and abilities through active involvement.
5. It helps participants to arrive at their own conclusions and to build personal convictions.
6. It encourages honesty in real life issues and gives an opportunity for personal
involvement in the concerns of others in the group.
Personal needs met through the small group
The hospitable atmosphere of a small group helps to meet many expressed and unexpressed
needs, including the following:
1. To speak freely concerning one’s understanding of Scripture and one’s relationship to
God.
2. For discipline in personal study of Scripture.
3. To learn correctly as others act as checkpoints for our understanding of the text.
4. For accountability in personal application of Scripture.
5. To learn from others, as applied Scripture is seen in their lives.
6. To have others care for one another on a personal level.
Resource Introductory Questions:
(To be used with a group to stimulate understanding of one another)
1. Describe briefly how you came to Christ.
2. What are some of the things you enjoy doing most?
3. What is your least favorite task.
4. What do you consider as one of your present greatest needs?
5. Describe how you met your wife/husband?
6. What is the greatest advantage about being single?
7. What is the most important thing on your heart right now?
8. If you had only a day, a week, or a month to live, how would you spend your time?
9. Do you carry an unfulfilled vision on your heart and mind? What is it?
10. What are ways you spend time with your children?
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Leading a Small Group Discussion
131
Group Dynamics
Principles in leading a small group
1. Make the group work!
Try not to answer your own questions, express an opinion, or make a contribution that you
can get from the group.
2. Rephrase questions if necessary.
Sometimes a member may have difficulty in answering a question. Rephrase it so that it is
more easily answered. This will also help to eliminate failure on the part of the individual.
3. Respect the value of each individual.
People have their own thoughts and ideas. You want to know what they think, not what you
think they should think!
4. Allow time for “thought” questions.
Ask the question and wait—give people time to think. Do not hesitate to rephrase the
question if there seems to be doubt about the meaning. If no one answers, you could call on
someone, but make sure that person is not too shy! Affirm the responses.
5. Encourage discussion.
Be ready to comment on answers, show approval, and ask other questions to stimulate
discussion and application. Do not, however, interrupt good discussions that proceed without
your help. Encourage others to share their ideas, as well.
6. Take advantage of controversy.
Differences of opinions can stimulate interest and thought by all members of the group. The
aim of the leader is to guide rather than stifle the discussion. When individuals in a group
differ, encourage a resolution on the basis of the passage being studied. If the passage is not
specific, several courses of action can be taken:
a. Other passages of Scripture known to the group may provide the answer.
b. Further study between sessions may lead to decisive information.
c. The disagreement may be unresolvable, so members should be encouraged to “agree
to disagree,” having come to an understanding of one another’s viewpoint.
7. Review periodically.
At points where natural breaks occur, ask summary questions that encourage the group to
think through the previous progression and pinpoint the main ideas. This is also a good time
for the leader to ask the members if they have any questions to “clear the way” for the new
major topic.
8. Emphasize the positive.
No group member, under any circumstance, should be told bluntly that his answer is wrong!
Nor should the leader turn to someone else for the answer; if a portion of an answer can be
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132
Appendix 7
accepted and commented upon, it should be. Here are some possible comments you can
make:
“That certainly is a position commonly held today. Is there any real basis for it in the text?”
“That is an interesting point. I imagine there would be varied opinions within the group.
Does anyone else care to express his thoughts about this matter?”
Wrong theology need not be approved, but the way in which wrong answers are handled will
encourage or discourage future group responses.
Also make sure that the member’s answers to the leader’s questions are clear. Good
questions about his answer can help to clarify meaning.
Remember: raise the truth to the same level as any untruth that is being stated. Then allow
the Holy Spirit to lead that person to the truth, as He is the true teacher.
9. Carefully challenge superficial answers.
The leader needs to insist firmly on clarifying modern phrasing, contemporary terms, and
definitions of terms that are almost devoid of meaning. Here are some possible challenges:
“How would you explain that word or term in your own words. . . or to a child?”
“How would explain that idea to someone from another culture or to someone who is
illiterate?”
“Could you give an illustration of what you mean?”
10. Occasionally, use background information.
This can be very helpful in stimulating discussion, but it should be kept brief.
11. How to handle larger groups.
If the group is larger (six or more), use questions that students can discuss among themselves
in smaller groups of two to three people. Later, have them share the results of their discussion
in the larger group.
Principles for handling problems
1. Encourage the new and shy members with simple questions involving the expression of
opinion or choice. Be appreciative of every contribution.
