Teaching Biblically as Discipleship

I have a 6-year-old adopted daughter, and one of the most humbling parts of parenting is seeing myself reflected in her. While we technically look nothing alike, it does not take long to see the resemblance between us. Sometimes I look at her with great pride at the things she has learned. Other times my faults and mistakes are evident, and my heart breaks a little. Through her the Lord is teaching me so much about the power of discipleship.  

In Matthew 28:19-20 we read very well-known verses that call us to go and make disciples, to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey His commands. Discipleship may feel like a complicated process, but, simply put, it is teaching someone to be more like the person they are following. To be discipled is to become more like the one you are working to emulate. Christian discipleship draws students into a deeper understanding of Jesus and helps them to become like Him. So how can we use the spaces within our classroom for more than just content objectives, carefully crafting spaces of discipleship? There is one perfect place to look: Jesus. He is our example, and His strategies are practical and impactful. They didn’t just work on His disciples thousands of years ago; they are still relevant and important today. I would like to share four strategies He used that have powerful implications even in our classrooms.  

Build Relationships
One of the most astounding things about the ministry of Jesus was the value He placed on people. Not just the most important or religious people, but all people. He was a friend of sinners, a caller of children, and a person who paused to see those living on the fringes of society. Classrooms are filled with students who desire to be seen and who need to know that they matter. Our students need more than just a space for academic content download; they need a place to be all that God has created them to be. Take the time to say hello to students personally. Call them by name. Know what they like or dislike. Be a teacher who sees not only their limits, but also their capabilities and dreams. These “non-academic” moments have deep value in creating spaces of discipleship.

Tell stories
Jesus told stories. It was the main way that He communicated with His followers, and it is a powerful way to teach. His parables opened doors for introspection, allowed people to make parallels to other situations, and communicated complicated or hard-to-hear truths. Stories can help our students understand complex situations and content as well. Lectures don’t tend to keep our focus and get our brains thinking, but a good story does. It can draw us in and engage us in learning. The stories you tell students don’t all need to be real-life examples. You can make them up just as Jesus did in His stories of landowners, tenants, and a good Samaritan. Stories can enhance all subject areas and levels of content. They can be used to help students identify behavioral problems, apply content learning, or simply to introduce a concept in an interesting way.

Ask Questions
Research suggests that teachers ask between 300-400 questions every day. As it is already a big part of the teaching process, we can leverage those questions in a way that disciples and helps students think and process. Jesus regularly asked open-ended questions that invited deep and meaningful responses. We, too, can carefully craft open-ended questions in our classroom to help students think critically and biblically about the world around them.

Use What is Available
It can be easy to fall into the trap of believing that the best lessons require the best technology and resources, but they don’t. One of the things we can learn from Jesus is that He used what was available to Him to teach lessons to His followers. He healed the blind man with some spit and some mud. He didn’t ever look around and say, “I’m sorry, I would love to do this for you, but I don’t have the budget or resources!” He used what was around Him in tangible ways. Now, I understand that we are not working miracles as He was, and there are some limits. Identify them and then think creatively about how you can still make the curriculum come alive. Many years ago, I was a sixth-grade science teacher. I was teaching about hot-spots and the chain islands of Hawaii. I had great resources and a wonderful lesson plan, but after teaching I was met with blank stares. How could I help them grasp this concept if all this great stuff didn’t work? And then I saw it: a red marker and a Kleenex ... a hot spot and a moving tectonic plate. As the marker was held still and the Kleenex slowly moved above it, a chain of islands was drawn on the Kleenex. Lightbulbs went on around the room. It wasn’t complex or flashy, but it was effective. Think creatively about how you can make the most of the resources that you do have available to you.

The classroom provides us with a beautiful opportunity to live out our call to go, teach, and make disciples. When we as teachers draw closer to God, we can invite students to join us, learning more about His love, His creation, and His plans for us. Whether you can boldly speak the name of Jesus before your students or not, the strategies of relationship building, storytelling, asking good questions, and using resources creatively are powerful tools a teacher can use. How can you use some of these strategies of Jesus to disciple the students God has entrusted to you?

Jessica Moulding
Jessica has served in the Dominican Republic with TeachBeyond for 11 years. In that time, she has served as teacher, school director, and School Services coordinator for the Latin America region. She is passionate about curriculum and teacher training, and she is passionate about curriculum and teacher training, and she loves a good puzzle.