Kreitsauce's Musings

The Problem

Bible teachers hear it all the time, it seems. A student wants permission to go to the bathroom, make a phone call in the school office, or go to their locker. You tell them that they need to wait until the end of class since that is school policy. They sigh, turn around to return to their seat, and you hear them mutter: “It’s just Bible class…”

A parent needs to schedule a doctor’s appointment for their child or a class sponsor needs help with a fundraiser. “It’s just Bible class…”

Now, I’m no heartless, embittered teacher. I think most of my students would agree that I enjoy what I do and I enjoy teaching them. I’m also admittedly guilty of being something of a pushover at times. I know doctor’s appointments are difficult to work into a schedule. I understand that there will be times when school activities overshadow my class or any other class. What I don’t understand is the apathy toward Bible study amongst Christians. Maybe the reason the world doesn’t “buy into” Christianity is that the Christians barely seem to believe in Christianity themselves. Maybe we are guilty of taking a privilege for granted in our Christians schools. If Bible class is “just” Bible class, perhaps we should all pack up and go home. There’s plenty of free education out there.

No, what I don’t buy into is the idea that Bible class should be treated like an elective thrown in at the last minute to fill a student’s schedule. I don’t buy into the idea that Bible should be an easy class so that students don’t get frustrated with the subject and reject their own faith. A quick look at the statistics will tell you that our apathetic attitude toward serious Bible study in church has already done plenty of damage. In our attempt to entertain people into the Kingdom, we’ve turned them off to Truth. Many students will attend a secular university and reject their faith primarily because it has no depth.

The problem is that Bible classes in our Christian schools are very much like glorified Sunday School classes. We do short little studies of Bible characters, positive character qualities (something you could find in any government school, by the way), and half-hearted outlines of books of the Bible in the upper levels. Then we spend most of our time applying Scripture to our own lives.

Maybe that’s it. Maybe time in God’s Word suddenly became about us instead of about Him. Maybe we don’t want to do the study necessary to come up with real Bible lessons. Maybe we are so focused on “discovering what this verse means to me” that we don’t know what to make of it in its own context. Maybe “personal application” is just another way of saying “I need a crutch.”

I’m not saying Bible can’t be fun, exciting, and have times of application. I am just saying that we have gone so far in the wrong direction concerning styles of Bible teaching that I can’t even find a decent Bible curriculum to use.

An Apologetic for the Academic

Yes, Bible classes in a Christian school- particularly in middle and high school- should be academically challenging. We believe that the Bible is our sole authority in faith and practice. How can we know what to believe, how can we know what to do, say, think, and feel, without knowing what the Bible says? If the Bible is truly a “love letter from God”, a special revelation of the Divine, should it not be treated as such? If we have access to the mind of God Himself, should we not feel burdened with the necessity of serious study?

What sort of message does it send to students if they have to work for decent grades in math, science, history, and English, but Bible is “an easy A.” Of course that’s going to give them the impression that “it’s just Bible.” It seems ironic that elementary school teachers often will teach Bible lessons and have students memorize verses (academic pursuits), but the standard levels off or even drops as students approach graduation from high school! Just when science becomes physics, math becomes trigonometry, and english becomes American literature, Bible class becomes a glorified youth group meeting! We have told them to be good, but we have failed to tell them why. No wonder students stop seeing the importance of the class period!

We also want to teach Scripture to students so that they are exposed to the whole counsel of God. We want them to know what God is actually saying. By their senior year, students should have an idea of what is in every book of the Bible- Genesis to Revelation. If they are given an idea of what is in the Bible, it will cause them to want to study it themselves. When they do study it themselves, their Bible classes will give them a context for what they read so that they aren’t lost. Who knows how many students have left a Christian school without having a clear idea of what the gospel message is all about?

Finally, Bible classes are necessarily academic because students must know the Bible in order to be considered educated as far as the Western world is concerned. Art, music, history, science, and literature are all touched in some way by God’s Word. Each of these areas alludes to the Bible in some way, whether through paintings, symphonies, the rise and fall of nations, various discoveries about our natural world, or the English classics. If students do not know what the Bible says, they lack the ability to understand the very world around them.

Only when students are given a proper Biblical context will they stay strong in their faith when they are no longer in a Christian environment. Students must learn to think for themselves. We must teach our students the theology, literature, and history of the Bible if we are to accurately label our schools as “Christian.” We have an obligation to parents, students, and the Lord to do so. If we fail to develop an academic Bible curriculum, we are guilty of false advertising, and- far worse- we are guilty of setting souls adrift in this world.

Again, I’m not opposed to having fun in Bible. Bible teachers had better have a love for their “jobs”, students, and subject matter. They must be enthusiastic about what they do. Serious academic study doesn’t require that the mood of class be serious. It takes the efforts of the entire school: administrators, teachers, and parents to create the right atmosphere.

At the school I currently teach at, high school students take courses in the Life and Teachings of Jesus, Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, and Christian Philosophy and Apologetics. You won’t hear many of them complaining (until test time, that is.) What you will hear are things like the following quotes, which were written by students in course evaluations last year:

• “I learned more about the Bible in a fun way. The discussions we had in class helped me see other people’s views on things.”
• “Your Bible class has helped me a lot this year. I have always gone to church, and I’ve been a Christian for a few years, but I never knew why I was or what it meant. I can put into words what I believe and why. I’m not afraid to stand up for my beliefs anymore because I know how to explain it and back it up with Scripture.”
• I have not always agreed with what you say, but I have learned from that. I have really enjoyed this class. I have learned so much, and this class has helped me stay strong in my faith.”