2. Gently restrain too-talkative members by addressing questions to the others by name. It may
be good to talk with them after the study about this problem.
3. Ask uninstructed members questions related to facts from the text until they are confident
enough to give their own opinions and impressions.
4. Try to help “tangent-chasers” pursue the purpose of the study. Encourage them to bring up
tangential remarks of genuine concern after the study. Example:
“What you have mentioned could make for an interesting topic for discussion. Let’s talk
about that after our study. Okay?”
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Leading a Small Group Discussion
133
5. Ask members who makes irrelevant contributions, “where in the text did you find that?” Or
in some other way urge them to get their ideas from the passage or study material.
6. Help members who approach the passage looking for problems to see that learning moves
from the known to the unknown. Help them to concentrate first on the positive teaching that
can be understood. Difficulties that remain can be studied separately from the group or by the
group, if desired. Examples:
“The problem that you have mentioned is a good one. As we continue to study the passage I
think the answer will be made clear to us.”
“The problem that you have mentioned is a difficult one which cannot be answered in our
particular study today. Let’s discuss afterwards some possible alternatives in handling this
problem.”
7. Show well-informed members who frequently digresses by quoting other parts of Scripture
the value of keeping to the passage, except when their contributions are appropriate to the
discussion and are helpful in clarifying a difficulty. Example:
“We may need to look at that passage later, but for the present, let’s see if we can continue
to discover additional insights in the passage before us.”
8. Periods of silence may mean the members are thinking about the passage. In order to have
thoughtful discussion, there must be time to think. Try to discern the difference between
fruitful silence and empty, confused silence. Rephrasing the question may be necessary.
However, remember not to answer your own questions!
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134
Appendix 7
The Preparation of Questions
Introduction
Questions are the tools that the group leader uses to guide the discussion. Learning to prepare
and ask these questions are crucial to having a meaningful discussion and to give confidence
to the group leader.
Basically, there are two general categories of questions:
First, there are those questions that need not be prepared beforehand, as they are not
based upon the content of the material. Example: “What does someone else think?” Such
questions are very useful in stimulating further discussion and increasing the worth of
your prepared questions.
Second there are those questions that the group leader prepares in advance. These are the
majority of questions asked, and are based on the content of the material. These questions
require greater attention in their preparation and will, therefore, be the main emphasis of
the seminar. These questions can be divided into three different types: (1) observation
questions, (2) interpretation questions, and (3) application questions.
Three types of prepared questions
1. Observation questions (What do I see?)
Observation questions are based solely on the content of the passage or material studied.
They are developed from students’ observations and are used to stimulate discussion of the
content of the material or passage. Since students have supposedly answered these before the
class, the leader should not use all the same questions that are used in the students’ material.
Generally, observation questions are characterized by these five key words - who, what,
when, where, and how. Some examples of observation questions are:
a. Who are the characters in this passage? Describe them briefly.
b. What happened? Summarize in your own words.
c. When did this happen?
d. Where do these events take place? Locate them on the map.
e. How long would it take to travel between the two cities?
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Leading a Small Group Discussion
135
Resource Observation Questions
a. Who is the human author? How much do we know about him?
b. To whom is the passage addressed—believers or unbelievers, Israelites or Gentiles,
an individual or a church, etc.?
c. What is the author’s purpose in writing this—to warn, admonish, discipline, instruct,
encourage, inform, etc.?
d. Is it addressed to a specific circumstance or situation? If so, what is it?
e. What words or phrases in this passage do you think are the key ones, and the ones we
need to define in their context in order to draw out the meanings in this Scripture?
f. How would you define [key word or phrase] in the context of this passage?
g. How many synonyms can you think of for this word?
h. How many antonyms can you list for this word?
i. This word has a very interesting etymology (historical and cultural application)—do
any of you have any idea what it might be?
j. Can you think of other places in Scripture where this word or phrase is used? If so,
let’s look at them and see if they might help our understanding here.
k. Does this word or phrase make you think of any unique experience in your life that
you would like to share?
l. Do you think your understanding of this word or phrase is contradicted or supported
by the following cross references:_____ ?
2. Interpretation questions (What does it mean?)
Interpretation questions are designed to help understand the meaning of the passage.
