Pda Bible

A PRIMER ON EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: ARE YOU A Great TEACHER?

Briggs, J R

WHETHER YOU'RE PRETTY DARN GOOD ALREADY OR YOU'RE FRUSTRATED WITH YOUR IMPACT AS A TEACHER, THESE PRACTICAL IDEAS WILL TRANSFORM THE WAY YOU ENGAGE YOUR KIDS WITH GOD'S TRUTHS-YOU'LL SEE THE KIND OF RESULTS YOU'VE DREAMED OF GETTING

Several months ago my wife and I were driving somewhere when a song came on the radio. To my surprise she belted out the lyrics, line by line. I asked, "How do you know the words to this song so well? How many times have you heard this?"

"Two times," she answered.

"Two times? And you have it memorized already?" I was both impressed and confused.

Then I remembered that my wife is an auditory learner. Once she'd heard the song clearly a couple of times, she had it down. I, on the other hand, am a visual learner. If you'd given me a lyrics sheet, I could've memorized that song in a few minutes. My brother is a gifted musician and a kinesthetic learner. Give him the song's chords and he'd learn to play it on his guitar-and he'd never forget it.

USING EXPERIENCES TO TEACH

I remembered a very important lesson in the car that day: We all learn differently. And this truth profoundly impacts my approach to teaching God's Word. I no longer "talk at" people-my goal is to help young people experience scriptural truth, not just hear about it. When we make our teaching experiential, our "learners" not only remember the teaching, they experience it in their hearts, not just their heads.1

And by the way, we serve a God whose teaching style is tactile and experiential.

* In Exodus, we read about God's command that each Jewish household in Egypt keep a 1-year-old lamb without blemish around their home for several days before sacrificing it during the Passover. Then they're instructed to paint the thresholds of their homes with its blood. Can you imagine young Jewish children asking their father why they had to gruesomely kill this defenseless lamb to participate in a painting project?

* In Deuteronomy 6, the ancient Shema calls God's people to bind the Scriptures upon their foreheads and attach them to their doorposts. (You can visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem today and see how literally they take this command!)

* In the book of Joshua, once the people of Israel have crossed the Jordan River and entered into the Promised Land, Moses' successor instructs the Israelites to erect "remembrance stones" as a reminder of what God accomplished by fulfilling his promises.

* Even today when we celebrate communion we're reliving one of Jesus' most profound experiential teachings. After describing himself as the Bread of Life, he told his disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me." What disciple could forget those words around that table that night in the upper room as he was chewing and swallowing that Passover bread?

Clearly, God's teaching strategy is to involve us in experiences that, once they're debriefed, help us learn his truths more deeply than if we'd heard a mere lecture. To use Jesus' illustration, we want to serve the same wine (God's unchanging truths) in new wineskins (experiential methods).

Baz Luhrmann made a name for himself as director of the Academy-Award-winning film Moulin Rouge. Before that, he directed a remake eft Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the lead roles. Luhrmann kept Shakespeare's script the same, and the actors spoke entirely in Elizabethan English, but he radically changed the play's setting to fit our postmodern culture. That change in "wineskins" brought Shakespeare's masterpiece powerfully to life for a whole new generation of moviegoers. When we teach, the script must remain the same but the methods we use to express the script must change.

When we're preparing to teach, ask: "How can I bring this passage or theme alive through an experience?" Rob Bell is pastor of Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan-a progressive church that often uses the "hook" of experience to engage people in the truths of God's Word. Before he teaches. Rob asks himself, "How can I make it as difficult as possible for people just to sit there with a holy stare?"

USING THE BASICS

How do you retool your teaching to include riveting experiences?

* Use nature's storehouse. Use leaves, rocks, twigs, grass, flowers, and other treasures from nature-God's creation-to help kids learn who God really is. Get them in trios and give each small group something from nature, then have them brainstorm how their object is like and unlike God.

* Use the culture. Your kids' favorite TV shows, movies, magazines, music, and video games are all rich in experience-producing "tools." Use clips from TV shows and movies to spark great discussions. Use magazine articles as the basis for pro-and-con debates. Challenge kids to create an idea for a new video game that teaches the concept of grace.

* Use what's in your closet. When you're studying a Bible story, ask for volunteers to pull a Baz Luhrmann and retell the story in a setting that's common for today's teenagers-use some old clothes from your closet as impromptu costumes.

* Use what's in your fridge. Taste makes for a powerful experience. Grab a wide array of stuff from your refrigerator to illustrate 1 Corinthians 12. Lay out your food items on a table, split your group into teams of three or four, and challenge each team to make a fabulous new concoction using only what you've brought (it could be a sandwich, dessert, drink, or snack).

* Use art supplies. Read a Bible story, then give your kids clay, colored pencils, chalk, and paper to express what they would feel if they were actually in that story, hearing what Jesus said and seeing what he did.

* Use the power of relationship. In the middle of your teaching, have everyone turn to a partner and discuss a few relevant questions you flash up on the screen for five minutes.

