'Best Practices' for Bible Teachers (Part IV)
By Buddy Hanson The Covenant News ~ December 18, 2008
Creating the Vision for Your Congregation
The information in these "Best Practices" is explosive. If practiced by pastors it will turn our current ungodly culture upside down. Sadly, most, If not all of what you will read about in this series is unfamiliar and may even sound irreverent. But the truth is, it is not really new. To the contrary, it is merely a recap of how the Protest Reformers, Puritans and Pilgrims taught the Bible. Since Western civilization was "won" by their teaching methods and is being "lost" by today's teaching methods, I would hope that whether you are a pastor, small group leader, parent, or seminary professor who is training tomorrow's pastors, that you would take a deep breath, and give your full attention to these magnificent lessons from our spiritual forefathers.
Let's begin by looking at the four essential elements for putting together a "vision" for a congregation. Unless and until you get a solid handle on each of these elements, the vision you may have, no matter how well-intended, will not be workable. The elements are:
Know yourself
Know your congregation
Know where you want the congregation to be
(in their collective worldview and lifestyle)
Know the process you are going to use to accomplish your plans
Know Yourself
Generally speaking, your members will reflect your "leadership."[1] This means that not only your words, but your behavior will be mirrored by many in your congregation, or study group. For example:
If you instruct them to pigeon-hole God's Word by confining it to times when they are around fellow Christians, that's what they will probably do.
If you teach them to stand up for Christ "with all longsuffering and teaching,"[2] that will very likely be their behavior.
If you don't specifically instruct them in how to live-out their faith, they will probably treat Christianity as a moralistic add-on to their lifestyle, and see Jesus' words of instruction as being culturally irrelevant. As a consequence, your members will be cheated of knowing how to live according to the richness and fullness of God's counsel. They will also have nothing tangible to offer their neighbors about the merits of Christianity except to turn to Jesus as their Savior. But as far as benefiting from His counsel on how to live and raise their families (His lordship), and to govern themselves (His kingship), they will be clueless, because they will have never heard you systematically teach it.
As you evaluate how your messages are directing your congregation to live-out their faith, the point to keep in mind is that regardless of whatever "type" of leader you are, it is the "type" that you created for yourself at sometime in the past, and it is, therefore, a type that you can change if you deem it necessary. Legendary NFL Coach Vince Lombardi puts it this way: "Contrary to the opinion of many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work."[3]
The overarching concern of many Bible teachers is to make certain that they accurately present the particular portion of Scripture in their message. They may also pray that their learners will be able to clear their minds of the cares and concerns of the day and give their full attention to God's Word. But what else should we be concerned about as we prepare our messages? If you ask this question to most well-intentioned and sincere Bible teachers, you are very likely to not find the answer. On the other hand, if you would observe sales managers, or sports coaches, military commanders, or even the teachers in the anti-American and God-hating public school system, you will find the answer.
Every other vocation approaches the transfer of information with the end-goal of improving the behavior of its learners. This means that the instructors not only want to present accurate information, but tailor their presentations to the needs of their learners, so they can see its relevance for their life and incorporate it into their behavior. The current instructional paradigm of the American church, however, is geared solely to presenting accurate information, with no regard of:
matching the message with the learning styles of the learners,
connecting new concepts with existing knowledge, or
of providing practical ways of applying biblical ethics to their daily situations.
What this means is that the primary interest of many Bible teachers is on themselves, instead of their learners. Whether intended or not, they are more concerned about presenting the information accurately, than they are in assisting their learners to understand the message and relate it to their lifestyle. As our deteriorating culture demonstrates, the result of such "instruction" (I wouldn't dare call it teaching) is that some learners don't "get it," and those who do "get it" don't know what to do with it, except to add it to their mental warehouse in order to comfort themselves in the midst of the unpleasant consequences of the current non-Christian culture.
I urge all Bible teachers, whether pastors, small group leaders, or parents teaching their children, to take a few minutes to step back from the way they are approaching the teaching of God's Word and consider how differently we attempt to teach God's Word, in comparison to how we teach others at work, on a youth sports team, in a Christian classroom, or even in how we teach our children. For example, if you wouldn't dare coach a youth sports team the way you teach a Bible study, something is very wrong!
Next week's topic will be on "Knowing Who Your Congregation Is and Where You Want Them to Be in Their Collective Worldview and Lifestyle."
Notes:
[1] Luke 6.40
[2] 2 Timothy 4.2
[3] Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers, Janssen, Dale, ibid., Seven, p.55
Buddy Hanson is President of the Christian Policy Network and Director of the Christian Worldview Resources Center and has written several books on the necessity of applying one's faith to everyday situations, circumstances and decision-making.