Do This, Don’t Do That When Teaching Outreach

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Teaching Outreach, Reaching Out with the Good News of Jesus Christ

Jesus instructed His disciples to be His witnesses even to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). He commissioned them to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:18-20). He calls us “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20). We’re to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world” so others “may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matt. 5:13-16). Bible teachers can help students understand and engage in this awesome responsibility and privilege. Here’s what to do and not do when teaching outreach.

Do provide resources and support, not just instruction when teaching outreach.

When teaching outreach, stress that Jesus commands us to reach out with the Good News of the Gospel but get beyond verbal instruction. Students will be more likely to share the Gospel if given tools to help them do so. They will tend to learn better when they can come back and share about it, if not with the group, at least with the teacher. So, train and equip but also debrief.

Check out: Tools for Teachers to Share the Gospel (These same tools can be passed on to students for their outreach.)

Don’t skim over the need for heart preparation in reaching out.

Students themselves need to reach out for the right reasons (i.e., love for God and people – Matt. 22:37-40) and with the right attitudes (with gentleness and respect not with insensitivity and arrogance – 1 Pet. 3:15-16). That takes heart preparation. 1 Peter 3:15 begins, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer …” People will be more likely to hear our words about Christ when they sense the difference He’s made in our own lives.

And, the hearts of the people with whom students are sharing need to be prepared (see the parable of the soils – Matt. 13:1-23). Stress the need for them to pray for those whom they are reaching as well as for themselves. Perhaps you can incorporate times of prayer in class time for those they’d like to reach.

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Do This, Don’t Do That When Teaching the Stewardship of Giving

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As disciplemaking teachers, we need to take Jesus’ command to teach people “everything” He commanded to include all areas of life, even what we do with our money and resources. That means we disciple students in a stewardship of giving that reflects the heart attitudes Jesus taught and modeled.

Do lay the foundation for giving.

To effectively disciple students, it’s important to help them understand why they should be faithful givers and to encourage them to give for the right reasons. So, lay the foundation by teaching that giving is …

1) a command

Teach how in the Old Testament we find a command to tithe (Mal. 3:10) and in the New Testament we’re told to give as the Lord has prospered us (1 Cor. 16:2) which could possibly take us beyond a tithe. But, don’t stop there. Though God has every right to demand obedience to His commands, He delights when we obey for higher reasons such as the points that follow (Jn. 14:23).

2) a stewardship

Stress that all we have is from God (1 Cor. 4:7) and we will one day give an account for what we do with what He’s given us (Matt. 25:14-30; Heb. 4:13). When we honor God with our wealth, He takes care of us (Prov. 3:9; Lk. 6:38).

3) a means of expressing love, worship, and gratitude to God

When we emphasize God as the Source of all we have, students will be more prone to give back to Him as an act of gratitude rather than duty. Show them how giving, even sacrificing, is a reasonable response to all He’s done for us (Rom. 12:1; Heb. 13:16). It’s a way of letting Him know we love Him with all of who we are (Matt. 22:37-40) as we use what we have for His glory and to help others.

Don’t guilt people into giving when teaching the stewardship of giving.

Giving should be seen as more of a privilege than a duty (2 Cor. 8:3-5). Teaching that pressures students into giving tends to take away the joy of giving as they feel that they’re under compulsion to give rather than doing so from a grateful heart (2 Cor. 9:7).

Teaching Stewardship of Giving

Guilting people into giving can also push students into giving to show off, something Jesus warned against in Matthew 6:2-4. We must be careful, in any strategies we might use to get people to give, that it doesn’t lead to comparing and competing. We must always make giving about the heart and not the amount given (Mk. 12:41-44; 2 Cor. 9:6-8).

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Do This, Don’t Do That When Teaching Character Development

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We would all probably say we want to help our students develop good, Christ-like character. Here’s one thing we should do and one thing we shouldn’t when teaching character development.

Do emphasize character development over external conformity.

