Confessions of a Bible Teacher

Pastor Marc Peña

Trinity Life Church of San Diego

November 2008

I can still remember the night I spent hours preparing to teach my first Bible study (that was over 20 years ago). My approach was basically a “parroting” of what I saw most of my teachers in public school and college do; prepare a bunch of information in some kind of logical, coherent order and present it to a group of students. The only difference was that the content was now biblical. The next evening when I taught (or should I say when I dispensed the information) things went generally better than I had expected. People left the study smiling and commenting on how “moving” it was. I felt affirmed and maybe even a little proud. “Job well done” I told myself. All was well… until the following Sunday.

The morning service had just finished and I was speaking with a new visitor, inviting him to the midweek Bible study held at my home. I called a friend over who attended the study to encourage the visitor to join us. After a short introduction my friend uttered a phrase I will never forget. “Yeah, we had a great time.” My friend continued, “Marc’s a great teacher… uhh.” He gave me a quick glance. “I can’t remember what he taught, but we had a great time!” Sensing my embarrassment, my friend abruptly shook the visitor’s hand and left us standing there.

I prepared, I taught (so I thought) but did anybody learn?

This experience provoked me to ask hard questions about the nature teaching and learning. Time after time I had witnessed people grow in their acquisition of biblical knowledge and yet live as if it were no more relevant to their lives than grandma’s recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies (which is always good for a warm smile while practicing the fine art of over-indulgence). As I began to wrestle with the growing frustrations of my teaching experiences I came to a frightful conclusion... “What I’m doing doesn’t work!” (You have no idea how long it took me to admit that!). The horror of that confession would be surpassed a few months later by another shocking realization… “I’m not even seeing this right!”

As I continued my valiant battle to become a better teacher (i.e. posting my resume on monster.com, considering a missions trip to Spain, launching an Ebay business etc.), Dr. Julie Gorman (from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena) recommended I read Parker Palmer’s book “To Know As We Are Known.” Palmer’s book helped my “eyesight” dramatically. As I began to see the Church through a different and much more ancient “lens,” my ideas about the nature of teaching and learning began to change. I was coming to grips that the Church has been and will always be a “learning community.”

Unless teaching and learning are done in the context of relationships and community, little more than a transfer of information is likely to happen. To reduce biblical teaching to a dispensing of consumer-oriented information (i.e. “7 Principles of a Happy Life,” “5 Ways to Make your Marriage Magnificent,” “How to Be Prosperous in 3 Easy Steps” etc.) is an abortion of the very Word teachers and preachers are trying to communicate; a Word whose primary purpose is the formation, healing and commissioning of a covenant people. Biblical instruction is not designed to feed our own curiosity or need for control. It isn’t “information” or “knowledge” we take and use as a means to either satisfy our vanity or worse, control the world around us (people as well as possessions). This kind of “education” always ends in the manipulation and alienation of others and the spiritual decay of congregational life.

Whether it’s instructing a child or leading a group, an important question should emerge every time we gather to teach and learn; “Where can God’s grace help to heal, transform and change?” At its heart the Church’s teaching ministry is a Word-guided “search” for God’s grace and the Spirit-empowered means to manifest that grace in the midst of a people seeking to practice truth.

I have to admit that there’s still a lot of struggle in my ministry… but most of the time it’s a struggle to seek out and share God’s grace with others.

And, in case you’re wondering, yes, I can live with that.