THIS WEEK’S PASSAGE 2 Samuel 12:1-14
BACKGROUND PREPARATION You will need to create some ‘Scruples’ cards which contain scenarios with a particular behaviour that needs challenging
Scruples
15 mins
Split the group into teams of three or four people. Give each team a pack of Scruples cards with two for each person, and give each team member three cards with ‘Yes’, ‘No’ and ‘Depends’ written on them. Each team member takes it in turns to draw one of the questions from the pack and ask it of another group member. For instance the question might be ‘You see a friend cheating in a test. Do you challenge them about it?’ The questioner then has to decide whether they think the person will respond ‘Yes’, ‘No’, or ‘Depends’. If they are right they win a point. If they are wrong, they have 30 seconds to convince the other team members that the person who answered is bluffing. The other team members then decide who they believe. If they vote in favour of the person answering the question, that person wins the point. The winners are the people in each team who guess the most correctly.
Challenging times
15 mins
Before getting into the reading, explain something of the background of the passage to the group. David is known for some pretty amazing things – his poetry, his giant-killing skills, his friendship with God, but that didn’t mean he always got things right. While his army was out at war, David was at home and one day noticed a woman bathing in her home. The long and short of it is, David was attracted to her, called her to his house, she got pregnant, and David got fearful so arranged for her husband to be killed at war. All the makings of a great Eastenders episode!
The previous chapter ends by saying that, ‘The thing David had done displeased the Lord’. God wasn’t prepared to just let this situation go unnoticed so he sent one of his prophets, Nathan, to talk to David about what he had done. Ask the group:
• If you were Nathan, how would you approach this task?
• Bearing in mind that David was the king, what level of courage do you think this would have required?
As a group, read 2 Samuel 12:1-14, taking turns to read sections out. Nathan doesn’t just barge in on David and confront him. He takes a step back and tells a story to David, a story which totally enrages him and leads him to suggest what should happen to a man who would do such a thing. Ask the group:
• What was so clever about Nathan’s approach?
• How do you think David would have felt, having got so angry about a lamb, when he realised that what he had done was so much worse?
• Would you have been willing to do what Nathan did?
Digging deeper
10 mins
Read 2 Timothy 4:1-2. In this passage, Paul is instructing Timothy to be willing to offer correction to those he is leading – when it’s convenient and when it isn’t. He does this because he knows that is how people are able to stay close to God.
Ask:
• Imagine you were David - would you have been thankful to Nathan for challenging you about what you had done?
• Has there ever been a time when someone has come to you with a word of correction?
• How easy or difficult do you find it to receive correction from someone else?
Can I have a word?
15 mins
Get the group into pairs and going back to the ‘Scruples’ cards from the opening game. Ask them to act out how they would go about having the difficult conversations from the scenarios. Encourage them to think through creative way’s of doing this, as Nathan did, so that the person being challenged actually comes up with the response to their behaviour themselves. If time, ask a few of them to present to the rest of the group.
Closing
15 mins
Say: at some point or other we will probably find ourselves on either side of this issue – either as the one offering correction, or the one receiving it. Close the session by praying that the group would have the courage to speak out when necessary, the wisdom to know how to go about it, and the humility to be able to receive any words of correction offered to them.
To make this meeting guide work for your context, check out the links section of the Youthwork website.
KEY POINT #1
Sometimes we have to be willing to have difficult conversations with people, not because we want them to feel told off, but for them to realise how their behaviour is keeping them from being close to God. God will give us wisdom and courage about how to tackle these situations.
KEY POINT #2
As Christians we have a responsibility towards each other. We can be thankful to people who are willing to speak a word of correction to us if it helps us to restore our relationship with God. In Ephesians Paul tells us that we should speak the truth in love – always wanting what is best for the other person. And if it is us that is in need of correction, we need to believe that the one challenging us is doing it for our good.
