TEACHING—METHODS AND MESSAGE
Christian education has now become a highly specialized science with ever-increasing emphasis on methods and communication.
Many has been the Sunday School class that has gone through the boredom of a period of “teaching” which reflected the ignorance and ineffectiveness of the teacher.
That the curriculum and methods of the Church School are now under careful study is certainly to the good—provided that the biblical message is honestly and clearly presented.
With the increased concern for the Sunday School, the scientific methods of teaching being carried over from the secular to the religious field, and with new concepts of communication, it becomes imperative that these and other advances or improvements he anchored to the divine revelation and not become a clever means of substituting human opinions for the clear affirmations of Scripture.
To be an effective teacher of a Sunday School class, beginner or adult, he or she must know the Bible, not books about the Bible but the Bible itself. This is a basic requirement, and such knowledge is not acquired in a short time; rather it comes solely through the reading, studying, pondering, and obeying the Word of God in our personal lives.
To expound the opinions of men is only a matter of research, but to be able to teach the Holy Scriptures is a matter of faith and experience.
We need very much to guard against coldness or legalism, while at the same time we guard against every tendency to rob the Bible of its clearly indicated meaning.
With the increasing emphasis on methods of communication there goes hand in hand the question—What is it we are trying to communicate? It is possible to communicate untruths so effectively that they appear to be facts. It is possible to be pedagogically perfect and at the same time a menace to those whom we teach.
I mention these things because there is in the realm of Christian faith a great volume of truth to be imparted. And in many areas of doctrine there is no room for speculation or argument. An honest teacher of Christianity for instance, stands without equivocation on the deity of Christ and will support that fact along with its many implications.
Therefore while discussion, questions, yes even arguments may have their place in a class, they all must find their solution in an authority and wisdom which is above man, namely, the authority and wisdom of the Holy Scriptures.
Many is the “discussion class” that has foundered on the rocks of individual opinion because the leader, moderator, or teacher has failed to prove a worthy pilot, and because the course was not charted by the Bible itself. The same can be said for many things done in the name of “group dynamics.”
As important as methods and effective communication are, however, the primary concern in a Church School is the message. And it is here that many modern curriculae fail. Writers, giving often a lavish lip service to “biblical content,” leave people cold and uninstructed because their pious references to Scripture are lost in a miasma of rationalistic unbelief.
Of what use is teaching which results in unbelief rather than belief? What spiritual food can a little child, or adult, get from clever “explanations” which in effect deny the clear affirmations of Scripture? What is gained by explaining away the miraculous and making light of the supernatural? What has a method, coupled with adroit techniques of communication, accomplished when it leads people to question rather than believe the Bible which is supposed to be the heart of Christian instruction?
These are very relevant questions—not in all major denominations but in some, and not in all issues of materials but in some.
In the imparting of Christian truth there is an element not present in the secular realm, and this is spiritual. Also, in Christian teaching there is a supernatural Person without whom all is in vain—the Holy Spirit.
Methods may be perfect. The art of communication may be superb. But unless God’s Holy Spirit takes the message and makes it clear and applies it to the heart of the individual, no permanent good has been accomplished.
It is the spiritual phase which places the Church School in a class by itself. It is the need for supernatural help that places both teacher and pupil in a position unknown in the secular field.
Not only must the teacher in a Church School depend on the presence, illumination, and power of the Holy Spirit, but his efforts must be bathed in prayer. Prayerlessness is an affront to God and at no time more so than in presuming to teach of Him without adequate preparation and looking to Him for guidance and empowering.
Nor can the Christian teacher do his or her work effectively if one’s personal life gives the lie to the spiritual truths he is teaching. Consistency of words and life are nowhere more important than at the level of the teacher.
Much emphasis is also placed on making the lesson relevant to our times. This is of course good provided that divine revelation is applied to current problems on the basis of the principle involved. For instance it is imperative that the Christian’s obligation to love his neighbor be affirmed and taught with all the vigor at one’s command. But the enforcement of various concepts or programs by governmental intervention may transfer the problem to a category entirely separated from divine revelation. The man who demanded of Christ that he speak to his brother about an undivided inheritance did not get his wish because Christ saw through to the covetousness of his heart.
The inequity of an undivided legacy would appeal to any of us, yet Christ’s judgment of covetousness was the matter of prime importance.
Does not our Lord give us an example of placing emphasis on the things that are not seen rather than on things material? Is this not a principle on which Christian teaching should stand? We see the injustices and inequities of the world around us. With great zeal and enthusiasm we go out to correct social problems, but we fail to grasp the Christian principle that all of these things are symptoms of a disease which is sin in the hearts of the men and women making up society.
Those who teach in Church Schools have a glorious opportunity to go to the source of our problems and to the Fountain Head of their solution. Once those whom we teach come to know Christ as Saviour and make Him the Lord of their lives, all other things fall into their proper place and perspective, as promised in Matthew 6:33.
L. NELSON BELL
