My Bible Class Teaching Aims

I teach lots of Bible classes.  Some weeks I teach three classes a week.  I enjoy teaching class and have put much thought over the years into what I want to accomplish during Bible class.

The class aim and context often determine the teacher’s aim.  So this list may not be appropriate for all classes.  I primarily teach adults and teens.

These are my 7 Bible class teaching aims.  

1. To get people into the text of God’s word.  Bible class should be a Bible class!  I want to open up the word of God and let its transformational power be at work in the lives of the students.
2. To promote bonds of fellowship between class members.  Most of the classes I teach are less than 30 people.  Bible classes are a great tool for developing friendships and fellowship ties between fellow Christians.
3. To discover truth together.  We should enter a class with a sense of anticipation and expectation of the discoveries that will be made together in the class.  Through sharing of ideas, various perspectives, and diverse experiences the class makes discoveries and everyone learns.  My favorite classes are when we discover truth and principles that I did not expect when I came to class.  I love it when I learn and we all grow in our understanding of a passage.
4. To make people think!  The teacher should challenge the thoughts of the students.  I love to use questions to produce thought and help lead to the discoveries discussed above.  In order to use questions appropriately you have to be comfortable with silence.  Often an inductive method of teaching where you help people think and lead them to a conclusion where they discover the message works great.
5. To communicate truth and help people learn.  While, I want to use discussion and group discovery, many times a teacher must just explain truth.  The format and intention of the class often determines this method.  This typically means a more lecture based method.  Sometimes you have to really go through some material for the students, and then you can all reflect and discuss the information.
6. To not focus on content-covered, but lives-changed.  There is a temptation for a teacher to judge his success by the content he disseminated in a class period.  Though I do understand the need to cover material and don’t want to stagnate a class, I try to keep the focus on life-change and student learning.
7. To provide a safe and comfortable environment.  Finally, I have an aim of helping everyone in the class feel comfortable and safe.  I do not call on someone to read or say a prayer unless I know they are comfortable with doing such.  I try to appreciate and encourage all comments, even if it is something that is incorrect.  I will gently correct the statement or allow other comments in the class to correct it.  I have found that if I can begin in a loose, comfortable way that invites sharing and discussion, then it sets the tone for an open, warm environment.

I have many ways I can improve as a teacher.  But, I love teaching.

What are your aims?