'Best Practices' for Bible Teachers (Part XIX)
By Buddy Hanson The Covenant News
Are Your Learners Doers, or Cheerleaders?
By now, you should have do doubt that the role of a Bible teacher far exceeds that of a mere announcer of God's Word. In addition to speaking forth God's Word, you are an encourager, discipler, role model, and a constructor of a shared vision of your learners roles in God's earthly victory. Yes, you are even a spiritual taskmaster, as you guide your learners in discovering the great purpose for which God called them into His family. You do this by urging and admonishing them to proclaim, stand-up for, defend, and live-out their faith because they not only know God's Word, they believe it. This is critical to fulfilling our calling from God, because if we believe what we know, we will act on it. On the other hand, those who have only been instructed about God, but not also taught how to apply biblical ethics to their everyday situations, will be prone to wait for the "right circumstances" before living by the biblical truths in which they profess to believe. This form of waiting until the stars are in their "proper alignment" is not only unbiblical, but demonstrates a low view of God's sovereignty over the events happening in His creation. This attitude also makes such a person a timid and even fearful slave to the ever-changing circumstances of life, rather than a confident and bold servant of the never-changing ethics of Scripture.
As each of us brings our particular personality traits to teaching, just as Jesus' disciples did, we, like they, should present His unified and uncompromising instructions on how to live and govern ourselves. In carrying out our calling as teachers and leaders, we must give our best efforts to accomplishing the four following priorities:
Provide guidance to our learners in how they can fulfill their roles in God's family and Christ's Kingdom.
Explain how our trust in God's never-changing counsel gives us confidence in making our daily decisions, regardless of our circumstances.
Emphasize that since we don't know whether today may be our last opportunity to serve God on earth, we need to have a sense of urgency about our obedience to His will.
Point out that as the only people who have an absolute hope for our purpose on the earth, and our place in eternity, we must be diligent in explaining to our non-Christian neighbors who have no such hope, what the Gospel means for them and their loved ones.
The 20th century Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, eloquently
described the difference between those who complain about their
circumstances, and those who create the circumstances they want.
Some people are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them.
Explain to your learners that by paying attention to the details of living-out their faith, they will put themselves in the best position with God for Him to allow them to control future consequences. Add that it's time for us all to do some heave lifting by approaching each study of Scripture with the mindset of discovering ways to make His Word come alive to our neighbors by conforming our daily decisions to it.
Don't be surprised if your expectations for your learners exceeds the expectations they have for themselves, because each of us tends to undervalue the importance of our various spiritual gifts. The archetypical "Renaissance Man," Michelangelo, voices the concern that every teacher has about developing the abilities he sees in his learners: "The greatest dander for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." The way to accomplish this is to help your learners identify their spiritual gifts and then assist them in marshaling those gifts on the issues which interest and concern them. National Football League Coach Jeff Fisher, of the Tennessee Titans, puts it this way:
If you try to make players do things they cannot do, they won't trust you. But you have to get them to go way beyond their expectations in doing the things they can do.
Throughout his storied career, UCLA basketball Coach John Wooden never emphasized winning. What he talked about was the commitment to playing your hardest. He urged his players to not permit fear of failure prevent them from giving their best effort. Since we are all imperfect, and fail frequently, that should not hamper our desire to continue to give our best efforts in growing Christ's Kingdom, because we know that God has put us here to do just that, and we are well aware that "all things work together for good to those who fear Him and are called according to His purpose."[1] In Coach Wooden's eyes, if his players gave their best efforts and lost, that was fine. In fact, he considered that better than "winning" with a mediocre effort.The lesson in this for your learners is that they should replace "winning" as the focal point of their efforts with "obedience," because once they do this they will be able to focus their energy on enjoying their daily walk with God.[2] As the great Jewish patriot Nehemiah records, "the joy of the LORD is our strength."[3] The key point here is that in consistently serving our Lord, effort is internal, and is therefore completely within our control. Winning, on the other hand, is a byproduct of effort, but it is subject to external factors and is almost never completely within our control.
If you are a football fan, you have undoubtedly heard the coach of your favorite team make the following statement: "Our next opponent really presents some problems in our preparation, because even though our scout team can duplicate their formations, it can't duplicate the speed at which they execute the plays." Think for a minute about what is being said and how a typical Christian sports fan would react to it: First, in relation to a sport, then in relation to his life. As a sports fan, he expects and demands that the coaches of his favorite team do everything they can to practice the plays that the opposing team will use during the game. Why? Because he doesn't want his team's players to be surprised by any of the behaviors of the opposing team. This is the easy part to understand, because, as fans, we expect our team to win the game. But, now let's turn our attention to how we think about our life. Ask your learners:
Do you make the same effort to prepare yourselves for the behavior of your everyday non-Christian "opponents," as you expect your team's coaches to make in preparing for their next "opponent?"
Are you more serious about how your favorite team plays, than you are about how you live your life?
Ouch! For most of us, these questions smart more than just a little. Deep down we know that if our favorite team "winged it" in their preparation for their next game, as many of us "wing it" for our next day of life (life, not a game!), our team would very likely lose the game. But hasn't our blase attitude toward presenting an explicitly Christian lifestyle to our neighbors caused us to lose our culture?
By thinking of ways by which you can mentally put your learners in predictable situations, and then explain how they can react to them in a biblical manner, you will be preparing them to recognize and react in a God-honoring manner when they are faced with the situation in everyday life. By paying attention to the details of obeying, we will find that the unpleasant and seemingly overwhelming circumstances that present themselves to us will take care of themselves. Point out to your learners that every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it, and that they should make every effort to autograph their work with biblical excellence.
After all, Jesus is not interested in how loudly we proclaim to be Christians, but in how "loud" our behaviors proclaim His Kingship and Lordship over our lives. Jesus has called us to be doers, not cheerleaders!
Next week's topic is: "Has God called you to be an announcer of His Word, or to be a teacher of His Word?"
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.