Teach Like Jesus

It is not enough to teach what Jesus taught. We must learn to teach how Jesus taught. Jesus’ teaching was amazing. People were mesmerized. They were amazed. No one looked at their watches.

I have spent the last year and a half carefully studying the gospels with a view to understanding how Jesus taught. I have Beta version of a book available for Amazon Kindle. Here is summary of what I have found:

Tell lots of stories

There is a verse that says Jesus never taught anything without telling a story. Effective teachers do the same. Funny stories. Shocking stories. Touching stories. Sad Stories. Lots of lots of stories. This is work on more than any other thing: providing teacher who use my lessons with lots of lots of stories.

Expect people to change

There is a lot of research that demonstrates that the teacher’s expectation of the student has a lot to do with the student’s learning. This section will demonstrate that Jesus expected a lot from his disciples. Good teachers do the same.

Ask lots of questions

Stan Guthrie counts nearly 300 questions Jesus asked. Good Questions were a staple of Jesus teaching approach.

Confront

Jesus was not always meek and mild. There comes a time for us to get in their face.

Hands-on

Jesus often taught with stuff you can touch and hold and smell and feel.

Love like Jesus

It is not enough to talk like Jesus. We must love like Jesus. People responded to Jesus, in part, because they knew that he loved them. As the saying goes, they don’t care what you know till they know that you care.

Intriguing

We are still arguing over what Jesus meant by some of the things he said. Jesus often taught seemingly opposite truths. He said to let our light shine before me so that they will see our good works. In the same sermon he said not to do our acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. He challenged us to find the narrow way.

Kid friendly

In a world hostile to kids, Jesus loved kids. Kids were drawn to them and he took time for them.

Example

Jesus lived what he taught. Effective teacher say, along with Paul, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

Just teach

Teaching doesn’t always have to be creative. There comes a time to just teach. As one writer put it, “all creativity makes a dull church.”

Easy to understand; impossible to fathom

Jesus’ teaching had a certain simplicity to it. Yet it was profound.

Send them out to do

Jesus didn’t just tell. He sent them out to do. He sent them out to preach. Jesus’ teaching had an action orientation to it.

Unexpected

Jesus’ teaching was shocking. One of the most unexpected parts of Jesus’ teaching was how he appealed to rewards. He told us to deny ourselves so that we could find life.