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One of my favorite cartoons shows a middle school youth leader standing in front of about a dozen bored, apathetic kids. Holding out his Bible, he tries desperately to arouse some semblance of recognition, interest, or, at least, consciousness. He pleads, "So you see, young people, Levitical sacrifice really is a burning issue!"

It's a picture rooted in the experience of a lot of us who try on a regular basis to teach the Bible to teenagers. And it takes us to the heart of the seventh and final of John Milton Gregory's Seven Laws of Learning (see past issues of Good News for a full review). The Law of Review and Application says simply:

"The completion of the learning process comes through in-depth review and practical application."

We've spent the last several issues of Good News looking at each of these seven laws in some depth, and thinking about how they play out on the stage of youth ministry.

So, with the teacher knowing what he or she should teach (Law One), we began our Bible study by inciting the interest of our students in the truth to be learned (Law Two). And then, in clear, relevant language they could understand (Law Three), meeting them where they are (Law Four), and using active learning methods that allow them to discover the truth for themselves (Law Five), we've led them into the text so they could understand it in terms of their own real life circumstances (Law Six).

Now, with this Seventh Law of Learning, we're ready to wrap up this series by taking the biblical truth, and under the Spirit's guidance, bringing it home to the heart of our students.

Driving the point home
The key is to move our teaching beyond information to application. Think of these examples as strategies that one could use as the closing elements of a lesson to help students examine their own lives in the light of the Word.

. Use a continuum line, and ask students to identify on that line where they are in terms of their obedience to a certain truth.

. Ask students to identify something they are thankful for in the study.

. Ask students to identify something they feel they need to confess based on this study.

. Ask students to write down three specific actions they need to take based on what they've heard in the study.

. Invite students to take a pledge or sign a covenant.

. Do an "offering" in which instead of putting money on the plate, students are encouraged to write down on a piece of paper a commitment they are making as an offering to God.

. Use images (faces, gears [i.e. stop, go, neutral, reverse], light switch [off, on, dim, bright]) to help kids assess where they are in terms of obedience.

. Ask students to write a letter from God to them based on what they've heard in this study.

. Ask students to write a letter to themselves based on what they've heard in this study.

. Ask students to write a letter to God based on what they've heard in this study.

. Ask students to write a letter to their parents or a friend based on what they've heard in this study.

. Give kids a scale of hot to cold, and ask them to mark where they are on the scale with reference to a certain area of obedience.

. Ask kids to identify one way their life will be different tomorrow because of this truth they've learned today.

. Give students phrases to complete: "Because of what I have heard tonight, I will." "If what God's Word says is true, then I need to." "After what I've heard here, I am thankful for."

. Use an inanimate object (paper clip, paper cup, pipe cleaner, piece of paper) to allow students to verbalize their response to some truth.

. If you are teaching a skill-oriented truth (sharing their faith, confronting a friend, etc), let students role play how they will do it.

. Make a list of ways students might respond to a truth and ask them to circle two or three on the list.

. Invite students to tell one another what decisions they've made, and invite them to pray together.

. Invite students to publicly share their commitment with the rest of the group.

. Ask students to brainstorm how the truth would look if they applied it in any or all of these five arenas of their life (school, family, church, inner life, relationships).

Click here to send your response plus the title of this article to us at Good News.

Next Generation

Helping them practice what you preach Duffy Robbins

Helping them practice what you preach
Duffy Robbins