I had a new teacher ask me once, “How much time should I spend preparing to teach my Bible lesson? My response: 
As little as possible. 
He was asking about the intersection of the teacher and home. He was thinking about preparation:
 

I tried to lead him to think outside that box into another box: presentation. I tried to lead him to think about the teacher in class rather than the teacher at home.
 

For the next several months, I kept thinking about that conversation. I felt I was right as far as I went, but I felt there was something more. Then it hit me. As I mulled over this conversation, it occurred to me that it is not ultimately about the teacher in class, it is about the student in class. What might be called learning. Teaching is not about the teacher as much as it is about the student. 
 

If you are following along, you might see where this is heading. (That is a good thing, because discovered truth is often remembered truth.) 
Teaching is not so much about the teacher at home as it is about the teacher in class. 
But, it is not so much about the teacher in class as much as about the student in class. 
And not so much about the student in class as the student at home.

I published a book on this called Disciplemaking Teachers and presented the content many times in conferences over many years. Eventually, it occurred to me that there is one more step. The whole goal is to use this process to send disciples into the world to make more disciples and change the world. This is my slide:

Recently, it occurred to me that there is still one more thing. Disciplemaking is not so much the work of the teacher as the work of the group. Disciplemaking is what the group does together. In this book, we will explore six practices a group can engage in to help make disciples. They spell out the word “listen.”

Listening first – Being present, attentive, and quick to hear before speaking.
Inquiring with curiosity – Asking good questions that draw others out.
Serving one another and the world – Putting love into action through tangible care.
Telling the truth in love – Practicing honest, gentle confrontation for growth.
Eating together – Building relational depth through shared meals and hospitality.
Nourishing ourselves on the Word – Feeding regularly on Scripture to grow strong.
These practices, when consistently lived out in community, can turn any Bible study group into a disciplemaking movement. That’s the vision. Let’s begin.