Jesus, the Master Teacher, knew that in order for real discipleship to take place, He had to move his learners from simply receiving information, to a real life-change. As mentioned in my two prior posts, he used stories and he used illustrations of all sorts. One other way that Jesus accomplished His goal was to involve His learners in the lesson he wanted them to get. An example of this can be found in Mark 2:15-17.
Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He came to call sinners to repentance. One day He showed them this by going to Levi's house (also called Matthew). Levi was a tax collector and considered by the Pharisees to be about as low as you could get. They questioned why Jesus would eat with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus used this time to explain to everyone present why He had come, "Those who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners." Of course, he could have just said that, but do you think they would have remembered it as well? No, it was memorable because of what they saw, heard, and felt that day as they looked at Jesus dining with sinners and tax collectors.
On another occassion, as he finished eating the passover meal, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. (John 13:4-17). He could have easily just said "Okay. Listen to me. You need to humble yourself and serve one another." But instead, He showed them what He wanted them to understand. He washed the feet of each individual in that room. They knew who it was who washed their feet, and they were humbled. Then He closed it out with "You should do just as I have done for you." (v. 15b). Do you think they got it? Of course they did. They had just seen the Son of God humble Himself and wash their feet. Soon they would see His ultimate act of humility. They would watch Him die for those He loved. The lesson stayed with them. Many of them would also die a cruel death for their faith, but they would remain humble even unto death. They had understood. They had remembered. Real transformation had taken place in this group of disciples.
As teachers, we are called to pour everything we can into the lives of our learners. The goal should be that they will go on to do for others as we have done for them. In that process, we give it everything we have. We study to make sure we understand the passage of scripture completely. We plan our lesson with the desired outcome in mind. To get there, we use every tool we have at our disposal. We use questions that create a hunger, we use illustrations to illuminate the mind, and we involve our learner in the lesson so that he remembers what he saw, heard, and felt. We can use games, role play, debate, problem-solving groups, paraphrasing the lesson, individual writing or drawing, and a host of other methods. Whatever you do, make sure the method gets you to the desired change and makes the scripture passage memorable. Jesus always made sure the truth was what they remembered, not just the method.
Teachers, we have a high calling to make a difference in the lives of our learners. We should "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) Part of not being ashamed is to be able to know that we did everything we could to make sure we made it memorable. God's Word is too full of life for us to make it boring. Teaching the Word of God is something to be passionate about and it is best accomplished when we have close relationships with our learners and involve them in the lesson. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matt. 28:19-20)
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Never Miss an Opportunity to Share a Good Illustration
Jesus often taught with illustrations. He knew His audience and the illustration that would relate best. He might use a story, or He would heal someone right there in front of His audience, or He would multiply the meal in a little boys lunch box. He never missed an opportunity to share a good illustraion. He knew that when He did, lives would be impacted and people would remember the lesson.
We are a highly visual society today. We watch television, look at our computers all day, search the world on our smart phones and tablet devices, and are bombarded with moving digital pictures as we go through our day. Visual information is always coming at us because those creating the visuals understand that we are more likely to remember things if we see them than if we simply hear them.
In the 1960s, Edgar Dale studied the effectiveness of various teaching-learning methods. He determined from his study that if we only listen to a spoken lecture (the common method of teaching in the university), we will remember 25% after 3 hours and only 10-20% after 3 days. If, however, we read the material for ourselves, we can increase our recall to 72% after 3 hours, but still only 10% after 3 days. But, if we receive a good visual illustration combined with the verbal information, we can increase recall to 80% after 3 hours and still recall 65% after 3 days.
Jesus knew this, of course, because He had participated in creating us this way, ("Let Us make man in Our image." Gen. 1:26 ). Teaching the way Jesus did means using good illustrations. The more visual the illustration, the better. We have so many multi-media possibilities available to us today. Effective teachers spend time throughout the week looking for ways to illustrate what they are preparing to teach.
