No one wants to be embarrassed – especially children and teens in front of their peers. To young people, the truth can hurt, if telling it makes them look bad in front of their classmates. Young people have also learned over the years that telling adults what they want to hear is a lot less trouble than telling them what they really think. So, often without even realizing it, young people begin to lie.
Lying is problematic enough as Christians, since it is sinful. But lying creates even bigger issues in the Bible classroom. Your students have learned in “regular school” that it’s best to pretend they understand the lesson and figure it out later. They’ve learned to muddle through tests and even get great grades without having any real understanding of the topic at hand.
We can’t risk that lack of understanding in Bible classes. That lack of understanding can mean they have no earthly idea what God may want them to do with the information you are teaching them from the Bible. Without that knowledge and understanding, they are less likely to become who God wants them to be. Those gaps in understanding make it much more difficult for them to live a Christian life.
Create a culture in your classroom that values and celebrates honesty – total honesty – when it comes to both memory and understanding of your lessons, the Bible in general or anything else that could impact their faith. Make it a safe place to admit when something doesn’t make sense to them or they don’t thoroughly understand it. Praise students when they admit confusion. Better yet, admit when you used to be or are still confused about the same topic. Work together to find biblical answers. Find different ways of explaining the same content so it is better understood by students who may think a bit differently than how you are used to explaining things. Be patient and keep explaining content in different ways until you are confident everyone understands it. (This may take multiple class periods or outside conversations in some cases.)
Once students are comfortable being totally honest about what they do and don’t understand, they will learn, understand, remember and hopefully use more of what you are teaching them that God wants them to know. And that’s a victory for everyone!