Keith and I are team-teaching a class. When we went over the Parable of the Sower (or the Soils), by the time we had finished they could tell you about each soil in depth. So the next class, I wrote descriptions of different people, giving these imaginary people the sort of names their own friends and classmates have to make them seem more real, and asked, "Which soil is she?" "Which soil is he?" Once they got the hang of it, they could answer with only a few seconds thought. Finally I had them do it. "Tell me how someone would act if he were…" fill in the blank with whichever soil you care to name. They did very well. I had to laugh though when we asked, "What would someone look like if he were good soil?" and one of them answered, "Us!" I hope he is correct, and at least at this point, I think he is.
This past week we tried something else. First I had them name various things Jesus taught in short phrases: love your enemies, let your light shine, enter the narrow door, do unto others etc., and be wise as serpents— you can easily come up with more. Then I handed each a situation they might someday be facing if not in exact detail, then something similar. We asked them what they would do in that situation and what thing Jesus taught had led them to that solution. They gave us good solutions to the problems. The difficult thing was finding something in Jesus' teaching that would have helped them know what to do. As we talked together, if we mentioned one they could instantly see how that tenet of teaching informed the situation. They could also see that sometimes there was more than one right way of handling the situation and not to be judgmental if someone did something else as long as they did not sin. We will be repeating this activity again and see if things are improving.
As many times as Keith has visited fallen away members and read passages to them only to be faced with that same blank stare, I wonder if maybe it's time to give us grown-ups a dose of the same medicine. Don't think for a minute this is kids' stuff, but maybe if we taught our children this way, there wouldn't be so many adults who are clueless about, as we so often have heard prayed, "applying these things to our daily lives." That is certainly what God expects us to do.
For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake (1Cor 9:9-11).
Dene Ward