You and I may not be able to perform miracles as we teach, but illustrations are in abundance. Personal stories, stories from literature, current news stories, song lyrics, poems, articles from magazines, paintings, photos, etc. all make great illustrations. The job of the teacher is to guide learners to discover the application by showing the learner something that will connect. A teacher who waits until the night before the lesson to prepare will not have the tools needed to make the lesson come alive. They may be able to prepare good lecture content and may be able to come up with a good question or two, but in order to be most effective in our teaching, we need quality illustrations that will stick with our learner long after the lesson is completed.
If you are a teacher, and you want to teach the way Jesus did, use good illustrations. Your learners will recall more of what you are teaching and will be able to meditate on it longer. It will have greater impact in their lives and may even be something they can use to help another person in the future. When it comes to making disciples, it is our responsibilty to do all we can to provide visually memorable illustrations to help the learner recall what Jesus really wants them to do with the information they have learned. When we provide good illustrations, real change is more likely to occur in the lives of our learners. As we teach, never miss an opportunity to share a good illustration.
Next week: "Involving Your Learners in the Lesson"
We are a highly visual society today. We watch television, look at our computers all day, search the world on our smart phones and tablet devices, and are bombarded with moving digital pictures as we go through our day. Visual information is always coming at us because those creating the visuals understand that we are more likely to remember things if we see them than if we simply hear them.
In the 1960s, Edgar Dale studied the effectiveness of various teaching-learning methods. He determined from his study that if we only listen to a spoken lecture (the common method of teaching in the university), we will remember 25% after 3 hours and only 10-20% after 3 days. If, however, we read the material for ourselves, we can increase our recall to 72% after 3 hours, but still only 10% after 3 days. But, if we receive a good visual illustration combined with the verbal information, we can increase recall to 80% after 3 hours and still recall 65% after 3 days.
Jesus knew this, of course, because He had participated in creating us this way, ("Let Us make man in Our image." Gen. 1:26 ). Teaching the way Jesus did means using good illustrations. The more visual the illustration, the better. We have so many multi-media possibilities available to us today. Effective teachers spend time throughout the week looking for ways to illustrate what they are preparing to teach.
You and I may not be able to perform miracles as we teach, but illustrations are in abundance. Personal stories, stories from literature, current news stories, song lyrics, poems, articles from magazines, paintings, photos, etc. all make great illustrations. The job of the teacher is to guide learners to discover the application by showing the learner something that will connect. A teacher who waits until the night before the lesson to prepare will not have the tools needed to make the lesson come alive. They may be able to prepare good lecture content and may be able to come up with a good question or two, but in order to be most effective in our teaching, we need quality illustrations that will stick with our learner long after the lesson is completed.
If you are a teacher, and you want to teach the way Jesus did, use good illustrations. Your learners will recall more of what you are teaching and will be able to meditate on it longer. It will have greater impact in their lives and may even be something they can use to help another person in the future. When it comes to making disciples, it is our responsibilty to do all we can to provide visually memorable illustrations to help the learner recall what Jesus really wants them to do with the information they have learned. When we provide good illustrations, real change is more likely to occur in the lives of our learners. As we teach, never miss an opportunity to share a good illustration.
Next week: "Involving Your Learners in the Lesson"
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Teaching with Questions? But I Have So Much to Say!
Jesus commissioned us to "go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded". But how do we know when we have made a disciple, or when real teaching has taken place? Is teaching simply the imparting of information or did Jesus mean something far more?
When we study the teaching of Jesus, we see that He always asked a lot of questions. His disciples often asked Him questions and He would answer them with a question. What is the purpose of this kind of teaching? Jesus was such a Master at knowing just the right question to ask because He knew what was really in the heart of the people he was teaching. He wanted them to take a look at their own heart and realize their wickedness and their need for redemption. He wanted His disciples to see their need for growth because of the task that was before them.
As we seek to make disciples, the first step is asking questions that help people understand where they are in the discipleship process. Are there areas of their life where God still does not have full control? Are there things they should be doing that they haven’t begun to practice yet? Once a person identifies his need and level of maturity, he is better able to begin growing toward Christ-likeness.
