Us Four and No More

Is your Bible study helping you to seek and to save the lost?

On August 2, 1997, during training camp with the Indianapolis Colts, God the Holy Spirit awakened my heart to see my need for Jesus. A former teammate named Steve Grant had shared the Good News with me for five years. Steve was passionate about reaching people with the gospel message because of the depth of his discipleship.

After my conversion, Steve told me to read the Bible and join the team Bible study. As a football player, I knew the key to my success on the field was to learn from those who had more playing experience and success than I did. Steve prayed, read the Bible, served the community, participated in fellowship with other believers, and was passionate about reaching my teammates who were not followers of Jesus. Steve loved lost people!

So I did what he did. I read the Bible like every day was game day and it was my playbook. I learned to pray, I gathered with others in team Bible studies, and I began to share the Good News with my teammates. I found that the more I shared my faith in conjunction with these activities, the more my faith flourished and my character began to transform.

But Then Something Weird Happened

Later, when my wife and I joined a local church and started attending Bible studies, something weird happened. Instead of praying and reading the Bible so Christ-followers could reach lost people, it seemed to us that being in Bible studies was more about Christians learning to protect and isolate themselves from the big, bad world and lost people. It appeared to us that growing in one’s faith was more concerned with guarding one’s family and self-preservation than in becoming missionaries. Some of the studies felt like an “us-four-and-no-more” club. Read more

Photo: Erick Hodge