Howard Hendricks: The Law of Activity

Note: Howard Hendricks went to be with the Lord on Feb 20, 2013. This is part of a series of articles published in his honor.

Your task as a communicator is not to impress people, but to impact them; not just to convince them, but to change them.

Christian education today is entirely too passive. And that’s incongruous, because Christianity is the most revolutionary force on the planet. It changes people.

Yet frequently we’ve taken this most revolutionary force on earth and set it in concrete. The average Christian’s attitude is well expressed when he sings, “As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.” Churches and Christianity often resist the very changes they are meant to bring about.

Romans 8 informs me that every believer is predestined to become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. If that’s really true, then how much change should we rightfully expect?

MAXIMUM INVOLVEMENT = MAXIMUM LEARNING

If teaching were only telling, my children would be incredibly brilliant; I’ve told them everything they need to know. That’s probably true with most parents. I can hear the father yelling, “How many times have I told you that, Son?” And his teenager replies casually, “Don’t know, Dad. Computer broke down.”

But the teaching-learning process is something more.

The Law of Activity tells us that Maximum learning is always the result of maximum involvement. That’s true, with one condition: The activity in which the learner is involved must be meaningful.

This condition implies an important insight about teaching: Activity in learning is never an end in itself; it’s always a means to an end.

“We’ve really got the students busy!” the teacher says proudly.

“Doing what?” asks the observer.

“Nothing, but they’re sure having a ball!”

Never forget your purpose. Your objective determines your outcome. You achieve that for which you aim.

Teaching to Change Lives: Seven Proven Ways to Make Your Teaching Come Alive by Howard Dr Hendricks