Basic Christian Education Principles For Teachers

By Brenda Schmidt


A teacher has a noble responsibility of developing the best Christians who can embrace faith and live it. This will only happen when he or she is guided by important Christian education principles for teachers instead of teaching in a haphazard manner. These pillars will enable the teacher to raise a critical thinker who will apply and live Christianity in a manner that transforms the world.

The best lesson about Christianity is one where the teacher lives the life he or she is trying to teach. It happens when a teacher comes from the same neighborhood as the children. It means that they will be interacting with the learners every day. If you are teaching about love yet you are known to be the most quarrelsome person in the neighborhood, the lesson will not sink.

To be factual about the gospel is mandatory. The gospel is written in different books and by multiple authors. It is easy to misrepresent it or interpret is wrongly. This is catastrophic especially for children who believe that everything a teacher says is true. Ensure that you are representing the Word of God as it is and not twisting it around to favor a position you support. It will be difficult to erase it from the mind of the child once it has stuck.

Understand the context of various teachings when instructing your children. Failure to understand the context has caused a lot of teachers to mislead learners. The bible was written in a different cultural and historical context. It cannot be taken literary without being misunderstood. This is why a teacher has to learn the foundations of biblical teachings like stories and parables. Without understanding the context, your learners will be misled.

Guide students on implementation of the gospel or lessons learnt in their lives. The bible was written thousands of years ago. This means that some of the examples given could be difficult to understand. In some cases, the process of understanding may leading to misleading interpretation. Through your guidance, application becomes easier and meaningful to learners.

Encourage the questions on biblical teachings. Do not teach a class of gullible people who just take in the notes and do not think through them. By asking questions, important lessons are understood. Students and learners will want to understand some of the elements more. You will have to read widely in order to answer these questions well. If the issues are not clear to you, it will be impossible for you to answer the emanating questions.

Discernment will make a huge difference when teaching on the bible. Biblical interpretations vary based on doctrinal diversity. However, discernment creates critical thinkers who can see beyond these differences and draw important lessons. It is also important in ensuring that they understand underlying message. Unless this underlying message is understood, you will have a bunch of shallow Christians.

Memorizing should not be fronted at the expense of understanding. It is good that a student knows the details of a story or parable, but it is important that he or she learns to think through it. Understanding will create Christians who can live the gospel and not just recite it.




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