Pastor's blog

Teaching for teaching sake
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and they are giving you information you really don’t care about. There is nothing being said that is relevant to your life?

I have a friend who is a major league computer geek. He will talk about gigs and mega-gigs, bytes and megabytes, hardware and RAM and bla bla bla. He’ll use words I’ve never even heard. I'm technologically illiterate and that's a big part of the problem. I don’t want to seem rude and I sure don’t want to seem stupid so I just nod my head and I pretend I’m tracking with him. Silently I'm thinking, will someone talk to me about the NFL standings and how the Colts got to 12-0. I want to talk to people about how they are raising their kids or what they have discovered while having a consistent prayer life. In this Age of Information, I want the information I receive and give to make a difference. As a pastor / teacher, I want my teaching to be for relevance sake, not for teaching sake.

Is teaching relevant?
As I have been praying about how to best equip our church to be people who desire to follow Jesus for the sake of others, I keep asking myself the same question. Is my teaching relevant? Spiritual leaders have important things to say. They have the opportunity to bring teaching that will impact eternal destiny. The privilege I have to stand in front of large groups of people on a weekend is amazing to me. People have come to be comforted, encouraged but more importantly, challenged. So I take my role as pastor/teacher seriously. I’m always asking myself the question; “Is what I am teaching addressing the deep felt spiritual needs of my church?” Or am I just putting out "bla-bla-bla" that has no apparent relevance. A trap we pastors can get in is we spend a lot of time answering questions that those we are talking to aren’t even asking. I wish my computer-geek friend would take a breath and ask me the question, “Is any of this computer language making sense to you? Is what I am saying helpful?

As a parents, my wife and I found that when our children were asking questions, these were valuable moments. I still remember our son Josh at age 4 asking us where babies came from. It was obvious that he desired some understanding. We could have blown him off or loaded him up with so much information he would have walked away confused. Rather, we did our best to give him enough to begin to shape his understanding of this whole thing of human sexuality. Today, he’s a dad with two sons. Apparently he figured it out and I hope we were of some help to him.

When I was a high school football coach, a junior high football player asked me how he could improve his game. He said to me, “Coach, what am I doing wrong? When I get the ball, I don't seem to gain any yards” I saw a teaching moment. He was asking a question. I replied, “You are running too much side to side and not enough up the field.” He listened, took what I said, put it to use and over time, became an All-State running back. He was a learner. As a teacher/coach, I had to answer relevant questions and when I did, it made a difference.

People want to learn so their lives can be changed!
People don’t want to learn for learning sake. People want to learn so their lives can be changed for the better. Christians want to become more like Christ. I love to teach and preach and I see great value in it. My view of what I do in our weekend services as a teacher is one of having a profound influence in developing followers of Jesus. It’s just that there is such a limitation on any preacher’s ability to address the issues that pertain to each person’s life. That’s why I’m sold on Small Groups. Get in a Small Group and interact with a hand full of fellow followers of Jesus. You can actually ask a question and get an answer. In Small Group there is a dynamic exchange of thought, ideas and experiences. Small Group is a place where Christians are talking to other Christians about things that are really on their minds and matter to them. It is a place to ask questions and pursue answers together.

My point in all of this!
Here's my point in all this. I want to ask you to interact with me a bit. I want to ask you a question and I’d like you to think about it for a few moments and then respond.

What do you believe is a question or questions that people are asking in regard to being a more devoted follower of Jesus Christ? Put personally, what is a question you have about being a follower of Jesus Christ? Would you take a minute and interact with me. In the future, this BLOG is going to give me an opportunity to discuss issues that I need to download to those I love. I hope you'll take time occasionally and check in to see what we're discussing.

But for now, go to the comment box and drop me a note. Please try to keep your comment brief. I am praying that this might stir rich and relevant discussion among us.