The Bible School: Blessing or Curse? © by Leon Estep 1
Church Growth Magazine 12 (April - June, 1997): 6 - 7.

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known" (Deut. 11:26-28).

The law God gave to Moses for the Israelites was like a two-edged sword. By keeping the law, blessings came to the individual, to his family, and to the society as a whole. By disobedience they would be cursed. There are many things in this life which taken correctly are blessing, but taken wrongly can be a curse. Medicines, drugs, exercise, and food are examples. Rest and relaxation taken to laziness changes from a blessing to a curse.

Individual Christians and the church are to teach. "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also" (2 Tim. 2:2). Teaching is fundamental to the Christian life. "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers. . ."(Heb. 5:12). Those giving excuses why they are not teaching are teaching by their inactivity, showing they don't believe what the Bible teaches. Some who are teaching are poorly trained and ineffective. We are to beware of false teachers: "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction"(2 Pet. 2:1). With all these ways for teaching to become a curse, should we be concerned as good stewards of our Lord that teaching blesses us?

Avoid a Curse

If the "Bible School" is the choice to carry out the command to "teach," should we not make every effort to ensure that it blesses us, not curses us? When many of God's people see no need to get involved, when many of those who are involved are poorly equipped to teach, and when there are inadequate safeguards against false doctrine, we will be cursed.

When we squander the best talent and financial resources in a program that does not produce fruit for the Lord, we will be cursed. When we build the Bible School on a model that does not bring blessings, we end up putting good people in a bad system and end up with burnout, not blessings. When we think teaching is just giving information with no expectation for application and life-changing impact, our students are cheated.

Most teaching programs in the church are modeled on the public school model which lacks two important elements:

(1) No outreach to the lost community: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

(2) No repentance and behavioral change 'And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem"(Luke 24:47).

Every class should be thought of as a small group outreach opportunity. This involves the student in activities based on what he/she learns in class. It changes the dynamic of the class from a passive to an active format. Instead of complaining that our students don't show up on a consistent basis, involve them in outreach and rejoice in the glory this will bring to God.

Our research shows consistent and powerful growth when this one change is made in how we think about the Bible School. One congregation averaging 134 in attendance on Sunday morning made a commitment to enroll 3 new students in its Bible classes; not just one class, but a total of three spread over all the classes each week for a year. One year later they were averaging 208 on Sunday morning. The Bible School, as an organism, has tremendous power to help Christians grow and enjoy their life in Christ and bring growth to the local church.

Gain a Blessing

What are some of the things needed for Bible classes to be a blessing?

(1) First, teachers need to be equipped properly to teach. They need the skills necessary to teach. They need the skills to listen to their students and interact in a positive way to bring about the results necessary in the life of the student and the growth of the church and to receive the satisfaction level necessary to avoid burnout.

(2) Second, teachers need to be equipped to be soul winners. When teaching is not associated with soul winning, what is the result of the act of teaching? Is the goal to "teach" or is the goal of teaching to change lives of our students?

Teachers revealed in the New Testament taught in order to bring souls to Christ and to motivate Christians to stewardship of their lives. Notice Paul's attitude: "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2). The love of God, love of the lost, love of brethren, love of truth, and love of righteousness are served by teaching. Teaching does not mean anything without a purpose. How does your teaching serve the lost, your brethren, and the growth of the church? When teaching eats the resources of the church, burns out our teachers, and diverts the church from its true purpose, it is a curse. Teaching that serves a purpose will be a blessing.

Conclusion

The average church has approximately one hundred in Sunday morning attendance. How many of this number are equipped to make the Bible class effective? How many of this number have been pressed into service with inadequate training and resources, asked to sustain long-term service without burnout, and are now "retired"? "Well, I've already done my part in the Bible School; please get someone else." How many members are trained school teachers, not trained Bible School teachers (there is a difference) who say, "I teach all week; I don't want to teach again in the Bible School"? How many are left of the one hundred who attend on Sunday morning are now available to teach in the Bible School? After we have the Bible School staffed, how many people of the one hundred are left for personal evangelism programs, visitation programs, care groups, and the like?

For the Bible School to be a blessing, it needs to be designed to deal with many of the other needed activities of the church. We simply run out of soldiers for the war against Satan and the Bible School becomes a curse instead of a blessing. When each class becomes a small family concerned with Bible education, but is also a support group, an evangelism group, a benevolent group, a visitation group, and so on, it will become a blessing for the church.

A small number in the church (preacher, elders, deacons, and teachers) are expected to minister to the rest of the congregation while they do little more than attend services. All in the church are ministers (Eph. 4:11-16). Prato, a fifteenth century economist, said eighty percent of the profit came from twenty percent of the activity. The Bible School probably consumes eighty percent of our available resources. Is it giving us the blessings it should?

1 Leon Estep is minister at the Ozark Alabama church and this article was published in Church Growth Magazine 12 (April - June, 1997): 6 - 7.