Adults make difficult students. They come to the classroom with busy schedules, conflicting obligations, and a great wealth of experience—sometimes of the subject being taught. Instructors have much working against them. Desire to learn isn’t always the motivation with adult students, so the last thing teachers need is a method that sabotages the learning process. Five strategies to avoid include:
1) Have minimal personal contact
2) Establish and maintain a passive mood in the classroom
3) Assume the class will apply what is taught. Don’t bother with examples.
4) Criticize
5) Make the students feel stupid for asking questions in class.
The many titles of Jesus include “Master,” “Rabbi,” and “Teacher.” Jesus came to teach about God’s Kingdom and to prepare the people for its coming. His primary audience was the working class of Israel—people hardened by life under foreign occupation and jaded by the religious leaders’ rhetoric. Ruling Pharisees had corrupted God’s Law by adding rules that they themselves could not keep. When Jesus came to the Israelites with the Good News of God’s Kingdom, the people were no doubt cynical.
Cynicism was counter to His message of hope, so Jesus got personal with them. He was face-to-face with His students, touching them, eating with them, crying over them. He encouraged questions and did not ridicule nor criticize.
Stories from the pages of their daily lives peppered Jesus’ lessons. Often in teaching the concepts of the Kingdom, Jesus provided a living example. In the synagogue, He freed a man of a demon. As the exorcism demonstrated, evil would be thrown out of God’s Kingdom. The end of sickness and death was shown when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law from a raging fever. Later Jesus gave an object lesson on the benefits of cleansing.
While preaching in the province of Galilee, a leper found Jesus. The man fell to his knees and begged, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Oh, the faith. The leper believed in the Jesus’ Kingdom work. He had faith enough to believe that Jesus was able to cure his devastating disease.
The physical ruin was readily apparent, but Jesus also saw the desperation of the man at His feet. Compassion overcame Him. “I am willing,” He said reaching to touch the leper. “Be cleansed.” The disease vanished. The leper left the gathering free and clean (Mark 1:40 – 42).
Jesus came to teach and preach and heal. But He came to cleanse the world of sin. The leper asked for a healing, but he was saying, “I’m filthy. I’m defiled. I’m tainted. Make me pure. Make me clean. Make me new.”
The confession of a sinner.
In many ways, leprosy symbolizes the ravages of sin. It gradually erodes the body—first the skin, then muscle, then bone—all while life remains. The leper bears the effects of the disease. Sinners bear the scars of their actions. Persons affected with leprosy are separated from community as sinners are separated from commune with God.
When the leper cried out, “You can make me clean,” he was saying, “You can restore me to what I once was.” Jesus healed this man as an example of the eternal healing He came to do. For all who come to Him and say, “If You’re willing,” Jesus says, “I am willing.” For those who say, “I’m a mess. I am hopeless. My life is dark” Jesus says, “I am willing.” He longs to hear the cry, “You can put me back together. You can give me hope. You can clean me and restore me to what I should be.”
The healing of the leper was a real-time lesson on forgiveness of sin. Jesus transformed him from an outcast to a man embraced by society. Jesus heals the sinner and transforms him/her from a wretch to a child embraced by God.
Few students, however, grasped the lesson. It would be repeated over and over, but until the Resurrection, it remained unlearned.
Today, we have the benefit of knowing the whole story. We know Jesus’ mission and purpose for healing. We know what He did to fulfill that mission. Still, we may not understand what He has demonstrated before our eyes. All around we can see the evidence of His healing—broken people who now treasure their circumstances. Hopeless people now inspiring others to dream. Addicts in recovery, shattered marriages restored, convicts mentoring troubled youth. Have you learned the lesson? Have you trusted in the cleansing that comes when sin is forgiven?
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
PIONEER COLUMN (February 2009): Hide 'n Seek
The game has changed dramatically since I was a kid. It used to be you’d gather with a bunch of friends, appoint one of them to be IT, then scatter and hole up while he/she counted to 100. IT then set out to uncover the rest of us. We hid in trees, behind garages, under piles of leaves. If your hiding spot was discovered you ran to the safety of home, striving to reach it before IT tagged you and knocked you out of the game.
Well, 21st century technology has overhauled the simplicity of Hide ‘n Seek. The object now is to locate hidden treasures rather than hidden friends. High-tech equipment—a hand-held GPS device—is required to find the treasures as opposed to trusting basic instinct and give-away giggles. Even the game’s name has changed. This updated version goes by the ostentatious title geocaching: geo from geography and caching for the act of hiding something in a secret spot.
The plus side of this modern version is that the treasures will likely be found. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided and entered into the GPS unit before the hunt begins. The hunter (AKA IT) simply follows the device’s arrow till the hidden treasures are uncovered. Diligent searching leads to discovery.
The way to acquire treasures—whatever they might be—is to seek them. And whether through use of the most advanced satellite science or the ancient practice of prayer, those who search for treasures find them.