Generally, they are prepared by picking out key words, ideas or situations that are hard to
understand or explain. Here are a list of ideas that could be considered in developing the
interpretation questions:
a. Definition of a word - what does it mean as we use it today? Point to a passage or a verse
that gives an indication of its meaning.
b. Purpose - what was the reason for the particular action or statement?
c. Relationship - what is the relationship between the two events?
d. Significance - why is this important? How does it affect the overall situation?
e. Consequence - what would be the result of such an action?
f. Relevance - what does this have to do with the whole?
g. Application - what did this mean then? What meaning does it have today?
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136
Appendix 7
h. Divine/human relationship - what does this imply about God’s relationship to people, and
theirs to God?
Resource Interpretation Questions
a. Do you detect any kind of promise or assurance God has clearly given or implied for
us in this passage?
b. Do you note a command here for us to obey?
c. Do you see any kind of example He has given us to follow?
d. Is there a sin here that He is telling us to avoid?
e. Is there a warning here He is giving us relative to false teachers or false doctrine?
f. Is there a truth God is giving us here about Himself, the church, Jesus, the Holy
Spirit, man, angels, Israel, or about the material universe, etc.?
g. In your own words, how might you state the main thought in this passage?
h. How would you interpret the meaning of this passage?
i. Could you summarize what you think is the message, the truth, or the principle God is
conveying to us in this passage?
j. How might you state the antithesis to this truth or principle?
k. Can you detect more than one meaning or application of the truth contained in this
passage?
l. Using a visual picture, how might you use a tree (an ocean, ant, bee, or sky) to
illustrate the principle under discussion?
m. How might you diagram (illustrate, demonstrate, act out) this principle so that it could
be understood by a ten-year-old child?
3. Application questions (How does this apply to me?)
Application questions are aimed at helping the members make the Scriptures relevant to
current concerns and problems in their everyday lives. An application question should be
personal and addressed to an individual member, not to the whole group in general. An
alternative would be to ask the whole group to write down their applications and then ask
each member to share what they have written.
Three questions should be asked about the application question to ensure its appropriateness:
a. How relevant is the question?
b. Does the question lead to action?
c. How is the person asked personally involved by the question?
The following is a list of sources to direct application questions:
1) Relationship - family, friends, employer/employee
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Leading a Small Group Discussion
137
2) Situations - death, sickness, accidents
3) National and international problems - economics, war, morals
4) Modern thinking and lifestyles
5) Personal study of Scripture
Resource Application Questions
a. What principles or truths from this lesson did you learn that you can apply in your
relationships with non-Christians at your school, job, home, church, neighborhood,
etc.? Which would apply to Christians?
b. What things did you learn that you can apply in your own family?
c. What things did you learn in this session that will be effective in witnessing to nonChristians?
d. What things did you learn that will make you a more effective edifier of your brothers
and sisters in Christ?
e. Are there areas in which you feel a need to have greater knowledge and
understanding in order to be a more effective witness or edifier?
f. Can any of you remember something that has happened in your life or someone else’s
life that might demonstrate how this truth or principle works out in real life?
g. How many of you are willing to apply this truth or principle to a non-Christian or
Christian in your sphere of influence at least once in the coming week, and be willing
to share what happened at our next meeting?
h. Write down on a slip of paper the name of the Christian and/or non-Christian you are
intending to apply this principle within this coming week. Put your name on the paper
and turn it in to me. Next week we will ask you to share what happened when you
applied it.
What do you think might happen when you apply this principle to this person? How
do you think he or she will react? What will you do then?
Will it make a difference if you apply it according to your own wisdom as compared
to that of the Holy Spirit?
How can you make sure it is the Spirit who is in control and not just you when you
apply it?
i. Based upon the understandings and insights you have gained from this study, please
write out just one commitment to God regarding a change you intend to make in your
attitude and/or behavior for Christ’s sake.
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138
Appendix 7
Evaluating your question
A simple way in which to evaluate the worth of a question is to look at the answer that could
be expected. Listed are four categories of questions and examples of each that can serve to be
helpful in your evaluation.
Question
Category
(1)
Leading
Example
Answer
Worth
“You all agree with
that don’t you?”
Yes or No
(2)
Limiting
“What are the three
most important truths
in this chapter?”
The answer that the
group thinks you
expect from them.
(3)
Open
“Where did this
happen? Who was
present? When did it
happen? Why did it
happen? What was
the result?”
“What do you think?
Do you have anything
to add to this? What
do you say about
this?”
Place
People
Time
Reason
Results
No value stimulates no thought or
discussion
Little value - Everyone
knows that you have the
right answer. Avoid grading
and using numbers.
Great - it stimulates
discovery, understanding, or
application.
