Socratically Leading God's People: The People That God Is Forming and How I Lead Them

The Socratic Method has been around for thousands of years - since the time of Socrates. However, Jesus also used a similar model to teach. Today, we can use certain methods to draw out what people think so that we can better understand where they are spiritually.

The goal for leaders using the Socratic Method is to understand the beliefs of the learner. It is important for the leader to correctly understand what people believe before moving on to the next stage in the student discovery process. The goal is not for the teacher to talk and for the students to listen, it is quite the opposite. The purpose of questioning at the first stage of learning in a Socratic environment is to see what previous learning the person has done prior to this learning moment. The Socratic Method helps us to accomplish this and many other things. It also corresponds well to what we find in scripture.

In this study we discuss the Socratic process itself, but also why it is useful for church leadership. We will look at the ways that God interacts with his people in the book of Isaiah, how Moses questions God and discovers truth in the process, and how Jesus consistently engaged with people using questioning. Then, we will consider how to use this method in our own contexts.

This will be time well spent.