7 Habits of an Effective Bible Sharer
John MacKinnon shares seven habits that we can practise to help us become more effective in sharing God’s Word with others.
Habits: the actions and practices that we perform on a regular basis and that can account for up to 40% of our everyday behaviour. These habits can take many forms. Some of them we don’t even think about (but others appreciate!) like taking a shower and brushing our teeth, while others require a bit more intentionality such as eating well, sleeping well and exercise; and of course, there are unhealthy habits that are usually defined by doing us more harm than good.
There is good news – the experts who make a habit of studying these actions all inform us that we can create and develop new habits, and, in that light, I have been doing some thinking about how those of us who believe in the good news of Jesus might make a regular habit of sharing Him. Here at The Word One to One we are committed to being joyful Bible sharers and the best way to develop this positive habit is to commit to several supporting habits that enable us to do it regularly.
We have in all probability encountered Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people and its various spin offs – graduates, families, and teens! It’s a seminal work and well worth reading, helping to focus our mind on the patterns of thinking that will bring about lasting positive change. As I have been thinking about supporting habits in the context of joyful Bible sharing, I have identified the following seven that might just be helpful for us in increasing our effectiveness.
Habit 1: Pray
Too often in our Christian lives we take prayer for granted. We understand but don’t fully appreciate its power, and even though we know it’s essential, we relegate practising it to brief moments in the midst of all our busyness!
In his book ‘Born after Midnight’, A.W. Tozer writes, “To speak to God on behalf of men is probably the highest service any of us can render.” Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray, and through His atoning work on the cross, He has provided us access into the Father’s presence. As we enter His presence more regularly and pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done”, we align ourselves with the Father’s heart and mission of seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10), and we’re compelled to pray for the lost and to share the good news of Christ with them.
As you regularly share God’s Word, remember to pray for the following:
That God would prepare the hearts of those you know and want to invite, and that He would make them willing to look at His Word.
That God would prepare your heart to be bold and loving enough to invite them to look at God’s Word with you.
That when you start to read God’s Word together, God would bring the person you’re reading with to a place of conviction over sin and repentance and faith towards God.
There are many other things we might pray for them, but never lose sight of praying for these life-changing things.
Habit 2: Plan
As we pray (see Habit 1) for those we would love to read God’s Word with, it’s helpful to plan intentionally to do it.
In my experience, I’ve found it helpful to strip out some of the busyness in my life to create some regular spaces in my diary that I can offer to friends who are open to exploring what the Bible says with me. I certainly don’t want to invite someone only to discover that the pressure of my commitments leaves me no margin to meet with them. Also, I try to make sure that we can meet around the same time weekly or fortnightly, leaving some flexibility for necessary changes.
I’ve also found it helpful to think about some of the places we could meet. While I always want to choose somewhere that my unbelieving friend will feel comfortable in, my meetings usually involve some food and drink, so coffee shops, pubs and places that lend themselves to conversation feature in my planning.
Finally, I always plan to invite someone to read with me, knowing the worst they can say to me is “no”, but I never want to say their ‘no’ for them. So, I make a simple plan to ask them. One of my favourite invitations is to simply ask, “Have you ever read any of the Bible as an adult?”, usually followed by, "Would you like to?”
Habit 3: Prioritise
When Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...”, He was giving His Church the singular priority around which the whole of church life was to revolve and providing us with the greatest executive summary of the Church's purpose.
The word ‘priority’ is a fascinating word. It came into the English language in the 1400’s, and for 500 years it remained singular. It was only from the 1900’s onwards that it took on its plural usage, and with it the outlandish idea that we can set multiple priorities and still be highly productive. In practice, when everything is a priority, usually nothing is a priority.
This process of prioritising the formation and development of disciple making relationships is closely linked to the first two habits. Actively praying for God’s preparation of the heart of someone known to me and making space in my diary for us to meet are the first steps in ensuring that this is a priority in our life. The next step is to make sure that we invest the time towards this disciple-making priority.
When we prioritise the call to ‘make disciples’, we realise that opening God’s Word with another person is an excellent way to fulfil this call and to become a ‘disciple-making disciple’. This is not only because we’re allowing the Word to have its impact and influence on their life, but also because, by sharing this way, we can’t help but share our lives with those we are reading with. Disciple-making always includes the opportunity for the disciple to watch the life of the one doing the discipling at close quarters.
One of the things that has filled my prioritising of ‘joyful Bible sharing’ and encouraging others to do the same with so much joy has been the privilege of seeing the Church grow, one disciple at a time. In the numerous priorities that we can set ourselves in life, what could be more important than pointing others to the One who alone gives eternal life? That is a life-giving and life saving priority.
