Small Group Bible Study, Christ-Centered Lessons

Christ-Centered Lessons Series Index Page | Previous Page | Next Page: The Teacher's Craft

Occasionally foolish criticism is directed against believers who set up Small Group Bible Study gatherings on the ground that the lessons are too Bible-centered, making the study of the Scriptures the central aim while neglecting the capacities of a new, first-time student of the Bible, which may vary according to age, training, desire, etc. Lessons, say such critics, should not be so Bible-centered, but more people-centered, taking into account first and foremost the new Bible student's ability and natural likings, based more on psychology.

Care has been taken to prepare lessons for StudyJesus.com which are within the understanding of a new, first-time student of the Bible, while at the same time hopefully testing the mental and spiritual growth of the spiritually mature. As host, leader, or perhaps teacher of a Bible study group, it is hoped that you will come to realize and maybe even appreciate that in the preparation of StudyJesus.com lesson materials, an earnest effort has been made to adapt the material to various ages as well as the learning level of the first-time Bible student in your group.

Is it wise to say that lessons should be fundamentally either Bible-centered or pupil-centered? Should they not be Christ-centered? A knowledge of human nature is useful to the teacher of God's Word, but far more is to be gained through love of others than through all treatises on psychology, admirable and helpful as they may be. In other words we should not emphasize psychology to the exclusion of the Savior. The teacher's 1st look should be directed to Christ; the 2nd turned upon the sacred page where earthly life is mirrored; while the 3rd look should be cast upon the soul we seek, through the lesson, to draw to the Savior. "I, if I be lifted up," said Christ, "will draw all men unto Myself." The teacher is not to be lifted up, but Christ!

If with all our hearts we are seeking to exalt Jesus Christ in our teaching, He will surely bless it, rending it richly successful. Then, when He is in His rightful place at the center of our thoughts and hopes, our plans and prayers, all other elements of our teaching, the Bible text, the teaching methods, the programs and the theories and the students themselves, will fall into their proper places, and the Small Group Bible Study will become one body in Him, filled with His glorious life.

"And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus ..." (Col. 3:17)