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Teaching Principles and Methods is usually the 8th course in the training curriculum. However, it has such helpful overlap with the 1st course that CMA’s leadership decided to host this class as both a primer on the ministry of teaching and as a review of the indicative bible study method. Although I’ve sat in as the host for this class many times, it remained one of the few that I myself had never personally taught.
My strategy to cover the content of the course would be to compartmentalize the themes of teaching principles under only 1 verse: Ephesians 4:12, “to prepare God’s people for works of ministry”. This one single verse encapsulates better than any other the purpose for Christ’s appointment of pastor and teachers. Our week would be the unpacking of each word from that verse and its implications for biblical instruction.
The core principles of the class unfolded as follows: (1) Preparation requires personal preparation; (2) A shepherd knows his sheep; (3) Character is contagious; (4) We learn best by doing right; (5) The Faith requires faithfulness; (6) Commendation is the teacher’s legacy. These 6 principles were expounded each night by demonstrating a particular teaching model called the Hook, Book, Look, and Took (as taken from Lawrence Richards in “Creative Bible Teaching”).
Our supplementary study material (which also composed each night’s homework) was from Howard Hendricks “Teaching to Change Lives”. Between the curriculum content and Hendricks’ chapters, each lesson’s theme was repeated and amplified as we discovered God’s design behind biblical teaching.
I found that just like when I was learning this material in school, the hardest section of all is the practical application of God’s word for that final “Took” section. It is always easier to try and land the plane of biblical instruction with simple generalizations or nebulous platitudes that recognize the text but fail to honor it in clear obedience. We think this is because people don’t like to be challenged… we don’t like to change our ways. As learning transfers from the head to the heart, God has designed transformation to be evidenced with our lives. This, as always, is the greatest challenge for the teacher.
I was so blessed to serve as the instructor for this class. And beyond the scope of our purpose in gathering for learning, I was blessed to get to know CMA’s new students as my friends. To hear their stories of ministry, to answer their most pertinent questions, and to see them soak up the content and wrestle through the material in effort to embrace God’s design in teaching – to prepare the saints for the work of ministry.