The exiled Israelites learned that despite their sufferings, God could be found in Babylon. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you…(Jeremiah 29:13 – 14). Hundreds of years later the people anxiously looked for God’s Servant, the Messiah, to release them from captivity of foreign rule and an oppressive religious system.
The day Jesus launched His traveling ministry He left the crowds and admirers behind. He rose before sunrise and hiked to an isolated spot. There He spent the pre-dawn hours in prayer. The disciples woke and found Jesus missing. They mounted a search and, like skilled hunters, tracked Him down. It probably was a frantic hunt. A crush of sick and invalid and demon-possessed awaited Jesus’ return. Everyone is looking for You (Mark 1:37), the disciples informed Him.
Everyone is looking for you. How profound. Without realizing it, the disciples stated the urgency of Jesus’ mission. Their intent was to return Jesus to the waiting crowds for another day of healing and miracles. But Jesus had been in prayer for His ministry. He and the twelve were about to hit the road to share the Gospel because everyone was looking for Him. It was time for Him to be found.
The urgency remains today. All around us, people seek God. They ask, How could a loving God allow… or Where was God when… or even Why is God punishing me? They want answers. And God promises that when they search with all their heart, they will find Him. He’s not hiding. Jesus goes to meet the seekers where they are—hospitals, prisons, soup kitchens and shelters.
How can you help seekers around you? Be a disciple. Jesus is found in His followers as they feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, stand against injustice, stand for the rights of the persecuted and disadvantaged, when they care for the least of society. Jesus makes Himself known when His disciples promote the Kingdom of God with their words and actions.
Well, 21st century technology has overhauled the simplicity of Hide ‘n Seek. The object now is to locate hidden treasures rather than hidden friends. High-tech equipment—a hand-held GPS device—is required to find the treasures as opposed to trusting basic instinct and give-away giggles. Even the game’s name has changed. This updated version goes by the ostentatious title geocaching: geo from geography and caching for the act of hiding something in a secret spot.
The plus side of this modern version is that the treasures will likely be found. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided and entered into the GPS unit before the hunt begins. The hunter (AKA IT) simply follows the device’s arrow till the hidden treasures are uncovered. Diligent searching leads to discovery.
The way to acquire treasures—whatever they might be—is to seek them. And whether through use of the most advanced satellite science or the ancient practice of prayer, those who search for treasures find them.
The exiled Israelites learned that despite their sufferings, God could be found in Babylon. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you…(Jeremiah 29:13 – 14). Hundreds of years later the people anxiously looked for God’s Servant, the Messiah, to release them from captivity of foreign rule and an oppressive religious system.
The day Jesus launched His traveling ministry He left the crowds and admirers behind. He rose before sunrise and hiked to an isolated spot. There He spent the pre-dawn hours in prayer. The disciples woke and found Jesus missing. They mounted a search and, like skilled hunters, tracked Him down. It probably was a frantic hunt. A crush of sick and invalid and demon-possessed awaited Jesus’ return. Everyone is looking for You (Mark 1:37), the disciples informed Him.
Everyone is looking for you. How profound. Without realizing it, the disciples stated the urgency of Jesus’ mission. Their intent was to return Jesus to the waiting crowds for another day of healing and miracles. But Jesus had been in prayer for His ministry. He and the twelve were about to hit the road to share the Gospel because everyone was looking for Him. It was time for Him to be found.
The urgency remains today. All around us, people seek God. They ask, How could a loving God allow… or Where was God when… or even Why is God punishing me? They want answers. And God promises that when they search with all their heart, they will find Him. He’s not hiding. Jesus goes to meet the seekers where they are—hospitals, prisons, soup kitchens and shelters.
How can you help seekers around you? Be a disciple. Jesus is found in His followers as they feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, shelter the homeless, stand against injustice, stand for the rights of the persecuted and disadvantaged, when they care for the least of society. Jesus makes Himself known when His disciples promote the Kingdom of God with their words and actions.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
IF I HAD A PULPIT: There Must Be Some Misunderstanding
Big Jim is not a church-going man. We see his wife each Sunday and at church events, but generally Big Jim stays home. So when he walked in to last week’s service we knew something was up.
When Pastor called for prayer concerns Big Jim raised his hand. “Pastor,” he said, “I’d like the church to pray for my hearing.”
The grin on Pastor’s face told us that he would not let this moment pass. “Yes, of course we will, Jim. In fact, everyone gather around Big Jim and lay hands.”
Well, the pews emptied as we moved around the man, reaching out to touch his shoulders, back, and head. Pastor placed his hands on Big Jim’s ears, then bowed and prayed—a long prayer, peppered with choruses of “Yes, Lord” from the congregation. Heads lifted at the “Amen” and a few women wiped their eyes. Pastor looked at the big man with confidence and said, “Well, Jim, how’s your hearing now?”
“I don’t know, Pastor,” he replied. “I don’t go before the judge till next Thursday.”
That one’s been around a while. Yet its message remains forever relevant. Despite our best intentions—as the good pastor’s prayer exemplifies—misunderstandings happen when we assume to know what a person is saying. Communication is lost when one perceives a message differently than it was intended.