(4)
Wide
Open
Anything
Relevant thoughts
Tremendous - maximum
stimulant to thought and
discussion. Use after a
response to an open
question.
Summary
A discussion will normally progress from observation to interpretation to application. In a
dynamic group situation, however, these steps will often be rearranged, and the emphasis will
vary. Never forget, though, that the observation step must serve as a foundation for the
interpretation and application. The number of questions asked for any passage are endless.
Select the very best of the questions and strive for a balance between the observation,
interpretation, and application questions. A general rule would be to have one third of the
questions from each type.
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8
Appendix
Defining a Strategy
Point B:
What need has God shown us? What would we like to see ten years from now? (vision)
Point A:
Where are we now in light of this need? (current situation)
What basic strategy would take us from Point A to Point B?
Ongoing multiplication and discipleship as the master plan!
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Appendix 8
Components to consider in defining and implementing a strategy:
What? The need to be met, outcomes desired
Who?
Ownership
Mentor/Facilitator Team
Student/Disciple Selection (“faithful ones”)
Other Partners and their Roles/Responsibilities
When? Dates and phases of project, research through completion
How?
Research
Model
Training Process Now and Ongoing (initial training, supervision)
Decision-Making Process/Evaluation
Administration/Coordination
Curriculum
Format
Facilities
Travel
Costs
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Defining a Strategy
What initial steps can we identify toward fulfilling a strategy?
(including “who, when, what, where, and how” with action points)
Follow-up from this session in the next week:
The next 3-6 months:
The next year:
Beyond:
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141
9
Appendix
Entrust Three-Day Seminar
Sample Schedule
(35 Bulgarian students working in five small groups of seven over three years)
Thursday (pre-seminar)
14.30 – 18.00
Facilitators (Wendy, Jackie) meet with Bulgarian small group mentors
(Grace, Nebesna, Tsvete, Nina, Betty - 5 mentors for 5 groups of 7)
 Affirm the specific flow and responsibilities of this session’s schedule
 Pray together
 Discuss any specific issues needs in the groups.
18.00 – 19.00
Dinner together and . . . .???
Friday (tea breaks: 11.00 – 11.30 and 4.00 – 4.30)
9.00 – 9.15
Welcome and announcements (Nebesna)
9.15 – 9.30
Worship (led by Nina’s group)
9.30 – 10.00
Mentors check homework in small groups
10.00 – 13.00
Discussion of Developing a Discerning Heart Lesson 8
(Wendy, Nebesna)
13.00 – 15.00
Lunch together and walks
15.00 – 18.00
Facilitated discussions prepared and led by the students in their small groups
(from Women Serving Women)
 Feedback
 Encouragement
 Evaluation
18.00 – 18.30
Each small group reports back to the whole group about the experience
 Celebration!
18.30 -
Dinner together and return to host homes
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144
Appendix 9
Saturday (tea breaks: 11.00 – 11.30 and 4.00 – 4.30)
9.00 – 9.30
Worship (led by Tsvete’s group)
9.30 – 13.00
Discussion of Developing a Discerning Heart, Lesson 9 (Betty, Tsvete)
13.00 – 15.00
Lunch and walk
15.00 – 18.00
Discussion of DDH, Lesson 10 (Grace, Nina)
18.00 – 18.30
Personal testimonies to the whole group about how this course affected us
18.30 –
Dinner together and return to host homes
Sunday
9.00 – 9.30
Worship (Betty’s group)
9.30 – 10.00
Discussion of funding needs and strategies (Grace)
10.00 – 11.30
Work by teams on regional training plans and issues
11.30 – 12.00
Praise and prayer for our time together and for the ongoing future of the
training
12.00 – 12.30
Distribute books for next course and give homework assignment.
12.30 – 13.30
Lunch together and departure
13.30 – 14.30
Debrief with mentor team
Monday (post-seminar)
Meet personally with each small group mentor
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Notes
1
Merriam and Caffarella, Learning in Adulthood (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1991),
p. 158.
2
Ibid., p. 147.
3
Ibid., p. 144.
4
Based on Stephen D. Brookfield, Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning (San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1991), p. 30.
5
George Lakeoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago
Press, 1980), p. 3.
6
Ibid., p. 5.
Ted Ward, “Metaphors of Spiritual Reality Part 3: Evaluating Metaphors of Education,” Bibliotheca
Sacra 139 (556) 1982: pp. 291-301.
7
8
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York, NY: Continuum, 1990), pp. 58-9.
