Well my first day of teaching came and went without incident…well, mostly. They seem to be your average college freshman—not wanting to do a lot of work, figuring they will be bored out of their minds, etc. Perhaps the most tell-tell thing of what I am dealing with came from a young lady who thought that sunglasses were appropriate indoors. I had put the question out there, “Why haven’t you had much interaction with the Old Testament?” I assumed a variety of answers would come, and they did. But she was the first to speak:
“Ugh. We’re all human and the Old Testament is b-oring. Right? (looking around)”
Ah yes. I can’t wait until we tackle the Kings. She will be loving it. Another girl stated that her interaction with the OT was limited because at church they learned mostly about Jesus and the NT. I responded, “So you attribute it to a deficiency on the part of your churches?” She was quick to tell me “No.” But in reality, that is the root of the problem. Our churches fail to give the whole picture of God’s interaction with humanity. It is so easy for preachers to rip a Pauline saying out of context, or retell a parable of Jesus, and we congregations miss the richness of the entire Bible. Well, my major goal is to convey the OT to at least these students in a new, exciting, and hopefully long lasting way that will stick with them.
2 comments:
I will give you that and ask you to understand that I agree with your statements about the ease with which preachers come up with New Testament points to go along with their anecdotal sermons, but I must say that I believe it is also reinforced by the attention span of their average "parishioner."
So many arrive late and are willing to give only ten minutes for singing, ten minutes for speaking and then leave early if it seems there might even be a hint of deep learning. So many do not really want to know the things of God or how He deals with His people; they don't want to know the real Jesus who told them to pick up their cross and follow Him. There are far too many gatherings filled with people who would not be there at all if it were laid out correctly for them.
Mind you, this is not an excuse for why the Church is failing in teaching it correctly, let alone at all, but narrow is the gate... Again, please understand that for the most part I believe the Church in the United States has it so wrong, I am not making excuses for the leaders, just also directing blame on personal priorities.
God bless you in your endeavors to make it interesting and helping them see it in a new light.
Thanks for the words. I think you have it right as well. The entertainment mindset of the modern church has killed discipleship. 1 hour is all we get (if that). Not much to work with.
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