Jesus had an important message for the people of Israel: the Kingdom of God was coming (Mark 1:15). The time of God’s ultimate reign was closing in. The burden of oppression would be lifted, and evil would be abolished. Jesus’ message was an appeal to turn away from sin and believe.
It was more than an evangelizing sermon. Through captivating stories, miracles, and healings, Jesus taught about the wonderful things of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God defies this earthly domain, as Jesus demonstrated when He commanded a demon to leave its human victim—and it obeyed (Mark 1:26).
This was a new teaching. It wasn’t the scholarly debate they were accustomed to. It was straightforward truth: God’s Kingdom was near. Believe and accept it.
How did the people respond to the new teaching? They went out and shared the news—news about the incredible healing they witnessed. Soon, villagers knocked down the doors wherever Jesus stayed for their own piece of the miracle action.
The people got the message. But they misinterpreted it.
Mark 1:28 says, Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere…(NASU). Some versions say His fame spread across the country. Jesus came to preach the good news, but the news that spread was about the miraculous exorcism. It was what Jesus could do that got the people talking.
And isn’t that just how we are. We hear a message, but condense it to headlines and highlights. The Kingdom of God is coming was reduced to There’s a guy who calls evil spirits out of people. The casting out of demons exemplified casting evil out of God’s Kingdom. But the meat of the message was missing from the stories that were spread. The purpose of Jesus’ mission was misinterpreted.
Undoubtedly your messages have resulted in unexpected outcomes. It’s a risk with all communication. Have you thought about how to avoid misunderstandings?
What about avoiding miscommunication of the Gospel of Christ? If you’ve let Jesus into your life, you have a message. In fact, all Christians have been entrusted with a message to share…the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). God’s Kingdom comes when the lost return to Him. You can have a part in bringing the Kingdom to a hurting world. Have you thought about what to say? How to say it? How does your life exemplify the hope of the Kingdom? A message as important as the coming of God’s Kingdom needs clear understanding…how are you assured that listeners perceive the your total message?
When Pastor called for prayer concerns Big Jim raised his hand. “Pastor,” he said, “I’d like the church to pray for my hearing.”
The grin on Pastor’s face told us that he would not let this moment pass. “Yes, of course we will, Jim. In fact, everyone gather around Big Jim and lay hands.”
Well, the pews emptied as we moved around the man, reaching out to touch his shoulders, back, and head. Pastor placed his hands on Big Jim’s ears, then bowed and prayed—a long prayer, peppered with choruses of “Yes, Lord” from the congregation. Heads lifted at the “Amen” and a few women wiped their eyes. Pastor looked at the big man with confidence and said, “Well, Jim, how’s your hearing now?”
“I don’t know, Pastor,” he replied. “I don’t go before the judge till next Thursday.”
That one’s been around a while. Yet its message remains forever relevant. Despite our best intentions—as the good pastor’s prayer exemplifies—misunderstandings happen when we assume to know what a person is saying. Communication is lost when one perceives a message differently than it was intended.
Jesus had an important message for the people of Israel: the Kingdom of God was coming (Mark 1:15). The time of God’s ultimate reign was closing in. The burden of oppression would be lifted, and evil would be abolished. Jesus’ message was an appeal to turn away from sin and believe.
It was more than an evangelizing sermon. Through captivating stories, miracles, and healings, Jesus taught about the wonderful things of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God defies this earthly domain, as Jesus demonstrated when He commanded a demon to leave its human victim—and it obeyed (Mark 1:26).
This was a new teaching. It wasn’t the scholarly debate they were accustomed to. It was straightforward truth: God’s Kingdom was near. Believe and accept it.
How did the people respond to the new teaching? They went out and shared the news—news about the incredible healing they witnessed. Soon, villagers knocked down the doors wherever Jesus stayed for their own piece of the miracle action.
The people got the message. But they misinterpreted it.
Mark 1:28 says, Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere…(NASU). Some versions say His fame spread across the country. Jesus came to preach the good news, but the news that spread was about the miraculous exorcism. It was what Jesus could do that got the people talking.
And isn’t that just how we are. We hear a message, but condense it to headlines and highlights. The Kingdom of God is coming was reduced to There’s a guy who calls evil spirits out of people. The casting out of demons exemplified casting evil out of God’s Kingdom. But the meat of the message was missing from the stories that were spread. The purpose of Jesus’ mission was misinterpreted.
Undoubtedly your messages have resulted in unexpected outcomes. It’s a risk with all communication. Have you thought about how to avoid misunderstandings?
What about avoiding miscommunication of the Gospel of Christ? If you’ve let Jesus into your life, you have a message. In fact, all Christians have been entrusted with a message to share…the message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19). God’s Kingdom comes when the lost return to Him. You can have a part in bringing the Kingdom to a hurting world. Have you thought about what to say? How to say it? How does your life exemplify the hope of the Kingdom? A message as important as the coming of God’s Kingdom needs clear understanding…how are you assured that listeners perceive the your total message?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)