God established the commands we find in Scripture for our good based on His holy character that is filled with all that is right and good. Obedience does matter but God wants more than external conformity. He seeks those who worship and obey Him from the heart.

Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it, according to Matthew 5:17-20. He emphasized the need to go beyond external conformity in obeying the law to the core of our being. The law says we should not murder. Jesus said it needs to go deeper. We must also watch our attitudes and anger toward people (Matt. 5:21-26). The law says we should not engage in adultery. Jesus took it further saying that we must also guard against lust (Matt. 5:27-30). What’s inside matters so “above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).

Reflect on Jesus’ words to the teachers of the law and Pharisees who put external conformity over internal character development. This is how He described them:

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matt. 23:25

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. (Matt. 23:27)

In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matt. 23:28)

This is His solution:

First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matt. 23:26)

When Teaching Character Development - Who We AreJesus basically said that when we are who we should be, we will do what we should do. Consequently, as Bible teachers we must get beyond the commands in Scripture to the heart qualities that would cause students to obey that command. They need to sow good into their lives to reap good for “every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matt. 7:17).

Discipleship Tool: Sowing Good into Our Lives

Don’t give the impression good character is something we self-generate.

While as Bible teachers we do need to emphasize character development over external conformity, we also must stress the need to rely on God so it’s more than a self-improvement program. Christ-like character is a fruit of the Spirit, the result of His divine power and grace at work in our lives.

The fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control) comes as a result of walking in the Spirit. (Gal. 5:16-23)

The traits of godliness (faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love) increase within us as we rely on His divine power based on who He is and the promises He keeps. (2 Pet. 1:3-8)

The character needed to live like those who have been redeemed by grace (self-control, uprightness, godliness) is possible because of that same grace. (Titus 2:11-14)

Jesus came to transform lives, to make us new (2 Cor. 5:17), from the inside out. The more our students learn to abide in Him, pulling on Him for the strength and sustenance they need each day, the more Christ-like they will become. Christ-like character cannot be self-generated. Pay close attention to the last phrase in the following verse and teach like you believe it to be true for both you and your students.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn. 15:5)

Teacher Training Resources:

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Do This, Don’t Do That When Teaching How to Study the Bible

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If we want students to “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18), then we need to take them to the source God uses to teach and equip people, the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17). However, we need to get beyond merely telling people what the Word says to how to study the Bible on their own.

Do model how to study the Bible.

How you use the Bible in the classroom can serve as a template for students in their personal study. And, that experience will also serve to either motivate or de-motivate them from wanting to learn on their own. If studying the Bible seems boring and not all that relevant to their lives, why should they want to do it on their own. If, however, they enjoy the class and find what they’re learning to be beneficial, they should have a greater tendency toward opening their Bibles at home.

Don’t make studying the Word merely about acquiring head knowledge.

The ultimate goal in studying the Bible should be two-fold — 1) to get to know God better, 2) for it to make a difference in our lives. That obviously begins with head knowledge for in Scripture we learn about who God is and what He wants to do in and through our lives. Gaining that knowledge, however, should lead to a greater purpose as seen in the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the Colossians.

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God … (Col. 1:9-10)

Teach How to Study the Bible so Students Grow in Knowledge of GodFrom these verses we see a cycle that begins with head knowledge (“knowledge of his will”) which then moves to grasping the implications of that truth for our lives (“through all wisdom and understanding”), and its application (“live a life worthy of the Lord”). As we see how God uses His Word (“bearing fruit”), we gain a greater appreciation and awareness of who God is (“growing in the knowledge of God”). That provides the impetus to want to learn more, so we continue to study the Word going through this same cycle again and again, each time getting to know and love our great God better and better.

Bible teachers should therefore teach students to ask two important questions when they study God’s Word.

  1. What does it teach me about God? – React.
  2. What should I do as a result? – Respond.

Teacher Training Resource: Discipling Students in the Word of God Worksheet

Other Training & Resources: How to Teach Students to Value, Study, Know & Apply the Bible

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