9
Based on James D. Smart, The Teaching Ministry of the Church (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster
Press, 1954), pp. 99-100.
10
Based on Brookfield, Understanding and Facilitating Adult Learning, p. 128.
11
A more complete overview of the discussion process is provided in later sessions.
Ted Ward, “Developmental Levels of the Teacher,” Michigan State University, non-published
article, personal collection, p. 7.
12
13
George Bernard Shaw, “Maxims for a Revolutionist” in Man and Superman, 1903, Maxim 36.
14
John Dear, The Questions of Jesus (New York, NY: Image Books/Doubleday, 2004), p. 2.
15
Ibid., p. xxi. (In the forward by Richard Rohr.)
16
Ibid., pp. xxii-xxiii.
17
C. Roland Christensen and David A. Garvin, Ann Sweet, ed., Education for Judgment: The Artistry
of Discussion Leadership ed. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1991), p. 4-13.
K. Patricia Cross, “A Proposal to Improve Teaching or What ‘Taking Teaching Seriously’ Should
Mean,” American Association for High Education (September 1986), cited in Education for Judgment,
p. 4.
18
19
Alfred North Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essays (New York, NY: Free Press,
1929), p.30, cited in Education for Judgment, p. 4.
20
Cross, cited in Education for Judgment, p. 4.
A. Lawson and J. Renner, “Piagetian Theory and Biology Teaching.” The American Biology
Teacher, 1975 p. 338, quoted in Chet Myers, Teaching Students to Think Critically (San Francisco, CA
and Oxford: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1991), p. 57.
21
145
Notes
146
22
D.A. Carson, When Jesus Confronts the World: an Exposition of Matthew 8-10 (Grand Rapids, MI:
1987), pp. 14-15.
23
John Ciardi, Manner of Speaking (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1972), as cited in
C. Roland Christensen and David A. Garvin, Ann Sweet, ed., Education for Judgment: The Artistry of
Discussion Leadership ed. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1991), p. 156.
24
Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner, Teaching as a Subversive Activity (New York, NY:
Delacorte, 1969) as cited in Education for Judgment, p. 157.
25
Ibid., p. 153-4.
26
Based on Benjamin S. Bloom, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: the Classification of
Educational Goals, Handbook 1: Cognitive Domain (New York, NY: McKay, 1969).
27
Andrew B. Seidel, Charting a Bold Course: Training Leaders for 21st Century Ministry (Chicago,
IL: Moody Publishers, 2003), p. 34.
Based on Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel E. Dennett, eds., The Mind’s I (New York, NY: Basic
Books, 1981), p. 156.
28
29
Christensen, Garvin, Sweet, Education for Judgment, p.166. [Robert Frost was U.S. Poet Laureate.]
30
Ibid., p. 169.
31
Discussion challenges are dealt with in detail in Session 6.
32
Based on ideas found in Chet Myers, Teaching Students to Think Critically (San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 1986), p. 63.
33
Ibid.
34
Henri J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life (New York, NY:
Doubleday Image Books, 1975), pp. 84-5.
Victor Emil Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (NY: Pocket
Books, 1963).
35
36
Adapted from Howard Gardner in Frames of the Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence, who
proposes seven kinds of intelligence, quoted in Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason (Boston, MA:
Harvard Business School Press, 1989), pp. 219-220.
37
Based on ideas from David Hargreaves, Usha Goswami and David Wood. There is serious debate
about the validity of learning styles, and the research surrounding learning styles, and these three all
question whether learning styles are distinguishable. From the author’s personal perspective, evidence
seems to support learning style preferences.
Based on Dr. James C. Dobson, Parenting Isn’t For Cowards (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House
Publishers, 1987), pp. 20-24.
38
39
Jack Mezirow, Transformative Dimension of Adult Learning (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Publishers, 1991), p. 11.
40
Ibid., xiii.
41
See the whole fifth chapter of Galatians, as Paul argues for freedom.
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Notes
147
42
Charles Handy, The Age of Unreason (Boston, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989), p. 68-70.
[Handy actually uses the term “negative capability,” which we have adapted and expanded for our use
here.]
43
Adapted from the Johari Window, a tool created by U.S. psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry
Ingham in 1955.
44
Alfred Poirier, Words that Cut (Peacemakers Ministry, 2003), pp. 10-11.
45
Adapted from Gary Manson and Ambrose Clegg, Jr., Classroom Question Classification, Category
Description (Part A), 1970.
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