Interactive Teaching in the New Testament

I stumbled across an interesting study by Paul Warby. He took the time to comb through books in the New Testament looking for examples of different types of teaching. Is the church following the example we find in Scripture when it comes to teaching one another?

Here is what Paul Warby found:

"I took Jesus' ministry prior to his arrest and crucifixion (Mark 1-Mark 14:42) and identified 63 teaching events.

• 7 are unclear as to being either interactive or non-interactive (these are generally sweeping statements, e.g. "Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of God" Mark 1:14)

• 10 are non-interactive. Here we have taken the text as it stands although interaction is sometimes implied (e.g. the calling of disciples found in 1:17-20; 2:14). I also noticed that some non-interactive accounts like the telling of parables required interaction later in the story for the disciples to understand the message (e.g. Mark 4:26-33 of. vs34).

• 37 teaching events were initiated by others.

• 31 teaching events had verbal dialogue. These may be the same teaching events as those initiated by others (e.g. the story of the paralytic Mark 2:1-12) but in this category we are looking for recorded verbal dialogue in the text of Mark.

• 25 teaching events were also action events. These are healings, miracles and the like where teaching is associated with physical experiences (e.g. Mark 1:39; 1:40-44; 3:1-5 etc.)"

He did the same with the book of Acts:

• 33 have dialogue

• 28 are unclear as to interaction

• 14 are initiated by persons other than the main speakers, e.g. an opening question.

• 11 are action events

• 5 have non-interactive monologues

http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/node/423
http://www.anabaptistnetwork.com/book/export/html/321


The example we see in Scripture is one where teaching occurs in many different ways and locations. Most of it was also unscheduled. There is no record of Jesus or the early church sending out bulletins or flyers informing the people what topics would be taught at specific gatherings. The gatherings were informal, mostly unscheduled, and the conversations mostly interactive.

Consider some non-spiritual types of teaching.

How would you teach a child to ride a bike? Would you schedule a time and place. Prepare a lesson. Have the child sit and listen as you present a lecture on how to ride a bike?

No. The lessons are mostly unscheduled, require interactive teaching, active demonstrations, active assistance, and require followup instructions on safety for years to come.

What types of teaching work best in a classroom setting today? Teachers are encouraged to use a variety of teaching activities, and recognize that the lecture format produces some of the poorest results. The more of the following the better: Questions, debates, field trips, role play, project work, hands on activities and practice practice practice.

So, how should the church teach one another as we read in Colossians 3:16?

Should we value certain less interactive methods higher than other informal interactive methods?

• Sermons?
• video lead studies?
• prepared Bible studies?
• book studies?

Or can we place a greater emphasis on less structured teaching opportunities. Can we seek to teach each other in more natural relational ways? Whenever we gather with other believers, can we find opportunities to build each other up to become more like Christ? (Heb 10:24-25)

What do you think? Are we following the book on this one?

Related Posts:

• One Another
• Examples of Pastors Preaching Sermons at Church in the Bible
• My 95 Thesis - Point 11 - Sermon Centered
• Learning Triangle
• Asleep in the pews
• History of speaking up in church
• Community I desire

After we took the Scriptures into our own hands

"Just as our forefathers fell away from the true God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ and of the right faith in him . . . , so today, too, every man wants to be saved by a superficial faith without fruits. . . . In the same error we too lingered, as long as we heard and read only the evangelical preachers. But after we took the Scriptures into our own hands and consulted them ourselves on many points, we have been instructed"

Who said this? Sound like a some current blogger?

Anabaptist Conrad Grebel in 1524.

One of many interesting quotes in a free pdf book Secret of the Strength.

Anabaptists and Zwingli

Been reading about the Sixteenth-Century Anabaptists. Troubling stuff. Makes no sense. Reformation leaders like Zwingli believed the Bible was the prime authority for the church. Yet they murdered their Anabaptist brothers by drowning them.

Why? The Anabaptists saw support in the Bible for adult baptisms, and Zwingli and company didn't. Was it all about control?

The Bible is the authority... as long as you let me interpret it for you!???


(If you have an hour to listen to some history about the Anabaptists, try this link:

http://www.housechurchresource.org/audios/jonzens.mp3 )

History of Speaking Up In Church

When believers gathered in the early church everyone could speak and share what God was speaking to them (well... the men at least... but that's another topic). It would have been quite different than the type of 'church service' that is common today, where an audience sits passively in rows listening to a few selected speakers.

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. (1 Cor 14:26-32 NIV)

As the church spread and grew in the Roman empire, it became state run. Somehow things changed and believers became accustomed to sitting and listening to one person give long orations. Over time the common person had little input in what was said at the Sunday gathering.

The 16th century Anabaptists tried to change this.

"The Anabaptists insisted upon the "free course" of the Holy Spirit in worship, yet still maintained it all must be judged according to the Scriptures. The Swiss Anabaptist document titled "Answer of Some Who Are Called (Ana-)Baptists - Why They Do Not Attend the Churches". One reason given for not attending the state churches was that these institutions forbade the congregation to exercise spiritual gifts according to "the Christian order as taught in the gospel or the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 14." "When such believers come together, "Everyone of you (note every one) hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation," etc...When someone comes to church and constantly hears only one person speaking, and all the listeners are silent, neither speaking nor prophesying, who can or will regard or confess the same to be a spiritual congregation, or confess according to 1 Corinthians 14 that God is dwelling and operating in them through His Holy Spirit with His gifts, impelling them one after another in the above-mentioned order of speaking and prophesying".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptist#Holy_Spirit_leadership

But the Protestant and Catholic leaders of the day killed and persecuted the Anabaptists.

So where are we at today?

Are we OK with the order of service introduced by leaders in the Roman empire? Should what is said at the Sunday morning gathering be controlled by one or few members, or can we consider allowing the Holy Spirit to lead the many members of the body like we read about in 1 Cor 14?

Related Posts:

• Asleep in the pews
• Learning Triangle

(This conversation continued here and here at Alan Knox's blog.)