In the Beginning

Yesterday was the first day of school at Amarillo College. Needless to say, for the past week or so it's been a little hectic here at the Bible Chair.

As all teachers know, there are a thousand and one things that just have to be done before you start a new school year. And even when you think you've got all the is dotted and all the ts crossed, a couple more issues always come along at the last minute. As the first day got closer and closer, I knew I had to have everything set. Here's the schedule for Monday:

The Old Testament 9:00-10:15 a.m.
The New Testament 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Intro. to World Religions 1:30-2:45 p.m.

A total of 62 students signed up for those three classes, one of our best enrollments ever. And yesterday, every single student on the roster showed up. In the time I've been teaching, that's never happened before.

So far, the hard work of the last few weeks has paid off. The first day went pretty well. The biggest snag came in the afternoon. Within the last few days, there was a location change for the World Religions class. So students who printed off their schedules early went to the Music Building for class. Students who printed off their schedules later came to the Bible Chair instead.

When I realized what had happened, I told the people at the Bible Chair to stay there, ran to the Music Building to meet the other students, explained to them what was going on, wrote instructions and drew a map on the chalkboard for anyone who arrived late, then walked everyone over to the Bible Chair where we started class a few minutes late. No one got lost, and more than half the students took in a little exercise for good measure.

Tomorrow's schedule will include all of the Monday classes plus a short session on the Gospel of John, from Noon til 12:50. Then, beginning September 3rd, there will be a Thursday evening course in Elementary Biblical Hebrew, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Auditors are welcome to attend any of these classes other than The New Testament, which is completely full.

I like this job, and I'm thankful for it. I think it's going to be a good semester.

Whimsical Wednesday

I've been meaning to rant about this ever since I heard the news last week. Here's what's buggin' me. On Monday night the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Madonna.

Muh-DON-nuh?! . . . In the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? . . . While folks like the Steve Miller Band are still waiting in line? I just don't get it.

Hey, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Madonna didn't record rock and roll. Of course, neither did Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and they're in too. But I guess my question is, Why not induct the people who performed and recorded rock and roll? Just a thought. Oh, and what's the impeachment process?

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One of my weaknesses in teaching is that I don't often ask good questions. For a lot of my class sessions, I prepare a lecture that doesn't exactly want or invite interruption. So I don't often stop to ask a question. It's not that I don't want questions. And sometimes I do stop and ask, "Okay, what questions do you have?" But that's not the same thing as asking questions that actually involve the students in exploring the topic.

Yes, I've read that when students passively sit and listen, they don't take much home. They're much more likely to learn and retain something if they become active in responding to questions, or if they state what they know and think about the topic of the class. And I've accepted all of that. From the neck up. But I don't do much of that.

Oh, I guess I could blame my former teachers. Some of them presented straight lecture for hours on end. Class sessions were often a matter of us students writing down notes as they were read to us by the professor. It was like we'd signed up for a course in copying dictation. In one graduate course I took, students asked a grand total of two questions all semester long. In both instances, the question was an awkward interruption of the professor's reading class notes to us.

And then there's my preaching experience. Most sermons don't invite or want any sort of question, feedback, interruption. Our inherited definition of "preaching" means that nobody talks but the preacher, which is why many churches marvel at how smart the preacher is while everyone else feels sort of dumb and inadequate. (Ever notice that virtually all of the sermons in Acts get interrupted?) I think this point is connected to the health and growth of churches, but I digress.

I don't want to revert to the teaching models I've always known. A lot of them are weak and ineffective. I feel compelled to do better. But it's hard for classroom teachers to throw off the dream of being the sage on the stage. That's part of the problem. Another part is that teachers sometimes just don't know how to change for the better. So I want to begin by asking more, and better, questions in class. I'll begin by practicing on you:

1. You teachers out there, do you ask probing, open-ended questions when you teach? Did this come naturally to you, or did you have to develop it?

2. Who is the best "question-asking teacher"you know? What are that person's class sessions like?

3. Are there benefits and good uses of more less straight lecture or speeches? What are they?

4. It's assumed that today's Christian preaching is much more "conversational" than the preaching of a generation ago. If that's the case, do you church-goers have any experience with talk-back sermons? (that is, where listeners ask questions, pose problems, during a sermon).

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I'm teaching from John chapter 7 tonight. I've read and studied and thought. Guess I should pray too. Take a look. What questions sort of raise themselves when reading this passage? What's most conspicuous? Troubling?

Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

A Class on the Gospel of John

Last year I was asked to teach the Wednesday-night auditorium class. We spent six months getting acquainted with Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. During the last quarter of this year, one of our elders has been teaching the class, a survey of the Minor Prophets.

When he asked me to teach during the first quarter of 2008, we agreed that a New Testament book would give some balance. I decided on the Gospel of John. We'll start in a couple of weeks.

I have to confess that I have a thousand ideas but no settled agenda for the class. Naturally, I want John's intent to be satisfied; that the signs of Jesus would lead us to belief, which leads to life (20:30-31). Just saying that, though, sounds a little trite. On average, the people in the class are in their seventies. Most of them have been Christians longer than I've been alive. I understand that John can work as more than an evangelistic tract, that people who've heard the gospel always need to hear it again, etc. But how should that go? What are some good ways for a teacher to draw people into familiar material and help them to hear it afresh?

Anyway, I can teach the Gospel of John as I've taught it before. There's no lack of resources. But I want to improve my presentation and the experience of the class. Any suggestions? I know that some of you (Matt) have taken up this challenge, and I especially want to hear from you. What have been your experiences? What really worked?

Disunity in the World and the Unity of All Believers

In his fine commentary on the Gospel of John, New Testament scholar Craig S. Keener points to something about Jesus' prayer in John 17, something I'd never noticed before. Of course, I had noticed that Jesus prays more than once for the unity of all his future disciples:

• " . . . that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you" (v. 21).
• "May they be brought to complete unity . . . " (v. 23).

What I had not seen was that, in the Gospel of John, the unity of all believers is quite a contrast to the divisions among unbelievers and, also, divisions between people who believe versus those who do not. Check it out:

On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. (John 7:40-43)

Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others asked, "How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?" So they were divided. (9:16)

At these words the Jews were again divided. Many of them said, "He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?" But others said, "These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" (10:19-21)

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. (12:42-43)

Believers are different from unbelievers. And, in the world of unbelief there are many divisions.

Ironic, isn't it? If there's one thing an unbelieving world might agree about, it's that divisions among Christians are a sign that their message itself is inconsistent. How does the Holy Spirit feel about that?