Many young people who attend Bible classes regularly will claim when asked that they know all of the stories in the Bible, but don’t know what to do with the information. Ignoring the inaccuracy of their confidence in their Bible knowledge, there is still an admitted gap in Bible comprehension. If you believe recent surveys, the gap in application is even wider, with only 3-10% of young people being raised in Christian homes having a faith foundation strong enough to carry them into adulthood.
The really interesting aspect to this dynamic is that the literature most churches purchase would claim to aid understanding of the Bible and to teach application of scripture to real life. Yet somehow students aren’t making the connections the authors and our churches had hoped. There are multiple reasons for this problem, as well as multiple changes that need to be made to improve this dynamic. One quick way to improve an understanding of applying scripture to one’s life can be taken from a practice used by master teachers in secular education.
Instead of telling young people application principles and what a Christian “looks like” in our world today, we can help them discover the information for themselves. This must be done carefully, with adult guidance or things can go astray very quickly. When done well, however, these discoveries are more easily accepted and integrated than information that was spoon fed to them.
So what would this look like in a typical Bible class setting? Let’s look at a relatively straightforward example – lying. You’ve told the Bible story and thrown in a few verses about how God hates lying. Great. Do your students know how to actually translate that information into making godly life choices? It’s time to help them discover what telling the truth looks like in real life and why God cares that we are honest.
You can begin by asking students to think of examples in the Bible when someone lied and what happened. Or other verses they can find about lying in the Bible. (Finding applicable scriptures is also an important Christian life skill they need to be taught.) Armed with a little more information, it’s time to move to today’s world. Depending upon the amount of time and the number of students you have, you can break the discovery into sections that are then shared with everyone or have the class work together as a whole.
Have them think of examples in the world today when people lie. What is truth? What is Truth? What is a lie? What are the excuses people give to rationalize their lies? Are these excuses really valid? Is someone always hurt when someone lies? (Absolutely. If nothing else, someone who lies can never be totally trusted.) What are the obvious negative consequences of various lies? The more subtle negative consequences? How does one tell the truth in sticky situations (hint: one’s opinion is not necessarily “truth” and doesn’t need to be shared as such)? Why is it so important to God that we are 100% honest all of the time? (hint: Satan is the father of lies) You may add other questions depending upon how students work through your initial ones. In some cases, you may want to through out real life scenarios and have them work out the way God would want Christians to respond in those situations.
As you can tell by these questions, it is crucial for a strong Christian adult to guide these discussions. Not by preaching or even teaching, but by asking questions that will lead them to discover the biblical answers on their own. Make sure to end these discussions by having students summarize what they have learned and how they should apply it to their lives going forward. This will help you correct any misunderstandings that may have occurred at some point in the discussions.
Helping Bible students discover how God wants them to lead their lives may just make it more likely they will actually make any needed changes. It will also improve their memory of godly principles and make it easier for them to share God’s Truths with others. It’s worth taking the extra time and effort to give students time to discover how to live the Christian life in Bible class.