Upstream Teaching In The Church

The fact that Jesus was noted specifically for his role as a rabbi clearly suggests that it was also related to his roles as healer and counselor. While the biblical writers may not have used the terms we use today for mental therapy and emotional illness, they did not hesitate to record examples of how Jesus facilitated mental,emotional as well as spiritual deliverance.

Motivations for Moving Upstream

Developing a Critical Consciousness of Chaos in the Classroom

“The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the Deep Genesis 1:2a

Where there is a lack of learning in our church’s Christian Education venues, confusion thrives and chaos abounds in the minds of learners. Yet, recognizing a lack of clearness and relevance in todays’ teaching methods will not thoroughly uncover or address the chaos or confusion in our learner’s psyches. This is true despite the fact that on any given day, in any given classroom, in the minds of learners in our churches, various forms of bewilderment and perplexity exists (Anxiety, depression, phobias, etc.). As lessons are presented a skilled and attentive teacher can hear it, feel it and even see it on the learner’s faces. The tragedy is however, learners experiencing this chaos frequently leave our church’s classrooms the same way they came.

The account of creation in Genesis reveals our Creator’s attentive awareness of existing chaos and bareness which subsequently led to creative actions (Genesis 1:1-4). The same must be the motivation for our teaching “Upstream” in the church. Those who desire to teach effectively in the church would especially need to develop a similar awareness regarding the outcomes of “traditional” teaching in order for “Upstream Teaching” to become an imperative. Consequently, there needs to be a concise awareness of how current methods of teaching in the church have evolved and why the results are far less effective.

In his book entitled "how to be the best Christian study group leader" “How to Be the Best Christian Study Group Leader,” Israel Galindo deals extensively with this issue of sterility in our teaching. He, in fact has some rather strong words to say about the ineffectiveness of traditional teaching. Galindo says:

“I call it “the deadly null expectancy factor.” By this phrase I mean the ways we often teach in our congregations ensure that Christians have no expectation of actually learning anything, or if they do learn something, they have no expectation that what they learn will have direct application to their lives – at work, at home, or on a personal level.

Not only does Galindo deride traditional teaching methods for their inability to create a sense of expectancy in our learners, he is obviously not mild in characterizing the results as “lethal” in terms of its usefulness to learners. So, on the one hand, heightening awareness in those of us who teach in the church is crucial. On the other hand, because it could take us in several different directions, I will narrow the probe by simply pointing out certain brief yet compelling details, I believe to be relevant.

To begin with, most of us who teach in the church will agree that our commission to teach was given by Jesus (Matthew 28:20a). Yet, todays’ implementation involves distinctions that were not mandated by him. For example, when it comes to deciding which persons make the best teachers, it is not an uncomplicated task. Experts seem to agree that good teachers are actually “made, not born.” They also seem to agree that some teachers possess more “gifted” ability than others. At the same time, other experts contend that the task of teaching is not a static one. In other words, they suggest that we tend to avoid the use of certain fixed principles when we teach. On the contrary, as noted Christian educator, Donald Griggs points out, "teaching is an art that must be developed, practiced, and evaluated for its effectiveness.” What Griggs means by this is the quality, as well as the shape of our teaching efforts in the church continues to be in a state of development. To put it more bluntly, unless teachers persistently acquire skills needed to improve our teaching, we are destined to be ineffective.