Almost every church I've attended or visited in the last 30 years has given up teaching the Word. Oh, no, not as bad as all that. I've been under lots of good pastors preaching Scripture from the pulpit. I've been in lots of good churches where they declare the value of God's Word. No, it's not on the face; it's behind the scenes. It's in the adult classes and the home bible studies. They call them "bible studies," but they are, in fact, more like "book clubs." They read good books about the Good Book ... hopefully. We've become "humble." "Oh, I'm not really qualified to teach the Word. Why should I with all these good teachers out there who are? No, I'm no teacher. I'm a facilitator." We give lipservice to the Word and then back off, bow out, let someone else take over. We don't dig into it for ourselves let alone to pass on to fellow believers. We husbands aren't too keen on cleansing our wives with "the washing of water with the Word" (Eph 5:26). Sure, sure, we consider ourselves "Christ followers" and Jesus said, "Your Word is truth" (John 17:17). Perhaps we're just not as interested in the pursuit of truth as Jesus was.
Fundamentally, American Christianity has largely arrived, at best, at a "once removed" condition. We still value the Word, but at a distance, so to speak. "You learn it, you teach it, and we'll listen." "It's good stuff, but we need more. More up to date. More relevant. More applicable. More 'today'." The claim that Scripture makes about Scripture flies in the face of our ambivalence.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)"All Scripture," not just the parts we like. "Breathed out by God." Not merely "inspired." "Profitable." Very much so. It tells us what we should know, where we go wrong, how to correct it, and where to continue to walk. Note the breadth of this claim. It will make the man of God "complete, equipped for every good work." No lack. No insufficiency. We don't really believe that the Holy Spirit will lead us into the truth. God's Word claims that God's Word is sufficient. It's what we need. It does the necessary task. It is authoritative. It is primary. And we've relegated it to second place. Maybe third. Or somewhere else down the line. Like a good advisor to our already capable understanding ... from science and experience and culture and society and politics and all. "No, no, God, that's okay. We've got this. We don't need to dig into Your Word. We have some really good books on it." It should be no wonder that the American Christian church is a mile wide and an inch deep. Face it; we're not very good Bereans (Acts 17:11).
7 comments:
I have been told that it is wrong and arrogant for me to be confident enough in my belief in what the Word says to be willing to correct others because I'm not seminary trained and wasn't there when it was written. It is a sad state when Christians don't want to be able to give a reason for the faith that is in them. That they don't want to worship God but the renewing of their minds.
Isn't it funny, too, (in a sad way) that this is one of the reasons the Reformers split from the Roman Catholics. The Reformers argued that all genuine believers can read and understand Scripture while the Catholics argued it was beyond the capabilities of the peons and those people should leave it to the professionals.
When I lead the Bible study I'm in, I prefer to be more of a facilitator than a teacher, because I want to start discussion. At the same time, I'm willing to correct errors if needed.
We actually have been doing what you're talking about, staying away from relying on books etc, and simply digging into scripture. Although I do use commentaries and other resources in my prep.
When I wrote this I was thinking, "I hope no one thinks I'm opposed to books about the Bible." I'm absolutely not. And when I teach, I encourage discussion ... absolutely. (I don't really have to encourage it; it just comes.) The difference in this application between a "teacher" and a "facilitator" is that a teacher would be prepared to answer questions and guide discussion while a facilitator would just be there for the ride. The fundamental purpose for the "facilitator" term seems, at least to me, to be to avoid responsibility. So digging into Scripture and including commentaries and such so that I can exlain it adequately to others seems like a good plan. Just going along for the ride while someone else (who isn't actually there) can explain it (without allowing for questions to the author, for instance) seems less helpful and less responsible. Perhaps a good use of a "facilitator" (interesting that no such gift is found in Scripture) would be to find a good teacher to teach the study?
I didn't necessarily think that you were, I think were in a similar place. Books about the Bible are helpful, as are other books, but aren't a substitute for the Bible.
I agree with your distinction, I think that facilitation is better suited for my personality, but I will definitely answer questions if I can and correct things that are wrong.
I think that it depends on the context and who is in a particular study. The group I'm in is much more suited for more of a facilitator role, yet we have several people with the formal education equipped to answer tough questions if necessary. When I teach, I prepare with multiple commentaries and the like, but I'd much rather ask questions, encourage discussion, and referee.
I think I'd expect a teacher to lecture or present, and maybe take some questions. I see this particular group as one that gets teaching in other places, and isn't looking for more teaching.
My biggest concern is this perception that so many American Christians have that "I'm not smart/spiritual/capable enough to study the Word and understand it myself, let alone to explain it to anyone else." It's not really about "facilitators" vs "teachers," but the fact that a large number of believers think that it's humility to not read deeply and understand carefully God's Word. So we leave it up to group discussion to figure out what's true or not and, since so many do not study the Word for themselves, all kinds of false teaching creeps in unseen.
Stan,
I completely agree with you about that. I think that there are places where it's more important to have a teacher, and places where a facilitator works better.
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