Effective Bible Classes: The Student’s Responsibilities
CHURCH ARTICLE | Jacob Hudgins | Little Rock, Arkansas
Bible classes are a great environment for Christian growth. Yet we often struggle to get meaning and benefit from classes. We blame teachers (or workbooks or fellow-students) for the disconnect and rarely consider ourselves.
As a student, what can I do to make Bible classes great?
Am I Eager?
The Jews in Berea, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11). The eager spirit views Bible study as a privilege, not a drudgery. We get to hear from God! Studying His word is an exciting occasion! Eagerness means that we will not just be killing time until the session ends. We are here to learn from God. If there is preparatory work that will make us readier to learn, we will do it ahead of time.
New Testament Christians were excited to hear from God. “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). This passage shows us that Bible classes are never about the teacher or the material or the setting. They are about the God whose words we are digesting and understanding. God has spoken; am I eager to hear him?
Am I Patient?
It is important to note that hearing from God in this way means there will be some impediments. This teaching will happen through people – and people require patience. Sometimes that means that the teacher will not be eloquent or exciting. Paul – although possibly overstating his case – reminds the Corinthians that “I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom … so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1, 5). Paul seems to go out of his way to not be impressive in his speech or thinking. Yet this is purposeful: he wants their faith to be in God, not him. If God expected the Corinthians to see past Paul’s verbal shortcomings to the truth he preached, he certainly expects us to do the same with our teachers. Am I patient with teachers who are less than scintillating?
Part of patience with classes is the willingness to review truths with which we are already familiar. Paul argues that “to write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you” (Philippians 3:1). It is OK for us to hear the same things from God again and again. Peter writes late in his life for the express purpose of “(reminding) you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have” (2 Peter 1:12). He knows they know these things; he wants them to remember them. Many Bible classes have the same purpose.
This patience also means that we are aware that we are not the only person in the class. In any Bible class, there are wide varieties of spiritual experience and depth. Some people are probably hearing these things for the first time. Some people may be challenging a previous understanding. Some of us are trying to find something deeper in the text than we did on an earlier reading. All of these goals and perspectives deserve my respect and patience. Being bored with previously studied material is easy; am I willing to be patient?
Am I Humble?
As a student, I must come to the Scriptures to learn, not to teach. Bible classes are a time to “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). It is time to listen. Meekness is the spirit that freely submits to God. We are ready to be instructed. We are willing to have our thoughts and paradigms challenged. We want to see ourselves for where we are and where we should be. We want to learn what God thinks of us. We are not here to argue but to follow God.
The challenge of humility in Bible classes is due to a universal quirk by which we find it easier to apply God’s word to others than ourselves. “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). When we read of God’s frustration with a particular behavior, we think of other people who do it and not ourselves. We criticize them (“look at that speck in their eye!”) without even considering ourselves. Jesus corrects us: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). Humility – and application to self – must precede any other effort to apply the Bible to others.
This has direct application in Bible classes. We cannot condemn a behavior or teaching in denominations until we have first examined our hearts and lives. We cannot criticize someone else for being unforgiving until we have cleared our accounts with others. We cannot critique someone else’s prayer wording until we have examined our own. Great Bible classes do not lambaste people who are not present. Great classes consist of people who are honestly examining their hearts in light of words from God. As a student, I help others learn by bringing a spirit of meekness that is ready to be corrected and instructed, even if it is painful.
Am I Obedient?
Bible classes do not end when the bell rings. When we have heard from God, patiently focusing on his message to us, and received it with meekness, the real work begins.
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing”(James 1:27).
James focuses on one universal danger: we hear from God, like what he says, and then promptly do nothing. This person, even though he “looks intently” into God’s word, “at once forgets what he was like.” He thinks the mental exercise is the only important part of studying. James has us pegged. We often think that the whole goal of Bible study is Bible study. We now know more than we did before. But Bible study is never an end in itself. The Bible is always meant to be lived out in our lives. When we emerge from a time of considering contexts and historical settings and root words, the burning question is still there: what do I do now?
As a student, we make Bible classes great by maintaining a passion for obedience. When we learn something from God, we must be willing to practice it. How can we serve someone? How are we doing with coarse talking? Who are the people we struggle to feel compassion for? How can we encourage a brother who is struggling? What will we do this week to make this section of God’s word come to life in our lives?
Teachers sometimes neglect this aspect of teaching. As students, we can ask questions to help spur the class toward better obedience: “Do you have any suggestions for how I can do better on this? Would such-and-such be a good example of that? What have you found helps most in living this out?” We can make notes for plans of action to overcome deep-rooted sins or tendencies in ourselves. We can sketch out questions to contemplate in quieter moments to discern how we can obey. But if we have looked into the law of liberty and seen ourselves lacking, the worst possible response is to shut the Bible and walk out of class because the time is up. Am I obedient?
Bible classes are a great environment for Christian growth. Still, we must take responsibility for our part in making them great. Am I eager? Am I patient? Am I humble? Am I obedient?
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April 2020 | GROW magazine
