Dr. Danny's Teacher-to-Teacher

Adapting the One Truth of a Passage

Why?:How do you adapt the message the author of Scripture meant for the original hearers to those you are trying to teach? What?: The divine and human authors of Scripture meant to communicate a specific truth to those who received the original writings. That truth was to be applied to their lives in a particular way. But, often, there’s a problem in communicating that same truth to a modern audience so that it affects their lives. We’re separated from the original recipients of Scripture by time, culture, language, and geography. If that weren’t enough, our modern learners vary in physical and spiritual maturity. So, how can you teach a lesson that’s true to the truth of the passage yet relevant to the lives of your learners? Well, sometimes the truth applies to the modern learner in exactly the same way it did for the ancient learner. Sometimes it has to be adapted through one or more of the filters of time, culture, language, or geography. Sometimes it has to be adapted because of the physical maturity of the learners— you wouldn’t teach the same application for a 5 year old and a 50 year old. Sometimes it has to be adapted to the spiritual maturity of the learners—some are still on milk while others need meat. So What?:In each case, the truth is the same, but the teaching point you will want make will be different. So What Now?: Will you commit to knowing your learners? Knowing what they need right now? And then finding a way to communicate the truth of the passage in way that is likely to be used by the Holy Spirit to transform your learners?

Why Are You a Teacher?

Why?: The Apostle John says we don’t need teachers. So, why are you one? What?: In 1 John, chapter 2, verse 27, the Apostle John writes, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you.” We need no teacher other than the Holy Spirit living in us. It’s the Holy Spirit who is ultimately our teacher and the teacher of our learners. He is the one who revealed God’s truth, had it written down, illumines our hearts and minds to that truth, and then applies the truth to the life of every disciple of Jesus. Yet, he uses human teachers in the process. Have you ever wondered why? I certainly have and I can’t find a single passage from Scripture that I can point to that answers the question directly. Instead, looking at all of Scripture, it’s clear that everything God does is for His own glory. Somehow, His using us broken people to transform other broken people puts His glory on display in a way that must be greater than if He taught us directly by Himself. So What?: So, if it brought Him more glory to not use human teachers, He could and would do that without us. Instead, He calls us to be teachers so that He can demonstrate His power to earthly and heavenly onlookers. He uses dull tools like us to sharpen one another. And that brings Him great glory. So What Now?: You’re a teacher because God made you one. Will you bring glory to God in your teaching by relying on the real teacher — the Holy Spirit? Asking Him to guide you as you prepare your lesson? Asking Him to prepare the hearts of your learners for the lesson? Asking Him to help you teach your learners and then apply the truths they learn so that they can become more Christlike? God called you to be a teacher to bring glory to Himself, so glorify Him in your teaching.

Growing Your Teaching Skill

Why?: How and why should you grow in your teaching skill? What?: God is the only perfect teacher. Jesus, God the Son, taught perfectly in His earthly ministry. He sent God, the Holy Spirit to teach until He returns for us. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit teaches perfectly. To be blunt, you’re neither of them. You ARE given as a gift by Jesus to the church. You ARE used by the Holy Spirit to teach, but only as His instrument. And, every instrument could be better…sharper…more effective. So What?:So how do you improve? One way to get better is to record your teaching and then go through the painful process of reviewing your own teaching. Another way is to have your learners critique your teaching. Did they actually understand the truth you were trying to teach them? Were they motivated to be transformed by that truth? You might even invite other teachers or church leaders into your classroom to give you feedback. At TeachersOfTheBible.org, we have a list of questions that are useful in showing you ways you can improve. So What Now?: The question is, “Will you actually try to improve?” Are you willing to receive feedback, even criticism, in the spirit of helping you to be more effective? Every teacher should want to improve. What will you do about it?

Using Discussion

Why?: How and why might you teach a lesson using only discussion as your method? What?: There are a number of reasons you might choose discussion as the format for a Bible lesson. The personality of the class, as a whole, may favor discussion. You may want to have a community of believers rely on the Holy Spirit, who indwells them, to teach them more directly. You may want to exploit the learning preferences of every learner in the class using the principles on which The Effective Four questions are based. Those Effective Four are Why? What? So What? So What Now?. If you’re using discussion, you need to plan a series of questions that will help your learners engage with the Bible in order to provide direction for the lesson. For example, when teaching 1 John chapter 1, verses 1-4, I draw them in by having them answer a question: “What problems can keep us from having joy as a church body?” After a couple of answers, I point them to the text that provides the answer. Here I share my teaching point: Real joy comes from real fellowship with the real Jesus. My affective aim is that The learner will desire real joy as a member of Christ’s body As I transition from the Why? to the What?, I explain how differences in essential doctrines divide today just like doctrine divided the early church that wrestled over the truth that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. Then, I walk them through the text asking questions that show them how I came to my teaching point. I spend as much time as necessary for them to see the truth I saw in my study. But, I typically have a time marked on my notes so that we don’t run out of time before getting to the final questions—So What? and So What Now?. In asking these transformative questions, I allow them to provide the answers so that they’re more likely to commit to being transformed by the truth of the passage. I sometimes have some sort of accountability built in, but sometimes I allow them to suggest ways they would be accountable. Throughout the entire lesson, I am steering them towards the truth of the passage and the application of that truth for their lives. So What?: In the classroom, discussion sometimes looks like the teacher didn’t have to do much to prepare the lesson. That is as far from the truth as you can get IF the lesson is intended to transform the learners. As the teacher preparing, you never know what answers you will get to the questions you ask so you have to be prepared for the most likely and be willing to say “I’m not sure about that but I’ll get back to you” for responses you didn’t anticipate. You can never be sure how the discussion will unfold. And, you have to keep their transformation in mind as you sometimes force them to move on so that the Effective Four questions—Why? What? So What? So What Now? are answered. Being able to control the discussion takes a lot more preparation than a lecture. So What Now?: Knowing that the Holy Spirit is the primary teacher, will you commit to allowing Him to use you to teach using a discussion format for some of your teaching? It seems risky not knowing the rabbit trails you may discuss, but trusting Him, will you commit to leading discussions with excellence?

Alone as a Teacher?

Why?: As a teacher, do you ever feel like you are alone? What?: In many teaching ministries, it is easy to feel isolated, to feel alone. We may not meet regularly with other teachers as we plug away week-by-week. If you feel alone, there is good news. It is recorded at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. Immediately after giving the Great Commission to His first disciples, in the last words recorded by Matthew, Jesus assures His first disciples, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” The dilemma comes in reading at the end of Luke’s Gospel and at the beginning of Acts that Jesus was then taken into heaven. If He promised to be with us and then was taken away, maybe all believers, including teachers, have cause to feel alone. Well, we’re not! Jesus promised to send His Holy Spirit to indwell us so that we have God present in us as believers. But, how is that Jesus being with us? Perhaps the answer is the church. Consider that the Spirit unites all believers as one church and that united church is called “the body of Christ” a visible body that we can see in local congregations of that one church. So What?: We can legitimately say that Jesus is physically with us in the local congregation and spiritually with us in the Holy Spirit. We are not alone. So What Now?: As a teacher, when you feel alone, remember that you’re not. You have Jesus’ promise that He is with all believers until the end of the age.