The title of this book pretty much captures the content of the book. This short book is meant to be a simple tool to encourage and equip believers to engage and grow with others. The authors imagine a church environment where there is a web of Christians engaging in meaningful discussion of the Bible together. Rather than creating another program or class to help people grow, this is a more organic approach to growth and discipleship.
In terms of evangelism, I found it interesting and encouraging that 61% of non-churched adults said that they would be willing to read through the Bible one-on-one if someone asked them to do so. I decided to give this a try and ask someone myself - they said yes, we'll start next week.
The book also gives some basic guidelines and ideas to help people go through the bible one on one. In Part two of the book, the author gives some additional ideas and patterns to follow while reading the text together. For example, one helpful model is the COMA model to follow:
- C - Context - What is the context of the passage (of the chapter, book, Bible as a whole, culture, and history)
- O - Observation - what sticks out? What are the main points? Are there any subsections or surprises?
- M - Meaning - What's the meaning of the passage? How does it relate to Jesus, the gospel, etc?
- A - Application - How does the passage challenge my understanding? What does this look like in my life?
If you would like a helpful, and brief tool to equip you to engage and grow with other believers, as well as connect with and reach out to nonbelievers, then you should read this book.