As a volunteer youth worker, it may be intimidating to lead or conduct a Bible study with a bunch of youth, or others for that matter, when you haven’t had any formal training that pastors, DCEs, teachers, or other church workers have received. However, that should not deter you from leading a youth Bible study or any other Bible study. In turn, this article will attempt to provide a few encouragements and recommendations to volunteer youth workers with how to teach God’s Word in a way that is proper and Biblical.
Encouragement 1: The Bible is all about Jesus!
Scripture is full of poetry, history, and all sorts of stories, but one thing that cannot be forgotten and must be impressed not only upon youth, but all people is the fact and reality that the Bible is all about Jesus! The term that is used among some theologians and church workers is Christocentric, which simply means that Jesus is at the center and heart of the Bible. The Bible points to Jesus. The Bible proclaims Jesus! More specifically, the Bible proclaims Jesus and the redeeming grace of forgiveness that He won for all humanity on the cross of Calvary.
It is important to keep the Christocentric nature of the Bible always in mind, especially while teaching, because it will help you keep your center focus in accordance with the Bible’s center focus, which again is Jesus and His gift of salvation to humanity. Unfortunately, there are too many within Christianity that are confused or that intentionally take the center focus of the Bible off Jesus and His redeeming work. The Bible becomes distorted to the point that the center point of the Bible is not Jesus but a set of rules and commands that we must live by to be right or acceptable before God. Not good! The Bible is about Jesus saving us from our sins!
Encouragement 2: Law and Gospel
Though the Bible is all about Jesus, in order to properly understand the Christocentric message of grace and mercy, one must have a proper understanding of Law and Gospel. Law and Gospel are keys to understanding the Bible. But what is Law and Gospel? Well, the simplest way to explain the difference between Law and Gospel is this: Law is everything that God commands of us (humanity), and Gospel is everything that God has done for us (humanity), especially as it relates to Jesus and Him obtaining our eternal life through His death and resurrection.
Be very careful in not mixing these two teachings. The Law has its own purposes and functions, while the Gospel has its own purpose and function. With the law, there are technically three functions: Curb, Mirror, and Guide function. You can learn more about these functions in Luther’s Small Catechism from Concordia Publishing House, but I will point out one important thing. The chief function or use of God’s law is the mirror function. That function’s simple purpose is to show us (humanity) our sins and how corrupt we really are, while again the Gospel’s simple function is to declare to a contrite sinner that they are forgiven in Jesus and that their sins are no more!
It is important to be aware of the Law and Gospel dynamic while you are in the act of teaching. It is important to teach God’s Law in all its severity and the Gospel in all its sweetness. It can be tempting to skirt around or diminish the law, but when you do, you diminish the sweetness of Jesus’s Gospel. Remember the chief point of God’s law is for someone to see their sins, even if it makes them feel uncomfortable or guilty, but do not, and I can’t emphasize this enough, do not forget to declare the Gospel of Jesus so that the same person, who being convicted of their sin, can receive the comfort and peace that he or she so desperately needs.
Encouragement 3: Proclaim the Gospel; don’t put a stumbling block before the Gospel
Too many times people, including some professional church workers, place a stumbling block before the Gospel in how they teach and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Remember, the Gospel is the simple fact that a person has been forgiven for all their sins in Jesus. However, people who don’t know any better, teach or proclaim the Gospel wrong. Instead of teaching and proclaiming the wonderful Gospel message, which needs to be taught or proclaimed like this: You are forgiven for all your sins in Jesus, one might teach or proclaim something like this: If you just believe in Jesus, then Jesus will forgive you all your sins, or if you choose Jesus as your Savior, then you have eternal life.
Do you notice the difference? The former is simply proclaiming the Biblical truth that Jesus has forgiven you all your sins, which He has, while the two latter teachings teach and proclaim that you are forgiven in Jesus, but in order to first obtain that forgiveness, you have to do something, in this case choose to believe in Jesus. When in reality the truth is this: the Holy Spirit brings Jesus and His saving work to us through His Word and Sacraments, and through those means the Holy Spirit creates, preserves, and strengthens one’s saving faith in Jesus. There is no choice to be made. God has chosen us in Jesus Christ.
Encouragement 4: Use trusted sources for your teaching material
This last encouragement is quite simple, but very practical. Use sources that you can trust that are Biblically in agreement with our Lutheran Confessions. In fact, in my congregation that I serve, I only allow my lay-led Bible studies, whether it be Sunday School or adult Bible study, to use Concordia Publishing House. That way I and my leaders can be confident that they are teaching the Bible in a way that is Biblically correct. Obviously, another trusted source is the LCMS youthESource website where you can find devotions, articles such as this, and also good ministry ideas.
I hope all of these encouragements and recommendations have been helpful for you, and don’t be afraid to ask for help from your local pastor and DCE when you have Biblical questions or need clarification with something. Lastly, I will leave you with one last piece of advice that I tell my Sunday school teachers who are nervous about teaching. I tell them this: “It doesn’t matter what else happens in that classroom as long as you tell your youth or kids that they are forgiven in Jesus Christ for all their sins!” May God bless you in your teaching.
0 Comments