Bible Class

Yesterday was an exciting day full of Bible classes.  Not only did we have a controversial lesson about Faith vs. Science planned for that day, but I was also handing back papers to the students.  The papers were the students' questions about God given to me a while back, along with the carefully-worded answers I wrote to them.  There were questions of every kind:


"Is God a male or female?"   "How do we know Jesus created the world and not other gods?"   "How do we know the stories in the Bible actually happened?"   "Where can I find God?"  "How did Mary have a baby when she was a virgin?"   "Why should I believe in God?"   "Does God really answer my prayers?  Sometimes it seems like he doesn't." "How can Jesus be fully God and fully man?" and "Where does sin come from?"


My students are deep-thinkers, and they're at the age where they can process multi-faceted arguments such as these.  A simple, matter-of-fact statement will not suffice to answer all their questions.  So, I did my best to answer them, which usually took up an entire page of printed paper.  The students wrote the questions anonymously, so they could feel free to ask any question, and so I spread out the answers on the desks in the back and the students had to find their question and my response.  Students sat and read, or stood right where they found it and read.  Some students were deep in thought, others turned to their neighbor and began whispering and giggling, some were exchanging papers to read more.  Some students asked me more questions.  For answers that I answered according to the assumption that the Bible is the true Word of God, the most common question that came up was-- "but teacher, how do we know the Bible is true?" So we backed up even further.  (I'm starting to think we could use more apologetics in our Bible curriculum, showing the students historical data and evidence that the Bible is trustworthy and accurate... So much to tell them and so little time!)  If nothing else, the question activity that we did showed my students that:

1.  Their questions about God are valid and valuable.  They received a thought-out, academic answer to their questions (which I don't always have time to give them during Bible class... nor do they often ask thought-out, academic questions.)  Written conversation allows for more depth than verbal conversation during class.

2.  It's good to ask questions about God.  It's good to think, use our brains, and consult the Bible.  We can learn a lot by asking questions, rather than just blindly accepting what we are told.

3.  The Bible isn't just a matter of Western culture.  It's a matter of faith.  Do you believe it or not?  It changes your entire worldview.  Ultimately everything comes down to "what do you believe about Jesus?  Who do you say He is?"


As students read and thought with each other, I went around asking students, "does this make sense?  Do you understand?  What do you think?"  I asked one girl in my class who often comes to chat with me during lunch.  "Teacher, it's just opinion," she said.  My heart ached.  How can I get them to see?  I feel that I shouldn't push them anymore in this class; I already have made them uncomfortable many times by bringing them to the realization that these questions matter.  What they believe matters.  They know it's a matter of faith.  If I push too much, I'm afraid I will push them away.  Where is the line?  Share the Truth in love.  Wait patiently.  Pray.

All I could do was pray for my students, even hours after I returned from the office.

Sex Talk

I'm amazed at how many opportunities to influence my kids come up on a regular basis, and during non-Bible lessons.  In my Junior 3 writing classes (equivalent of 9th grade), all the students wrote a story.  I was surprised at how many students chose to write about a couple who was living together before they were married.  So I sat them down and we had a sex talk.  I asked them why they wrote about boyfriends and girlfriends living together, since it's not common in Taiwan, and we concluded that it was the influence of Western movies, music, and other media (or perhaps just pop culture).  I was able to tell them that just because it's in every American movie, it doesn't mean it's right, or even that every "modern" person lives like that.  We talked about what God says about sex and why He tells us that it's only for marriage.  The kids were open to talking about it and were able to give me good reasons why God gives us the rules He gives us.  I think it was important for them to see the difference between American culture and a life led by faith.  Many times, students think learning the Bible is just a "cultural" thing or that praying before class starts is learning "American culture".  But no, it's not a matter of culture, it's a matter of faith.  And suddenly, during our sex talk, the "Bible culture" that they've been learning at Concordia clashes with "popular Western culture", and they see that they have to make a judgment call based on some standard of morality.  It's not about culture anymore; it's about morals, values, and ethics.  I'm not hear to teach students about American culture; I'm here to teach them about the Truth of who God is, who we are, the condition of this fallen world and the hope we have through faith in Christ Jesus.  As a class, we were able to put culture aside and talk about right and wrong, using God's Word as the ultimate authority.  I pray that this is a good model for them to follow the rest of their life.  I pray that they know what we learn in class is more than just learning to appreciate a different culture.