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How the Effective Bible Teacher reads the Bible in class for maximum effectiveness

My dad used to say: “You gotta know what the Bible says before you can understand what it means.” We have to get the text itself in front of them.

People are shockingly ignorant about the Word of God. We have to get the text in front of them.

People are transformed by the renewing of the mind. It is the truth that sets them free. We have to get the text in front of them.
But we must be careful. I have talked to people who have sworn they will never go back because someone embarrassed them in a small group. Someone asked them to read the Bible when they weren’t ready. We have to get the text in front of people, and we must do it carefully.

There is another reason we must do this with care. This is stereotypically the most boring part of the entire class. As much as we might hate to admit it, reading a chapter of the Bible together out loud is not always the most interesting part of a class.

We’ve got to get the text in front of people, but we must do it carefully.

Of course, there are easy solutions to these problems. Ask for volunteers to read rather than asking an individual to read. Once someone has volunteered, then you could ask them to read if you wanted. But taking volunteers is a safer route and should be the default mode.

Reading the Bible in small chunks is inherently more interesting than reading the Bible in long sections. Read in small chunks.

But there is a secret to reading the Bible in groups that every Effective Bible Teacher knows, and I want to talk about that now.

Give ‘em something to look for

What made the Where’s Waldo series of books so insanely popular? Why is the game “Hide and Seek” so perennially popular with children? What is it about looking for something that is just so much fun?

Well, I’ll leave the philosophical answers to those questions to the philosophers. Let’s talk about how we can put this basic human dynamic to work. We all love to look for things.
Here’s the key: when you read the Word, give them something to look for.
Here are a couple of go-to examples:

• As we read this text, see what we can learn about God.
• As we read this text, see what we can learn about Christian living.
• This is a familiar passage. See if you can find something you’ve never seen before.
• It is always a good idea to read the Bible listening for emotions. I’d like half of you to listen for what David is feeling and the other listen for what Nathan is feeling as we read this passage.