Habit 4: Partner
A wise and experienced pastor recently shared with me his little motto for Christian ministry: “Always dig a trench for two, you cannot battle alone”. It's good advice clearly drawn from Jesus sending his disciples out two by two, and a theme well played out in the history of the world by countless illustrations of the value of kinship, deep friendship, and loyal partnership.
It’s also a great habit to adopt when you are reading the Bible with someone using The Word One to One. As we do this, it’s so important to have other Christians who are fully aware of what you’re doing and partner with you throughout the process.
There’s something deeply liberating in making ourselves accountable to a dear friend who will pray for us as we read with someone else, who will encourage us by asking how it is going, who can often be on hand to help us with good answers or useful resources to honest questions. Often, they are the first to rejoice with us whenever those we read with come to faith in Jesus.
Biblically speaking the work of discipleship is always a community initiative, and that community which includes the local church of which we are a part also extends to the rich seam of resources that the body of Christ has to offer. There have been and I am sure will be times when people have asked or will ask good questions while we are reading together that I do not have a ready answer to. On those occasions I love to draw on fellow believers in the church family, and on podcasts, blog articles, books, and other resources that have been produced or written by other members of the body of Christ and can become my partners in the process of joyful bible sharing.
Habit 5: Listen
I once heard the business author Jim Collins say about our interactions with others, “We need to learn to be more interested and stop trying to be interesting.” It’s a wise piece of advice that has informed my habit of listening when reading God’s Word with others.
Jesus was a master at listening to others: hearing their perspectives, their questions and their emotive thoughts without interruption. I find it remarkable that the most interesting person the world has ever seen was the master at listening to others and showing a genuine interest in them.
I suffer from a medical high-frequency hearing difficulty, and with the support of hearing aids I’ve learned a good deal about maximising my hearing. It’s a learning curve that has served me well as I seek to develop my listening habit when reading The Word One to One with a friend. I try to hear exactly what they are saying, to hear the thoughts they have about the text of Scripture, to hear their questions and, if able, to only answer the question they have asked and not the one I would have liked them to have asked!
I also try to listen to what the Holy Spirit might be saying to me as we read, which might be a little prompt to emphasise some part of the text and its importance in life as we share. Finally, I also try to listen for that moment when, as God works through His Word, it’s right to invite them to repent and put their trust in Jesus.
Habit 6: Love
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1). I have five grandchildren, and while I’m convinced there is musical ability latent in each of them, I’ve also observed that noisy and clanging are great words to describe what is currently the progress report on route to their first concerto!
But the Biblical application is far more challenging. We can speak or share words of life with a person and yet do it in such a way that we can’t be heard due to our lack of genuine Christ-like love towards them.
This little habit builds on the last one and develops the whole idea of being interested. It’s the love of Christ which compels us to want to share God’s love as it is revealed in His Word with others. A person is not our little personal discipleship project; they are and always will be a person made in the image of God and loved by Him.
In fact, the Bible says that ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16), and if we want to know anything about real love, it begins and ends with God. He is the essence and the source of love – and as we engage people in sharing the Bible with them, we’re sharing the very revelation of that love towards mankind. The gospel writer John captured this so memorably: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (John 3:16). So, God Himself is both our example and our motivation.
It’s for this reason that our lives should always be showing forth the love of Christ. This will take patience and concentration as we remember and recall the things which are important to them, and needs to be steeped in acts of kindness and a demonstration of the hope that we have in Christ.
Habit 7: Learn
My final habit is drawn from the adage, ‘Every day is a school day’. I’ve learned my best lessons from God's Word and its ongoing daily application in my life – and the joyful habit of reading it with someone who hasn’t read it before or for some time allows you to rediscover what they’re discovering for the first time: the wonder of the Word.
Recently, I watched the learning curve of someone encountering the Word for themselves as we read The Word One to One together. They told me how they began to move from understanding Jesus as being a mythical character to realising He was a factual historical reality. They spoke of the clarity that God’s Word was bringing to where they stood in relation to Jesus, and of how their once agnostic position was being drawn to the magnetic quality of Jesus. This was followed by a growing conviction over sin, and in God’s suitable time they articulated a full belief in Jesus as their Saviour and Lord.
The aim of true discipleship is “that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28), and that includes ourselves. Sharing the Bible with someone else is a wonderful way to learn, to grow and to mature in our own walk with Jesus. It’s also a wonderful way to model to someone what the ongoing journey of discipleship looks like, and I’m constantly thankful to God for all I learn about Him from others as we enjoy the journey together.
Good habits are worth forming. May we be able to say with Paul, “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practise these things and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).
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