Schaeffer on Teaching
One of the most difficult and most important parts of being a pastor is teaching. It requires knowledge, patience, and practice to decide what passages to cover, points to make, information to include, and how to apply them to students’ real lives. It seems the longer I have been in youth ministry, the more I have had to adjust the way that I teach. What gets frustrating is that in an ever-changing culture, this need seems almost constant, both to keep students engaged and address the current climate.
The work of Francis Schaeffer has been incredibly helpful in this regard. In his book He is There and He is not Silent, Schaeffer argues that the problems in culture are merely expressions of flaws in their foundational beliefs. The best way to address these issues, he argues, is by going to the source of the problem and reclaiming 3 basic truths that are fundamental for grounding any beliefs. By taking these three “necessities” (and adding one more from his other works), I believe we can solidify a foundational approach to teaching that will outlast the current culture. This way is not an outline structure or presentation technique, but a reminder of the 4 principles that may help us craft a balanced approach to teaching any subject. I call it the Schaeffer 4-Step, because like any good dance, it can adapt to whatever music the culture is playing.
The Truth: Metaphysical Necessity
The first step of this approach is the truth itself. As metaphysics is the building blocks of reality, the basic necessity of any good lesson is the statements of truth. Who is God? What is the significance of humanity? What is sin? Where do we go when we die? What is the way of salvation? These are the deep questions of reality that we seek for our students to understand. Although emotional engagement and application is important, a lesson is only as good as the truth it communicates. Without truth, the best we are offering them is our opinion, and students need much more than that.
The Grounding: Epistemological Necessity
The second step is how we can know the truth. Epistemology is the study of knowledge - HOW we know what we know. This may be the most under-utilized piece of teaching in most churches. We will often say something is true - for instance, “Jesus is God” or “The Resurrection is true” - but we often neglect to communicate the evidence to support such claims. What do we see in Jesus’s understanding of His identity? What do we see in the New Testament that confirms these events are true? Why can we trust the Gospels in the first place? Adding supporting evidence for our main points can help to generate confidence in our students, as they see we are relying not on ourselves, but on the merit of the claims and evidence. Truth claims without justifying evidence can be easily dismissed. Justified beliefs inspire confidence that mere opinion never can.
The Life Change: Moral Necessity
The third step is how the truth shapes our behavior. What we believe inspires us to live a certain way, advancing the kingdom of God both in the ministry of the church and the engagement of culture. They don’t need to merely know WHAT the truth is and HOW we know it, they need to see WHY it matters. For instance, how does a correct understanding of humanity shape our understanding of gender and sexuality? How does a proper view of the Trinity help us understand love? How does the doctrine of the Holy Spirit bring us comfort in hard times? If the truths we claim do not inspire us to live differently, there is either a flaw in our belief or an issue with our heart. Applying is how we help students’ lives be changed by the truth of God’s Word. But that process requires the truth in order to occur. Teaching right living without the proper foundation of truth is legalism. Our students need real knowledge of the truth that is displayed in love.
The Defense: Apologetic Necessity
The last step is necessary for the current cultural moment: how to defend the truth. Apologetics is the defense of the faith. This encompasses areas in science, philosophy, ethics, textual criticism, etc., and it promotes the fundamental idea that God has given us many evidences to support our faith. As we seek to live and communicate the truth, we will encounter much opposition from people with other beliefs. Without incorporating responses to potential objections into our lessons, we run the risk of making the task of evangelizing others seem much simpler than our usual encounter. Learning to “offer reasons for the hope within them” (1 Pet. 3:15) can give students more confidence both in their own understanding of their faith and in their ability to share it with others.
The Apostle Paul’s Example
Although I am pulling from Schaeffer (who lived in the 20th Century), I do believe these same principles are seen in some of Paul’s writings. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul follows a similar pattern.
(Step 1: vs. 3b-4) The truth: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day.
(Step 2: vs. 1-3a, 5-8) The grounding: it was taught to them both by their church leaders, Paul, and the other apostles. On top of that, there were witnesses to the appearances: Cephas, Paul, the Twelve, James the half-brother of Jesus, and 500 witnesses, some of whom were still alive.
(Step 3: vs. 9-10) The life change: Paul turned from being a persecutor of the church to being named among the closest followers of Jesus. If anyone was proof of the power of Christ to transform lives, it was him.
(Step 4: vs. 12-19) The defense: if Christ had not been raised from the dead, then what real hope would there be for believers who claimed Him as Savior? The truth of Christ’s identity and work was their hope. Without the truth, there was no solution to the problem of death. This NEEDED to be defended.
As we seek to teach our students well, let us be grateful for the examples of men like Paul, whose teaching mastery was matched only by his love for the church. If we want our students to understand how the truth of Scripture shapes their lives, we need the proper content, grounding, application, and defenses as the foundation. Our teaching is for the purpose of making disciples. This may require us to reshape our current strategies, but it will provide our students with a more holistic understanding of the gospel. The more complete answers we can offer students in our teaching, the more confidence they will have to pursue the truth themselves.