The Bible contains more than 700,000 words. By comparison, The Lord of the Rings trilogy contains nearly 500,000; The Iliad clocks in at approximately 360,000. The gateway into God’s revelation is massive text on many thin pages. That’s a lot of reading. For some, actually for many, that sounds boring, perhaps painful. Further, of all the learning styles, verbal/linguistic (aka reading) is not the style for which most teens are wired.
So how do we, as youth workers, put nearly three-quarters of a million words into the hands of non-reading teens—or any teen—and expect them to learn with enthusiasm? Thankfully, we have more going for us than you might think.
Curiously, of all the verbs God used to describe interaction with His Word, read is one of the least used. In fact, the ways God encourages us to interact with Scripture, whether by example or command, are strikingly parallel to the many learning styles that are employed today.
The Text
So, let’s do a little mash-up between the Bible and these learning styles. Below is a list of basic learning styles along with a sampling of passages in which we are encouraged to interact with Scripture. See if you can identify the various learning styles in the passages. (Not all styles are listed).
Visual: pictures and images.
Aural: sound and music.
Verbal: words, speech, and writing.
Physical: using body, hands and sense of touch.
Logical: logic, reasoning, and systems.
Social: working in groups or with other people.
Solitary: working alone and use self-study.
Bible Passage Learning Style(s) in the Passage:
Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Psalm 119:13, 15
Colossians 3:16
Revelation 1:3
Think About It
It’s a mash-up made in heaven! Isn’t it just like God to have us experience His written Word in ways that cater to how He wired us to learn?
There’s more: For the visual learner, God gave us arks, tabernacles and apocalyptic imagery from which to draw. For the aural learner, we’re told the Book of Revelation, as you saw, is best served when spoken aloud, and many psalms can be put to music. For the student who learns best through words, we have the poetry of Psalms and Proverbs, along with the oracles of major and minor prophets (not to mention the entire Bible itself). The physical learner can help us see by acting out the scenes painted for us in Jesus’ parables or building models of images drawn by the visual learners. The logical learner would have a field day unraveling Romans, flow-charting Paul’s paragraphs or mapping Paul’s journeys. The social learner will espouse commands to teach one another. The solitary learner will take to heart the dozens of verses in
Throughout the Bible, God promises great payoffs when we diligently engage in His Word (
Apply It
This could change how you teach. Start with this experiment: Find a passage you want to study—maybe one of Jesus’ parables or one of Paul’s chapters (or paragraphs). Provide options that cater to the six learning styles noted above, e.g., draw the scene or passage, write it into a song, retell it as a story, act it out, put it in a simple diagram, discuss it with a partner, meditate on it in solitude. Let each student choose which exercise works for him or her and then turn them loose for approximately 20 minutes with the passage.
Your ministry likely will change forever—and with regard to the Bible you may never use the word read again.
