The Word: How to Teach

We have established that our clever arguments and even our deeply personal stories cannot save anyone. In fact, none of us can bridge the divide between God and man. But to present the lost to the Lord, we must lead them to the Word of God. We learned that it is alive and effective, and that the best expression of the Word of God is Jesus Himself. The story of Jesus is found in the first four books of the New Testament called the gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

But how do you read through Scripture with someone who knows nothing about it? How do you teach Scripture if you don't know it? I've heard people say you have to get a Bible degree to do a good job, and sure it doesn't hurt to do that. However, the Apostles were not all college material. Many were rural fishermen. If God can use them, he can use us no matter where we are. We don't have to have all the answers.

First pray before opening the Bible. I'm guilty of not doing this. It's not so much a guilt thing, but it's just ineffective to read the Bible without the Spirit of God directing. So pray, invite the Holy Spirit into the study, and let Him guide you and direct you. If you really have trouble figuring out what to read, just start with John. It's a great book.

If we have established that the Word of God is living and active, why can't it teach itself? Guess what? It CAN! You can read the Bible in short bursts and discuss it. I like to start with 10-12 verses, trying to keep in line with the chapter breaks. For example, if the paragraph or story is 17 verses, I will have us all read the whole 17 verses. It is better to read according to the story structure in the Bible rather than the verse structure. (If you think that is blasphemous, consider that chapters and verses were later added to the text to help us quote and reference it. There is nothing holy about verse/chapter structure.)

Sometimes it is best to set some questions in play, then read the passage and then review it. For instance, we might ask 4 questions: Is this confusing? (Let people know that it confuses you sometimes, too), What does this mean?, Does this hurt?, What should I do?

What this looks like afterwards is that you read through verse by verse aloud (or preferably let someone else read through) and ask if there were any thoughts on the questions asked... again verse by verse. This often gets turned into good discussion and gets derailed. This is what you are wanting. You want the structure to get slightly derailed, because people's deep soul thoughts and feelings aren't expressed in structure.

We may not have to have all the answers, and it is always better to let people go on the journey to truth themselves so they will own their conclusions themselves. If they don't own the conclusions, they will not be passionate about them. Half of getting to know God is this very struggle. If people are struggling, then they are most likely beginning to understand. It's okay if people struggle! I promise! Jesus is a challenge for everyone, even when He taught people face to face, offensive to some and amazingly refreshing to others.

Over time you will begin to see people make their decisions. Some will not accept. This is not your decision to make. Some will find a passion ignited in them for Jesus Christ, and those people will want to know Him more and will want to know what to do. We'll discuss that next.