If your friend is willing, take turns reading passages of Scripture aloud. The passage tells a truth that your friend needs to learn. There are two basic ways to convey that Scripture’s truth:
- The first way is for you to tell that truth, pointing out the words and what they mean.
- The second way is that you ask your friend to tell you what the passage says. Let him show you the truth it conveys. If necessary, you ask questions in various ways that lead your friend to pay closer attention and to think through what the Scripture is saying.
Often, the best teaching mixes these two ways. Think about the first way, in which you tell what the passage means. Ask yourself, “Who does the thinking and the speaking about the Scripture?” You are the one making the effort, and not necessarily your friend. People often seem agreeable at a superficial level, without giving proper thought to a Scripture. Later, when that truth matters for a decision, they may be less responsive because they did not take that truth seriously.
The second way—in which your friend finds answers in the Scripture—causes him or her to make the effort, to think through the Scripture passage, to talk about its meaning. In this way, people are more engaged in discovering the truth for themselves. They are more likely to take ownership of the truth and to act on it. (If they dislike the Scripture’s message, their hesitation or resistance also becomes more evident when they must talk about the Scripture.)