I’ve been thinking lately about the best ways to help students engage Scripture. It seems as though each time I speak or facilitate a training seminar or workshop I am asked about the best ways to get students to read their Bible.
I hear comments like, “My students just don’t want to read the Bible. They say it is boring.” or “Our students won’t read the Bible unless there is some prize at the end of it.” I have even heard, “Our students are so indifferent. Most of them wouldn’t know what the Bible was if it hit them on the head.” (To which I replied, “Well, maybe that is because that is what you are trying to do with Scripture. That is, beat your students over the head.”)
I haven’t got the secret formula bottled up and hidden away in my youth ministry laboratory or anything ridiculous like that. I do I have a few thoughts on how to engage students in the Bible, however.
4 Basic Tips for Engaging Students in the Bible
1. Start with the fundamentals. Help your students know that the Bible is quite simply about 1) God 2) humans and 3) how humans interact with God and each other for the sake of the world. For example, the creation narrative is not a science thesis it is a biography of God.
2. Stop proof texting! Using the scriptures without thoughtful consideration of the verses meaning as understood within a greater context is not helpful. If you think reading a verse hear or there or using a verse to prove your teaching point is helpful, think again. I think it may do more harm than good. Teach from a narrative perspective — not from your pet truth. When teaching from a particular passage be sure to give the greater context for the passage. Context is everything!
3. Begin engaging students with experience not authority. Before I go on let me make it clear that I absolutely believe in the authority of the Bible. I believe the Bible is true. Now, with that said, I don’t think that students process information through the lens of authority, however. I believe that students process and learn through their own story and experience – all of life’s encounters (with self and others). If you want to engage students in the Bible provide experiences that engage them in actively living the Bible all the while helping them reframe their own story within the context of God’s story.
4. Provide a hermeneutical practice for your students. In other words, help them interpret the Bible and find meaning and application through an exercise that helps them better understand the context of a passage. Examples of this would be to use the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture>Tradition>Reason>Experience) as a means of interpretation. You might even just guide them into the rhythm of asking a series of questions such as, “What does this passage tell me about God? What does this passage tell me about myself? What does this passage tell me about others? What does this passage tell me about the world?”
No doubt students need to more deeply engage the narrative of God (as do adults by the way!) but consider your methods, practices and habits up to this point. Evaluate if the reason your students aren’t interacting with the Bible is because of your own our confusing and vague methods.
Do any of you have tips for helping other youth workers (or parents or pastors or whomever) engage students in the Bible?
I ask students to do the following:
1) Sum up what they read in their own words to make sure they understand it at the most basic levels.
2) Answer what we can learn about God
3) Answer what the point of the passage may have been to it’s original audience (Why did it matter to them?)
4) Answer how it could change your/our life. (Why does it matter to us?)
5) Give one way that it will impact your/our life in the next day or week or month.
It’s pretty powerful to let the word of God speak to students and just get out of the way!
Model it: By God’s grace, I make the story of God in scripture the script for how I talk and live in relationship with God, humanity, and the world. I also try to point out specific stories of others in our congregation who embody God’s story. Young people won’t learn to narrate their life through scripture if they don’t have an example.
Jesse – Good hermeneutic. Clear and concise. Have you made this explicit with your group?
With some small groups I have, with others we practice it and I wait for them to catch onto it. But I find once students see it, they get more excited about reading the Bible as they understand they don’t need a graduate degree (or even sophomore English) to start understanding the Bible.
[...] other day Chris Folmsbee called for youth pastors to stop proof texting. In truth, Chris’ post is actually more about helping students engage with Scripture, a noble [...]
jesse – thanks for your input! i will echo paul’s thoughts and question: how have you made this explicit with your group?
paul — yeah, good call. modeling it is extremely critical to helping students engage Scripture.
jesse, my bad. i just read your previous reply to paul’s question. i’d love to hear more through. any good stories to share with us?
I would like to exchange links with your site http://www.anewkindofyouthministry.com
Is this possible?
Proof texting does some serious damage when used around young people who are still learning how to read and understand scripture. The danger is not only that they would half shaky footing for their doctrine, but they likely will pickup the prooftexting habit. A skilled proof texter can use scripture to prove any point of view or pet peeve. Most of us do it as a shortcut to study, but in doing so we prepare an entire generation to be capable manipulators of scripture. Dangerous business.