Bible teachers’ objective should be for their students to not only know about God but to live for Him, to wholeheartedly serve Him.
Knowing What God Says About Serving is Just the Starting Point
Scripture is filled with commands Bible teachers can use to not only teach that we are to serve but also to be faithful, zealous, and persevering in it. Here are just a few of the Bible verses:
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Rom. 12:11)
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor. 15:58)
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10)
God’s Word also provides plenty of examples Bible teachers can point to that help people better understand “how-to” serve. Use Bible characters like Moses, David, the prophets, the apostles, and any others but always remember to point students to the greatest example of all — Jesus Christ.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mk. 10:45)
Beginning with a biblical foundation is critical to help set serving the Lord apart from community service done by people who don’t know the Lord. His Word addresses motivations, attitudes, character, and so much more that goes into serving Him.
Getting Practical About Serving Takes Learning to a Different Level
The real learning will come by doing. This is the kind of training that will help students identify their spiritual gifts and build passions within them for different types of ministry, issues, or people groups. So, whether teaching young children, senior citizens, or ages somewhere in-between, teachers need to think through how they can build opportunities to put what they’re learning about ministry into practice.
- If you want to see leaders emerge from your class, let them strategize how they can serve as a group rather than plan it for them.
- If you want to see teachers surface, ask students to be responsible for at least parts of upcoming lessons.
- If you want people with the gift of mercy to blossom, take students on a ministry field trip to a nursing home, orphanage, or the like.
- If you want to get students with the gift of service engaged, volunteer as a class for church work days.
- If you want some to answer the call to be a missionary or evangelist, plan a short-term mission’s trip or help at a local rescue mission.
- If you want to know who has the gift of helps, assign different students tasks to assist you or even other teachers.
Be careful, in the process, that you do not use coercion or a reward system to get people involved. Your students need to learn to serve out of love and obedience. They need to view serving as a worthy enough calling in itself that they do not need to be bribed in order to do it. Also of critical importance is that your students realize Christian service must be done through the power God provides. We’ll look at that in the next post.
Teacher Training Resource: The Teacher’s Role in Discipling Students toward Serving