The Missing Step Between Bible Study and Disciple-Making
By Michael Sherwin
Photo by Frankie Cordoba on Unsplash
Bus Station Discipleship
Every weekday around noon, a small group of bus station workers slips away from the noise and movement of a crowded urban station. They carry only their lunches and their phones, loaded with a secure, offline copy of the Bible. For twenty-five minutes before returning to their shifts, they gather in a quieter corner to read a short passage of Scripture together.
The country where they live is not an easy place to openly follow Jesus, so their gatherings are simple and discreet. They ask only a few questions:
What does this passage say about God?
What does this passage say about how we should live?
What will we do this week in response to what we read?
Their time together is usually brief. A supervisor might walk by, or a train or bus might arrive early. But week after week they return to the same rhythm. They read a passage, talk honestly about it, and then try to act on it.
The next time they meet, they share what happened. One person speaks about forgiving his father. Another shares the passage with a coworker. Sometimes the stories are small, and often they are messy. But, over time, the group begins urging one another beyond Bible reading alone toward a life shaped by what they are discovering about Jesus.
That repeated practice begins shaping a new culture. Newer followers of Jesus who have never led a Bible discussion begin guiding the conversations themselves. The process is simple enough that others can join in and lead. What began as a short lunch-break gathering gradually forms a shared way of life. Obedience to Scripture begins to feel natural and normal.
What is happening in that group points to a gap many Christians feel.
The Gap
Most of us have grown up in communities that take the Bible seriously. Sermons, courses, and study resources have shaped us. We're genuinely grateful for that. But if we're honest, many of us have also walked out of a Sunday service moved, thoughtful, even inspired and still unsure what faithfulness should look like by Thursday. We know how to discuss a passage. We're less practiced at obeying it.
This is not a failure of teaching. The teaching is often excellent. What tends to be missing is a shared rhythm, something that carries us from understanding into actual, concrete response.
James names the tension plainly:
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22).
Most of us know more Scripture than we know how to practice.
I have felt this tension personally as well. Since being introduced to Discovery Bible Study in 2010, it has deeply reshaped the way I read Scripture with others. What first struck me was the expectation that God’s word should be acted on in real time, in the middle of ordinary life. I was also disarmed by the wisdom and insight that emerged from people reading a passage for the first time. It challenged my assumptions and deepened my conviction that Scripture is meant to be applied, not just understood.
That same pattern appeared again and again in our research into the practices of fruitful urban disciple-makers. Over the past four years, our team interviewed 40 practitioners serving in or leading teams in cities across more than 60 countries. Their contexts varied widely, but one thread kept surfacing. Disciple-makers described ordinary environments where people read Scripture together and returned again and again to a simple question:
How can I, or we, obey this passage this week?
This echoes the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20, where Jesus tells his followers to “teach them (disciples) to observe all that he commanded.” The Greek word there, tērein, means to keep, practice, or obey what Jesus taught.
When communities return to that question regularly, something begins to shift. Scripture is treated as an invitation to respond, rather than simply content to understand. Small acts of obedience begin shaping the life of the group. People start expecting God’s word to lead somewhere concrete.
This matters deeply for disciple-making.
When Obedience Becomes A Shared Rhythm
Disciple-making deepens and spreads when people do not just study Scripture, but respond to it together with concrete obedience.
That kind of environment changes people. It moves Bible engagement out of the realm of ideas alone and into the shape of everyday life. It gives people a chance to work out what obedience actually looks like in real situations, with others who can encourage them, challenge them, and walk with them over time.
In many settings, this happens within a Discovery Bible Study, where Scripture, prayer, accountability, and shared life begin to form a small community around Jesus. People listen to one another, speak honestly, confess struggles, and help one another take practical next steps. Sometimes the scriptural application is personal. At other times the group recognises something they can all do together, such as praying for coworkers or serving a neighbour in need.
This is one reason these environments are so important in cities. Urban life often leaves people isolated, busy, and spiritually fragmented. Many believers experience faith mainly as a private activity. They attend services, listen to teaching, or read the Bible on their own, yet rarely work out what obedience looks like with others in the flow of ordinary life. Shared responses to Scripture push back against that pattern. They draw people into a life of following Jesus that is communal, practical, and rooted in real relationships.
They also help disciple-making become easier to pass on. When people are invited to hear the word, obey it, come back, and share what happened, they begin to realise that they, too, can help others do the same. Confidence grows. Leadership spreads. What once felt reserved for the trained or the gifted becomes possible for ordinary believers.
This is where the challenge becomes clear.
If we want disciple-making to grow, we cannot keep building environments where Scripture is only discussed. We need environments where people are expected, encouraged, and helped to obey it. We need communities where God’s word is heard, acted on, revisited, and shared. Without that, we should not be surprised when disciple-making remains shallow, private, and difficult to reproduce.
The transport workers who meet during their lunch break are building a way of life others can and will repeat. In the middle of ordinary routines, they have learned to respond to Scripture together, and that pattern carries multiplying potential.
In fact, this is one of thousands of multiplying groups across the city and surrounding region. What is happening in this small corner of the station is not isolated. Groups like these have continued to multiply as ordinary people gather to hear God’s word and act on it together.
This may be closer to how movements begin than we often realise: ordinary people, in ordinary places, hearing God’s word and responding together. Where that kind of shared obedience takes root, we should not be surprised if God forms communities of unusual depth, courage, and fruitfulness in the heart of the city.
The challenge before many of us is clear. We must stop settling for spaces where people only study the Scriptures. We must help them obey what God is saying, together, in ways that reshape everyday life. Anything less may leave us with Bible study, but not disciple-making.
Getting practical
As you think about God's vision for your city and/or affinity group:
When people engage Scripture in your community, are they mainly gaining understanding, or are they being helped to respond with concrete obedience?
Where are people in your context being helped to practice what they hear in Scripture with others who can encourage and support them?
What simple rhythms could help ordinary believers hear and respond to God’s word together during the week?
Learn More
This article draws from a larger research project exploring patterns emerging in urban disciple-making efforts around the world. The full report includes insights from 40 practitioners representing city disciple-making across more than 60 countries.
You can explore the full research here:
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