A Different Perspective

Click on www.cnn.com or www.foxnews.com and take a sampling of the news items. Ask yourself this question: How many of these items have ‘action value?’ By ‘action value,’ I mean information of such value action must be taken. In Neil Postman’s perceptive article, “The Peek-a-Boo World,” he asks the question like this: “How often does it occur that information provided you on morning radio or television, or in the morning newspaper, causes you to alter your plans for the day, or to take some action you would not otherwise have taken, or provides insight into some problem you are required to solve?”

The Internet now gives us access to information around the globe in moments. At times, we have the possibility of ‘scooping’ the powerful news conglomerates; we were in the right chat room at the right time. We have gigabytes of useless information lying at our fingertips.

How the Telegraph Changed the Church
In the days of yore, information was not so readily accessible. Prior to the days of mass communication, the main source of news was the local newspaper. The editors of these papers did not have the AP newswire, the Internet, or even a telephone. Information from outside of the local area came from out-of-town travelers and by a mail system truly deserving the prefix ‘snail.’ By the time ‘big news’ reached small-town America, it was no longer big and rarely found its way into print. Word of mouth was sufficient for information not bearing directly on the lives of the readers of the local newspaper.

The telegraph opened up communication lines, obliterating the ‘space’ problem for obtaining information, and the news media changed. The AP wire began within the decade following Samuel Morse’s invention! News moved from the aptly practical to the merely entertaining. Little of what filled the pages of local newspapers served a purpose beyond making readers ‘well-informed.’

At first, the novelty of printing news from across the country was merely that – a novelty. Decades and now over a century later, however, it has changed the way people process information. Knowing pieces of information about the world makes one well-informed, even if the things they know have little bearing on practical life.

A person who can spout useless facts on nearly any and every topic is oft associated with the lovable mailman from Cheers. I know a couple of Cliff Claven personas, and whilst I can make fun of their useless knowledge, I wonder how much of my own wealth of knowledge actually has practical value. Or, perhaps the better question, how much of the knowledge I possess actually gets acted upon?

The exultation of information and knowledge for the sake of being well-informed deemphasizes the need to actually apply that knowledge. If “knowing is half the battle,” then applying the knowledge is the lost other half. Our culture places a higher value on possessing knowledge than applying it. This truth manifests itself in evangelical church life.

Evangelicals place high value on knowing things about God and the Bible. This is exemplified in the structure of our worship services: an approximately thirty minute didactic teaching session occupies the central position in our worship services, which are the focus and the bulk of our resources and staffing.

Certainly, teaching holds an important place in the church. Listed as one of the spiritual gifts, I believe it to be a necessary part of a healthy church life. Exalting this gift above others, however, magnifies the disconnect between knowledge and practice. The centrality of teaching actually diminishes its intended effect.

When I first began struggling with the place of knowledge and teaching in the Christian life, I soon realized God placed a higher value on actions than knowledge. Whereas our church culture today stresses right knowledge and motivation behind every action, the Scriptures seem to put a greater emphasis on the actual doing of good deeds. This is not to say motivation or knowledge is unimportant, for they certainly have their place. This place, however, should not be primary over actions. The letter of James, I believe, works to correct any disconnect between belief in the knowledge you have and action upon that knowledge.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.

Any one can commit strings of words together in memory. Some can remember logical arguments and use them to express their doctrinal views. Only those who put their knowledge into practice gain a real understanding of what the words in their memory, their beliefs, actually mean.

“What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?” (Imitation of Christ, 2)

Experiential Teaching

If we desire our teachings to take root in people’s lives, our teaching methods must bring action and learning together. Accomplishing this is no easy task. Our primary expression of teaching currently limits us to what can be accomplished in a single room in a relatively short amount of time. Even in this context, steps can be taken to make our teaching and our learning experiential.

Experiential teaching does not mean dividing a large group into smaller groups and giving them a few canned activities from a workbook. These activities may help reinforce a point, but the reinforcing of the point is still the point. Rarely would these types of activities achieve anything beyond retention of a string of words.

If our teaching is to have effect and take hold in a person’s life, we must tap into the divine creativity God has given us in his image. Mobilizing large and small groups for experiential teaching will require ingenuity, flexibility, and persistence. The playing field lies wide open ahead of us, we must merely create the games—figuratively speaking, of course.

Rather than provide a list of suggestions, I provide here a course of ‘action’ to take. There is great flexibility in the following steps, and I myself have thought of several different ways to package the project. For simplicity’s sake, I have listed just this one set of steps to take towards developing an experiential teaching lesson:

1. Pick a doctrine or branch of theology, any doctrine or branch, which you believe should be taught in your church.
2. Identify what you believe to be the ‘main points’ of this particular teaching.
3. Ask yourself in what ways this theology or teaching has impacted your life (if it hasn’t, perhaps you should start with another area of teaching), and write down some of your answers.
4. Ask yourself how a deeper understanding of this teaching would impact your life. What daily habits or routines could possibly be affected? Which single activity would be impacted the most by putting this teaching into practice?
5. From your responses to step 4, identify possible group activities that could serve as living illustrations to the teaching.
6. Determine if a time is needed before or after the activity to discuss or expound on the teaching. Determine if the activity could stand on its own as the teaching.
7. Do it.

The above list requires a lot of action on the part of the teacher. I have been intentionally vague, because moving to a truly experiential teaching format requires much. You must wrestle with the material and find how it intersects with life. Find the unique ways your life with Christ touches anything and everything you do.

Experiential teachers must first become experiential learners. If you found step 2 to be incredibly easy and step 3 to be incredibly difficult, you should set aside the goal of preparing an experiential lesson for your church or small group. Start by putting the plan into practice on a much smaller level: Do it for yourself.

For Your Consideration
Removing the teaching time from your main gathering of the church would be a bold move. It may also be necessary to bring the teachings of the church to a level where they are put into practice as well as memory. We will be more hearers of the Word than doers as long as our telegraph-trained consciences place greater emphasis on retention of structured ideas above acting and reacting to the divine knowledge given to us.

Changes like this should be taken with great care in existing churches. Moves of this magnitude are much easier to implement in church plants or ministries within the church. Do not be deceived: you will receive incredible resistance if you try to shift even some of the responsibility for learning from teacher to student. You will be accused of not honoring the duty of preaching the Word, of neglecting your ‘pastoral’ responsibilities, and perhaps of watering down the faith. You should consider the costs of change, as well as the costs of persisting in your current form of teaching.

Tread carefully.