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 PrintableVersion Teaching the Bible in challenging times (DVD)Spiritual sword-fighting (Ephesians 6.17)TEACHING THE BIBLE IN CHALLENGING TIMES (DVD) There are very few books or courses today which I feel could benefit everyone involved in teaching in our churches, from Sunday school teacher through to pulpit proclaimer, but I think this DVD would! Teaching the Bible in challenging times is a course on communication and describes itself as ‘a cultural refresher’. The course is split into four parts titled ‘Understanding the times we live in’, ‘Understanding the message we have to give’, ‘Understanding the task of the teacher’, and ‘Understanding the skills needed to teach the Bible in a culturally relevant way today’. It is put together in such a down-to-earth way that pastors really could give this to anyone in the church and it would not go over their heads! David Couchman presents these sessions in a way which gives practical tips and whets people’s appetites by including exercises to do, titles of books to read and a complete study guide to download from the website. On top of this. Focus Radio offers a follow-up mentoring programme based on the course to help people grow in their communication skills. And all this for around £17.00! This course begins by focussing on the person the speaker is trying to reach and educate, which is an approach some would criticise as ‘pampering to the needs of the consumer’. I would be the first to say there is a real danger in some churches of the teaching becoming a form of religious entertainment for an increasing cinema-like audience who are pacified by the process rather than prepared! It is clear, as the course develops, that the ultimate desire of the creators is for speakers to draw the listener into the world of the Bible in a way which empowers them to grow rather than producing them to mere sermon junkies. Couchman helpfully tries to encourage speakers to have long term aims in helping people to grasp the big picture of the books of the Bible, equip the listeners to become doers of the Word, and to target relevant needs in the congregation. He deals with the dreaded terms like ‘Postmodernism’ in a very brief way rather than dragging us through a philosophy lesson we don’t really want to hear. The benefit of the course being on DVD is that you can work through it at your own pace and watch a session as many times as you need to. David Couchman does not take the attitude that just by improving our communication skills we will have revival! He teaches also on prayerful preparation, and the work of the Spirit in preaching, but what he does argue for, is that we must do our level best to be clear channels of God’s Word to a 21st-century generation. He recognises that people are generally communicating through multi-media, e.g. computers, telephones and televisions, and learning through these media in a discussion style in addition to human contact, and so shows the Christian speaker how to use these developments to his or her advantage. The one weakness of this course, I feel is that it lays down a workable pattern for updating the way we teach without answering some of the wider questions which such cultural change raises for the whole way we structure our communication as churches. For example, how should a church whose desire is to reach the lost and promote healthy discipleship respond? Is our current ‘set-up’ working? Maybe more importantly, what does the Bible actually teach about ‘the ministry of Word’? The ministry of the Word seems to involve speaking with a purpose or action (John 13.1-17), one-to-one mentoring to guarantee growth (2 Timothy 1.13-14), learning through group discussion (Acts 20.7-12), hands on workshops (Luke 10.1-24), and the use of the visual to communicate profound spiritual truths (Luke 18.15-17). Are two 25-minute, one way (speaker to listener) talks eight times per month on a Sunday (and that’s if the person turns up to every service) truly reflecting the biblical approach? I think, Couchman, probably in the interest of creating a course, short and manageable enough to help speakers at all levels of church life to teach the Bible faithfully and relevantly, could not deal with such wide ramifications. Yet such a course, I feel, calls us to face such challenges for the sake of the church and the lost. Do your friends, your family, your work colleagues, your neighbours and your church a favour, whether you are involved in teaching the Bible formally or not: buy this DVD, be blessed by it as someone who teaches or someone who listens, and then lend it to your minister. Trevor Lewis, © Evangelicals Now - August 2006 |
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