The options are endless-I've included these ideas to get your brain moving in the right direction.

USING THE SENSES

King David reminded us to "taste and see that the Lord is good." God created our tongues and our eyeballs (and every other appendage) in his image, and yearns for us to use them to learn about him. The next time you sit down to prepare your teaching, ask yourself how you can create sounds, sights, smells, and tastes and provide objects to touch that will stimulate your teenagers' learning. For example:

* Are you teaching on blind Bartimaeus (or spiritual blindness)? Blindfold your teenagers, then turn out the lights and teach in the dark so they can feel what it's like to be blind.

* Are you teaching about the story (in Mark 2) of the four friends who brought a paralytic to see Jesus? Cut up a long length of rope, form teams of three to five, have each team choose a "paralytic" to tie up, then have teams compete to see which one can most quickly transport their paralytic through an obstacle course.

* Are you teaching on how God's Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path? Light a candle, put it on the floor by your feet, and teach with the lights dimmed.

* Are you teaching about the birth of Jesus and the visit from the wise men? Burn a stick of frankincense (available at a natural foods store or candle shop) in the room beforehand so they enter smelling what the wise men brought to Jesus.

One night I was teaching on silence.2 It seemed counterproductive to talk about silence, so I decided to teach in the midst of silence. After our worship time, I stood up to teach, looked at those in the audience and did not say a word for five minutes. I then had PowerPoint slides scroll behind me on the screen and "teach" for the next 15 minutes. The last slide encouraged everyone to move around the room, find a comfortable place, and just be still before God for 10 minutes. To this day, that teaching on silence has generated the most positive feedback from anything I've ever done. I still hear stories of what an impact that service had on participants' lives.

USING OTHERS' IDEAS

Some of you claim you're not creative. But you're created in God's image, so that's impossible. Maybe you just need to hook up with kids and adults in your ministry who can light your creativity fuse.

1. Don't invent-reinvent! Tap into the resources that are all around you. Borrow ideas from other groups and teachers. I once heard about a pastor who, when teaching about leprosy, shaved a man's head to explain the Old Testament rituals a priest would have to perform with someone who'd been cured of the disease. So during our Thanksgiving service, I borrowed that idea when I taught on the story of the 10 lepers. I asked a young man in our congregation if I could shave his head during my teaching!

Network with other teachers and pastors in your church, in your city, and around the country. Always ask, "What have you done lately that really engaged people's hearts and minds?" Carry a notebook or a PDA with you to record those ideas, then peruse them the next time you're planning a teaching (don't forget to give credit where it's due).

2. Use your group's collective brainstorm power. Invite a group of kids and adults to brainstorm experiential ideas for your next teaching series. Challenge those in your sessions to put themselves in the stories. Ask for their ideas of how to make the passage come alive and be real to others. Dream big. When I've held these brainstorming sessions, I instruct people to share even their most impractical and impossible ideas.

Once we were brainstorming ways to bring alive how God uses nature to communicate to us. I live in Colorado, so someone suggested we have our service at a campsite in the mountains. While this was impractical, it sparked another idea: We created a "campsite" of our own on stage (tent, trees, backpacks, campfire ring, and everything). I got in the tent about 30 minutes before the service began, making sure nobody saw me. After our worship time, I began teaching from inside the tent. After a few moments, I unzipped and climbed out of the tent, put on a backpack, and walked around the room (as if I were on a hike) the rest of the teaching time.

No matter how creative our ideas, we must never forget that it's the Holy Spirit impacting and transforming lives. We do our part when we're faithful to God and his Word while using our God-given creativity to make our methods more effective. But we must remember to step aside so God can do his part. If our shadowed goal is to draw attention to ourselves or our teaching style, we're robbing God of the glory only he deserves.

As you're preparing your teaching, ask the Holy Spirit to give you creativity, wisdom, direction, and passion for the topic. The Holy Spirit is THE master teacher, so let the Spirit mentor you.

1 For a great primer on incorporating experiential learning into your ministry, get the idea-rich classic by Thorn and Joani Schultz-Do it! Active Learning in Youth Ministry (Group Publishing, Inc.). You'll learn how to move from a lecture style to an active learning style, and you'll get ideas you can use in your youth ministry today. Just go to www.groupmag.com and click on Resources, then search for Do It! Or call 1-800-447-1070 for more information.

2 If you're interested in exploring the spiritual disciplines, including silence, in an experiential way, check out Diving Deep: Experiencing Jesus Through Spiritual Disciplines (Group Publishing, Inc.). This kit includes a 13-lesson program that uses a creative, ancient-future approach to traditional spiritual disciplines. The course also comes with a complete retreat plan and six student journals. Just go to www.groupmag.com and click on Resources, then search for Diving Deep Or call 1-800-447-1070 for more information.

J.R. BRIGGS is pastor of a church-within-a-church for young adults in Colorado. On summer afternoons, he's "Sox the Fox," the mascot for his local minor league baseball team.