“Developing A Quality Teaching Program”

Monday, April 30, 2018

It is fair to assume that most people who attend Bible classes and worship services on a regular basis do so because of their desire to know the Bible better and, therefore, to learn how to obey God and serve Him. Even for guests, who may not realize how important the Bible is, we need to be teaching them the word of God.

All Christians need to grow spiritually and young people need to learn God’s word and both of those things happen the same way, through Bible study, in our private lives and corporately, in the teaching program at the church. (Much learning should also take place at the home and family level and both private and public Bible study can work together in that way.)

“Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:1-2).

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:17-18).

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

Many Christians have been in the church for a long time, some for almost their entire lives, and still have not studied certain parts of the Bible (especially in the Old Testament) in an organized Bible class with a qualified teacher. This should be a matter of concern for those who lead local churches, whether they are elders or those who have to lead in the absence of elders.

You have to be able to help new Christians and teach them to grow and develop spiritually in their knowledge of the Bible and in their relationship with God. It is helpful to have a plan for how you are going to accomplish that important work (the Bible calls it edification).

Every local church needs an organized teaching program that is planned out and is not random or accidental. It should also be flexible enough to change in order to meet specific needs that will arise both in young people and in the lives of those of us who are older.

We need to teach the whole church what is said in the whole Bible and then take that same message to a lost and dying world. We can make a difference in people’s lives and in their eternity. Every Bible class has the potential to take someone who is headed for hell and point them toward heaven. We need to teach others to love Jesus the way we love Him, with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.

There are several organized programs that Christians have developed over the years and many churches rely heavily on these curriculums to spiritually educate their members. Other churches have come up with their own schedule and some are hybrids of the available commercial material, combined with material that local members have written themselves.

There are difficulties with a schedule of this type. Singings, special meetings, etc. sometimes cause classes to be missed. The teacher must be able to catch up by covering the material in fewer weeks. Workbooks and other printed literature are not all equal in quality. Some are excellent and some are not. Some of the literature may be out of print at various times. But, even with the problems, a planned curriculum is much more effective than a haphazard method of study or no method at all. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Suggestions to consider

• If it is possible, teachers should be alternated regularly. If enough teachers are available, those who teach in one year’s classes should be allowed to rest the next year. Of course, smaller churches have fewer teachers to work with and some may have to teach on a regular basis until the church grows and new teachers are added to the number.

• When using a workbook or class outline, consider these thoughts:

• Every part of the lesson does not have to be read word for word, every question does not have to be answered, and even every scripture does not have to be read in class. A good teacher will use the text, questions and scriptures which will be the most helpful to the class.

• Never forget that you are studying the Bible, not the workbook. The workbook is only an aid to Bible study.

Goals of the Curriculum

Here are some ideas about the goals that we should want to reach in developing a structured, quality teaching program in the local church.

1.  To help people grow to be more like Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:21)

2.  To teach the entire word of God (Acts 20:27)

3.  To instill a sense of “doing” (James 1:22)

4.  To develop positive attitudes about the word of God and how it applies to every day life (Philippians 4:8)

5.  To develop each person’s individual faith and conviction (Romans 10:17)

You can reword these principles or come up with your own goals, but the idea is to teach people to love and obey God and His word. Let me know if I can help in some way.

--Roger Hillis

RogerLeeHillis@gmail.com

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