Needs of our learners

THE RIGHT FOUNDATION STONE: The Needs of People

The right foundation stone in the model represents the personal needs of learners in the class. The Bible is not like other so called holy books that just fell out of the sky. The Bible is the Holy Book written by men who were inspired by God, who hungered for Him, whose deepest needs were met and whose lives were filled by a loving God. Learners discover these riches by applying biblical teachings and experiences to their own needs.

Jesus Focused on Needs

Jesus taught people the meaning of scripture by focusing it at
their point of personal need. Zacchaeus was lonely. Jesus asked
to have dinner with him (Lk. 19:10).
Jairus grieved at the death of his daughter. Jesus raised her to life (Mk. 5:21ff). Nicodemus the Pharisee sought Jesus words on the kingdom of God. Jesus gave him specific instructions (Jn. 3).

Jesus did not dine with everyone, nor raise all dead people, nor give special instructions to all. He met needs in the lives of people the leprous, the lame, the deaf, the blind, the lonely and the religious and in doing so, taught us about our Father and His Kingdom. Jesus pointed to soils and light and salt and sheep. He illustrated eternal truths with basic things that were familiar to those who pressed close to hear Him teach. He had no need of attendance prizes or candy or free trips to manipulate interest or enthusiasm. He spoke the Words of Life we all hunger

for! He shared with His learners a caring Father who wants only the best for them. The Eternal Truth of Scripture became real to the persons He touched. It became Truth that matters to me!

Our Learners Have Needs

We have the same basic, personal needs that Jesus found in the people of His day. Many have rejected the Answers to their needs be cause Scripture is so often cloaked in religious jargon church talk and dark moralistic tones. Some make the "lesson" more important than their learners. I wish we had time to discuss your situation, but I have five more verses to cover! We need to follow the Masters example. Love your learners and teach so they can apply scripture in the nitty-gritty concerns of living.

What the Bible says is unchanging, but how we explain it varies with those we teach. Why? Because our learners have different needs. These differing needs are both general and specific.

General needs

The general needs of learners are factors which most people have in common. An important general need of learners is age appropriate learning activities. Preschoolers learn differently from children, and children differently from youth. The adult age range spans 60 or more years and involves major life changes. Learners within given age categories experience similar things in life: growing, school, adolescence, marriage, family, home, career, retirement. Similarity of life experiences helps the group focus on relevant Bible teachings.

Group Adults by Age or Weight?

This is the main educational reason for age grading In
Sunday School. We
have X people to
put in Y spaces. 
How can we do this to
provide the best educational setting for
Bible study? I once
suggested that, since
so many of our members were complaining about age grading
that we grade our Sunday school by weight. Adult 1 would consist of adults less than 110 pounds and Adult 6 would be those over 300. After that, grading by age didn’t seem so bad after all!

You will be able to communicate much better with the group you teach if you have a good understanding of the group’s general age characteristics.

But there are other general need areas: the need to know the Lord personally, to grow in the Lord, to use his or her gifts in a place of service to others. Every believer needs to pray. Every believer needs fellowship with other believers. These general areas of need guide the discipler as he or she prepares to teach.

Specific Needs

But there are areas of specific needs as well. These needs are unique to individual learners and include such things as personal failures or successes, past tragedies, present struggles, and areas of spiritual drought. There are an amazing number of aches, pains and scars in a Church Family. I learned that years ago when I helped a counselor on our church staff. During the group sharing times, I heard church members share experiences

and tragedies that had twisted them all out of shape. But you would not have known it to look at them on Sunday morning. Until an atmosphere of trust can be established, these areas of need remain hidden.

Know your learners one by one. Make a point to know your learners as individuals, as persons. Rejoice with them when they celebrate and empathize with them when they hurt. I found it helpful to keep a notebook of special events, prayer requests and experiences shared in class by learners. I used this notebook to help me plan our Bible studies to address these areas of concern.

Two Stones in Tension

The model requires a stable, firm foundation if it is to stand. Both foundation stones must bear their share of the burden. If either crumbles, the model falls. If teachers place too much emphasis on the text names, dates, places and ignore the needs of learners, they tend to teach history lessons. If teachers place too much emphasis on learners and their needs and ignore the text, they tend toward group therapy. Let's look more carefully at these two extremes.

Unrelated History?

Some people enjoy history, but the Word of God is much more. When teachers are more concerned with the lesson than with the Christian walk of their learners, they place too much focus on content. Learners subjected to this kind of imbalance ask what does this Bible passage have to say to me? Unrelated to their present needs or concerns or interests? Hmm. Irrelevant history? I'll never forget the night a retired judge nailed me over that term. I used the term in a conference with over three hundred teachers of adults who had gathered from across three different associations. As I made my point problems and needs, then they will think it's irrelevant. And the result is dry bones teaching." To help the lost understand their need for the Lord, and to help believers grow in Him, we must do more than tell Bible stories and teach history. We must make God's Word relevant to the needs and problems of our learners.

Group Therapy?

On the other hand, members who merely share concerns and needs with each other, without addressing those needs out of scripture, will not grow either. Group therapy is fine in its place, but it isn’t Bible study. It doesn’t provide Answers to the questions raised. I once overheard two teachers talking in a hallway. One of the teachers had at tended my conference on leading discussions and was telling his friend about it. Oh, I don’t have a problem getting a discussion started in my class. We can always talk about football! There may be discussion, but there will be little growth in the Lord. Some classes consume much of their Bible study time sharing prayer needs. Other classes spend their time catching up on the latest news. Good fellowship. Good sharing. Getting to know each other. But real needs remain untouched. God's Word is not al lowed to speak. Where's the substance?

Stay Out of the Ditches!

And so our road has ditches on both sides: unrelated history lessons on the left and group therapy on the right. Taken together, about "history lessons" and "relevancy," he stood to his feet, pointed his finger at me and said, Young man, I'll have you know that the Word of God is never irrelevant!

Three hundred pairs of eyes turned toward me to see how I'd respond. I said, "Well, of course you're right," I said. "But if we merely talk about the Bible, if we never help learners see how the Bible can address their own however, Eternal Truth and Present Needs provide a super highway for discipling Bible study. As you provide a place where the Word of God speaks directly to the real needs of your learners, you establish a personal ministry that is both relevant and eternal.

We have laid the foundation for Bible study that helps people grow in the Lord: God's Eternal Word, and learners' present needs. On this sure foundation, we are ready to erect the three pillars of discipling Bible study: helping people think biblically, helping learners remove masks, and building koinonia.