I heard of a preacher who surveyed his congregation. He listed everything from visiting the sick and counseling to Bible studies and sermon preparation, and asked them to assign how many hours per week he should be engaged in each one. When he calculated the suggested amounts, he was stunned.
Almost every submission went beyond 168 hours—the very number of hours in every given week.
Before I taught Bible classes on a regular basis, I made the same mistake: I didn’t realize how much effort great teachers put into their class preparation. It was easy to think my Bible class teachers didn’t have much studying to do.
I couldn’t have been less ignorant.
Please don’t have the same mistaken impression I had. Teachers never cease to be teachers. You will always need to study more (i.e. deeper) than the class. Otherwise, you won’t last long.
The Case for Effective Bible Class Preparation
As a rule of thumb, you should aim at a 2 to 4 hour window of study time. Obviously time doesn’t necessarily equal great depth, but great depth is more likely to occur with dedicated periods of critical thinking.
This is the time when you should not only consider what the Bible says and how it applies, but also how you’ll guide your class to discover the truth for themselves. You have to consider at least a few important issues:
- Study to determine what the main principle of a passage is
- Study to set the tone for the group’s discussion
- Study to know how to redirect thoughts that distract from the main principle
Good questions and class discussions don’t appear out of thin air. Bringing people face-to-face with the “crisis of the truth” only comes when the teacher prepares to lead them there and gets them there as efficiently as possible.
7 Study Suggestions to Improve Bible Class Preparation
Here are seven quick study suggestions for Bible class teachers:
- Read the lesson’s passage several times, even if it’s small (i.e. about ten verses or less).
- Outline the passage for yourself, without looking at commentaries or other peoples’ opinions.
- Use your background and textual tools to understand the passage’s setting and any difficult words.
- List all the possible questions this passage seems to answer, and figure out which ones can be addressed.
- Ask yourself what kind of questions the class may ask about this passage and how you think you should handle each one.
- Discuss the lesson with other Bible class teachers if possible. (It’s great to get a weekly class prep group together several teachers teach the same passage.)
- Turn the thoughts of the lesson into questions. (You’ll find this is way easier said than done.)
Some people say all this study is too time consuming. They’re the teachers who ultimately care very little about their own spiritual nourishment—let alone that of others. Discussion isn’t the lazy man’s way to teach, but it is the most enriching.
Conclusion
Bible class teachers who facilitate learning through discussions require as much, if not more, study than traditional lecture teaching. Lectures allow you to ignore some of the more in-depth topics the passage may or may not point to, while discussions force you to be ready for anything that may or may not be connected with the lesson text.
As the Boy Scouts of America say, “Be Prepared.” Very often, your best defense against confusion is a strong offense of much diligent study.
Discussion Question: As a Bible class teacher, what would you add to these 7 study suggestions?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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