- It's silly to teach without knowing the overall goal of teaching. We're not talking just about the goal of a particular sermon, "talk" or lesson; we're talking about teaching in general. If I picture teaching as a ministry as a machine of sorts, and if the input to this machine includes our time, effort, resources, etc., what do I hope to get out of the machine? What do I want the outcome to be? If I don't know the answer to this question, I need to really think and pray about it before I teach another lesson or preach another sermon.
- It has been shown that students do not learn best in primarily lecture-based format. So why is this format the "go-to" for most youth pastors? Time is one factor (it's easier to simply talk), fear comes into play (what if I try something new and it bombs?) and some of it is just plain "We've always done it this way!" (insert your favorite denominational joke here).
- What we're doing isn't working. Fewer and fewer students (according to studies) can articulate a biblical worldview or are impacted in a positive way by what they learn in church.
Good food for thought here. After thinking about this for a few minutes, here are my, "but what about..." thoughts:
- So what should be our primary form of communication? I'm not ready to buy into the idea that since students watch a lot of T.V. and movies, we should totally embrace those media. Teaching in the form of a sermon seems to be a consistent form of teaching in the Church and was embraced by Jesus (although I doubt Peter and the other apostles were too worried about having three points or organizing their thoughts into easily remembered acrostics).
- Okay, I agree that we shouldn't focus on the memorization of facts as a benchmark for how well students are learning. I want to graduate faithful followers of Jesus who are passionate about being doers of the Word, and not mearly hearers. But don't we need the building blocks of a decent understanding of Scripture, theology, church history, and other disciplines? At some point in time, hard work that might not be the most exciting is necessary. In athletics, sprints and strength drills aren't always the most fun, but they provide for us the endurance and strength necessary to enjoy and be successful at the game.
- How do I provide ways for a large group of students to really engage what we're learning so that it sinks in? I know that not everyone I teach will totally dive right in to applying what I teach to their lives, but how do I provide tools for students "take the next step" and live out what they've heard? When I led a smaller congregation, I felt like it was easier to do this, because we could do more things as a group. So what's the answer? Encourage my small group leaders to do this in their groups?
Well, here's looking forward to a nice evening reading more of this book and holding my sweet girl Samantha...