When we teach a Bible passage, we should always have in mind some change that should take place in the lives of God's people. That requires a lot of prayer to make sure we are getting what God is saying. Then, we should plan our lesson with the end in mind. As we ask our questions, just as Jesus did, we are guiding our learners to the truth we want them to discover and the change that we think should be made. Jesus, the Master Teacher, watched His learners have those moments when they understood what He was teaching them; an "aha" moment. He told stories and He asked questions. He would refer back to the law and the prophets, but he knew if they were going to really get the truth that He wanted them to get, they had to think about it for themselves. We should follow His pattern as we seek to make His disciples. Of course, we should always be open to God doing something we had not planned. He’s just like that sometimes.
If we are going to be effective at making disciples, the task before us is not to help people just know more information. Law, prophets, poetry, history, the gospels, and the epistles are all important parts of the Bible that need to be learned. However, what good is simply listening to information if we are not understanding how God wants us to live differently in light of it? James admonishes us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22) The task before us is to help people become more like Jesus Christ by living a life that reflects the teaching of Scripture. When we stand before our group to teach, we do so with the understanding that the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and He will speak to hearts as we plan well the questions we will ask after we have explained the context of the Bible passage. We may need to say less so the Holy Spirit is able to say more.
If you are a teacher in God's church, I want to challenge you to try to teach as much like Jesus as you possibly can. When he taught the masses, he used mostly the lecture method, inserting plenty of illustrations to help them see. But when he taught the small groups, he used mostly questions. Since discipleship is best done in smaller groups of people with close relationship with one another, I want to ask leading questions to help my learners discover the truth of the Scripture; the way Jesus did. I hope you will too.
Next Tuesday, June 11, 2013: “Never Miss an Opportunity to Share a Good Illustration.”
When we study the teaching of Jesus, we see that He always asked a lot of questions. His disciples often asked Him questions and He would answer them with a question. What is the purpose of this kind of teaching? Jesus was such a Master at knowing just the right question to ask because He knew what was really in the heart of the people he was teaching. He wanted them to take a look at their own heart and realize their wickedness and their need for redemption. He wanted His disciples to see their need for growth because of the task that was before them.
As we seek to make disciples, the first step is asking questions that help people understand where they are in the discipleship process. Are there areas of their life where God still does not have full control? Are there things they should be doing that they haven’t begun to practice yet? Once a person identifies his need and level of maturity, he is better able to begin growing toward Christ-likeness.
When we teach a Bible passage, we should always have in mind some change that should take place in the lives of God's people. That requires a lot of prayer to make sure we are getting what God is saying. Then, we should plan our lesson with the end in mind. As we ask our questions, just as Jesus did, we are guiding our learners to the truth we want them to discover and the change that we think should be made. Jesus, the Master Teacher, watched His learners have those moments when they understood what He was teaching them; an "aha" moment. He told stories and He asked questions. He would refer back to the law and the prophets, but he knew if they were going to really get the truth that He wanted them to get, they had to think about it for themselves. We should follow His pattern as we seek to make His disciples. Of course, we should always be open to God doing something we had not planned. He’s just like that sometimes.
If we are going to be effective at making disciples, the task before us is not to help people just know more information. Law, prophets, poetry, history, the gospels, and the epistles are all important parts of the Bible that need to be learned. However, what good is simply listening to information if we are not understanding how God wants us to live differently in light of it? James admonishes us to be “doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22) The task before us is to help people become more like Jesus Christ by living a life that reflects the teaching of Scripture. When we stand before our group to teach, we do so with the understanding that the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and He will speak to hearts as we plan well the questions we will ask after we have explained the context of the Bible passage. We may need to say less so the Holy Spirit is able to say more.
If you are a teacher in God's church, I want to challenge you to try to teach as much like Jesus as you possibly can. When he taught the masses, he used mostly the lecture method, inserting plenty of illustrations to help them see. But when he taught the small groups, he used mostly questions. Since discipleship is best done in smaller groups of people with close relationship with one another, I want to ask leading questions to help my learners discover the truth of the Scripture; the way Jesus did. I hope you will too.
Next Tuesday, June 11, 2013: “Never Miss an Opportunity to Share a Good Illustration.”
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