Practicing our Christian Walk - Outreach

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

The first four characteristics of the early church (prayer, praise, fellowship and receiving biblical teaching) were centered around assisting the individual believer and the faith community itself. However, the 5th principle concerns reaching beyond yourself and the established community to those in need, physical or spiritual. This tool was noted in Acts 2:47 ‘the ‘Lord added to the church daily.’

Since we know that to believe in Christ people have to be told verbally (Romans 10:14), consistent with one of Christ’s last commands on earth to ‘teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’ (Matthew 28:19), it is highly probable that those in the first church were telling others about their faith (2 Timothy 2:25).

Further, the Apostle Paul urges us to teach other believers as well (1 Timothy 4:6,11,16; 2 Timothy 2:2). Even more simply we are to encourage one another to love and do good works (Hebrews 10:24) and to speak to others according to their need (Ephesians 4:29).

Ultimately, to know and to serve God we must turn our thoughts away from ourselves and reach out to others. Amazingly, however, Teleios has shown through scientific study that service we provide to others further enhances not only our knowledge of God, but our own wellbeing as well (Colossians 1:10).[1]

Spreading good wellbeing: What’s good for you is good for others too!

How do we help others? First by speaking the gospel and then through teaching God’s word. We have a wonderful, and true message. It is really quite simple to impact others!

So why do so few Christians teach?

The Problem – Unfortunately, teaching others, or sharing the gospel, appears to rank right below ‘going to the dentist’ among desired activities. Teleios’ research has shown that people who fear sharing the gospel specifically report being afraid of: social rejection, offending the other person, not knowing what to say, or how to answer others’ questions (see Table 1).

Why teaching is important

Although sharing our lives is important, it does not replace actually telling someone the gospel or directly teaching the Bible. People cannot guess what we are thinking! Scripture recognizes that we do not have visual support to our faith until Christ comes again (Hebrews 2:8) so others need to hear what to believe and someone must explicitly tell them (Romans10:14-17). Here are some reasons why we should teach others:

It is a command – We are told to teach others (2 Timothy 2:2,15,24-26; 1 Timothy 4:6,16; Hebrews 5:12) which involves instructing others in the Word of God. However, teaching also may include admonishing others to corrective actions or thinking (Colossians 3:17; Ephesians 5:19).
Benefits of teaching – Teaching provides many benefits to the church and you:
- Better wellbeing – Teleios has found that people who teach and share the gospel actually enjoy better wellbeing than those who do not. What initially seems fearful is actually enriching after a person has shared the gospel or taught God’s Word.[2]
- Helps the hearer – Instructing the student who is accepting of God’s word almost invariably improves their wellbeing, their knowledge, vision and understanding of the Christian life. They might even then also teach someone else![3]
- Good judgment – The ability to teach appears associated with accurate and efficient judgment and avoiding nasty pitfalls in life (Hebrews 5:14).
- Maturity – Being able to teach is associated with maturity, especially the attributes of an elder (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Hebrews 5:12).
- Uplifting the church – The benefit of teaching others scripture or the gospel is not just for the individual but the church itself. Teaching the Bible and the gospel is the primary way that we can grow the church and influence our culture generally (Colossians 1:5-10).

Without Christians passing down the precious words of scripture to the next generation, the church certainly can suffer from lack of support as opposed to influencing and benefiting our society.

So, let us get to work! What we possess in the Bible is true and good for our family and acquaintances as well as for our society!

So how do I teach? I do not know what to do!

It is simple, here is a simple process that will help you become a dynamic teacher:

Realize first we have a great message – Remember the Bible is true and good for anyone who hears it. What the world has to offer as a replacement god, for example humanism, statism, and atheism is hateful, bigoted, anti-freedom and very dark.
- Don’t be overtly obnoxious – Preferably do not tell people the plan of salvation through guilt producing, inflexible messaging (e.g., ‘receive Christ or die in hell’). We have a great truth which we can tell others with joy in the midst of a positive relationship with the recipient.
Prayerfully consider others – Most of us are so busy that unless we stop and specifically consider those around us we may easily miss wonderful opportunities to teach. Therefore, try thinking through the people you know, who needs to learn and might respond to your invitation to study. Many Christians say ‘Well, I do not know anybody!’ So then, consider how you can meet more people or know your acquaintances better (please see next point). Start by praying for them!
Build a solid relationship – This is vital as people need to know that you genuinely like and respect them. Further, good relationships are built on, at least in part: listening, asking inquisitive questions about people’s passions, work, interests and family. This should be done in a genuine, affable manner with a smile, gratitude, empathy, appropriate specific compliments, and saying ‘I’m sorry’ as needed. A solid relationship may take some time to build, months to years. Be patient. Some example questions:
- Were you raised in the church and what denomination? Did you like the church? Was it a good social environment? What was the worship music style?
- What do you think about religious-based political issues such as Christian persecution? Does religion or the church help our culture, etc.?
- Work towards issues pertaining to Christ, who is the major goal of the conversation, such as: what did your Church teach about Christ? What do you yourself believe about Christ? What is Christ’s role in salvation?
- Important note: You don’t have to respond to the above questions, it is better that you mostly just listen initially and gather information, again showing you respect for their opinions.
Identify a need – As you listen you should be able to perceive spiritual needs such as: does this person belief in Christ for salvation? Are they concerned about not going to heaven? Do they express reasons for guilt or unhappiness? Based on these issues you can develop a plan to assist them.
Invite them to study the Bible– Based on your assessment of their spiritual needs, present a study plan that would meet their need. Make sure the explanation is direct, simple and clear, and that they can respond with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Although you can choose any passage according to the student’s need (I would stay within the epistles), I generally find it is helpful to offer an initial study starting in Ephesians 1:1-14. This passage begins with the elements of salvation, it is efficient and thought provoking. Only a rare Christian already knows the material so it is a great place to start for almost everyone. Ask the student to commit for at least 4 weeks so you can cover essential material in the passage. However, you can extend the study if it is being helpful or each of you has the choice to stop after the 4 weeks. During this study they can discover the truth themselves, ask questions and you can share the gospel as issues of salvation are raised in the text (please review the plan of salvation at the bottom of the page so you know what to say). The salvation message, if needed, is neatly packaged also in Romans 3:10-26 or Ephesians 2:1-10. Amazingly, about 30% of our Teleios’ students who have grown up in the church have little initial understanding of salvation.
How to teach; Bible study methods – Use the four-part inductive Bible study method course as a basis for your teaching. You can find this on Teleios’ website on the ‘Study the Bible’ page. It is very useful in engaging the student in their own beliefs and correcting or encouraging them with scripture. It also allows the student to do the work of discovery and can limit your own preparation time. It is quite simple. If need be, ask an experienced Christian teacher or your pastor to give you instructional tips. You can do it! Just start, stay in scripture and use the inductive method. It’s easy and you will learn quickly how to do it. Further you will learn yourself a lot of great scripture.
Don’t be nervous and don’t feel guilty if rejected – The epistles tell us to be obedient (just do it!) and does not mention guilt. We have the joy to tell others about salvation. It is the hearer’s responsibility to accept God’s message. Further, it is God Himself, not us by our efforts, who brings people to faith (John 6:44; John 16:8-11)

Teleios’ Research – Survey of Young Evangelicals About Teaching the Bible

Teleios recently surveyed adolescents and millennials regarding their perceptions about teaching the Bible and their own Bible teaching habits.[4] The survey was promoted on the Christian Instagram accounts, InstaPray and GodsHolyScriptures. Of the 230 respondents the majority were: female (63%), <35 years old (86%), from the United States (68%), and evangelical (73%).

The results showed that about 27% of participants indicated they teach directly from the Bible at a pre-arranged time at least once a week. In contrast, 40% responded they never instruct others in scripture. For those who do not teach at least once a week the most common reasons are shown in Table 2.

Interestingly, in this same question asking why they do not teach, 11% answered ‘they already teach once a week or more’ (in contrast to the 27% when asked directly if they teach). This may indicate there may be 16% difference (27% -11%) between those saying they teach when asked directly compared to when asked indirectly (give reasons why they do not teach). This finding hints that some Christians might overestimate their frequency of teaching when asked directly.

For those who do teach at least once a week, their preferred method was verse by verse (32%). In addition, their favorite venue in which to instruct was in a small group, in person (27%); or one-on-one, in-person (19%). Participants indicated other potential valid informal ways to teach scripture in Table 3.

In general, respondents had good wellbeing (4.5/6.0 with 6.0 being the best wellbeing). However, those who regularly trained others in the Bible (4.8/6.0) reported better wellbeing than those who infrequently (4.1/6.0) or did not (4.4/6.0) teach the scripture (P= 0.003).

The survey suggests that young evangelicals generally recognize the importance of verse-by-verse teaching to others and want to learn how to instruct others. Those who teach experience better wellbeing than those who do not. Nonetheless, young evangelicals are often reticent to teach fearing they are not capable or are not able to answer questions. Further, some may overestimate how frequently they teach the Bible.

Summary: Learn to teach others. Start by practicing simply encouraging others in scripture, commending them and thanking them for their life (when deserved). Push yourself to actually teach the scriptures. God tells us to do so in the Bible it will help others and your own wellbeing. Your investment in others will enhance the current and future generations of active Christians.