Reading the Bible to Teach, Part 3: Experiential Reading

The Word became flesh.  Seriously.  Just imagine that for a minute.  The agent of creation, the Word who was with God and was God, took on skin, and as the Message puts it, "moved into the neighborhood."

God is the ultimate creative communicator!  If we want to bring the Bible to life for kids, our biggest job will be putting flesh on God's word and moving it into their neighborhood.

How do you that?  In my last post, I said you start by reading the Bible devotionally, that you do business with God first before using the Bible as a part of your "job."  But once you've taken the time to let God speak to you personally through the Scripture, it's time to read it again through the eyes of a reporter. 

When you read the Bible experientially, you're looking for details - details that will put flesh on the word and make it easy to move it into a kid's neighborhood, their everyday world.   As you read the Bible experientially place yourself as a character in the story.  Imagine what it really would have been like to be there.  Look for details that the Bible explicitly mentions, but also ones that could be inferred

1.      Start with the five senses.  

Sight:  Read through the story you're teaching and make a list of the visual details the Bible describes.  Goliath noticed that David was a pretty boy - ruddy and handsome.  Saul was plunged into darkness on the road to Damascus.  Lydia sold purple cloth. 

Sounds:  Listen to the rooster crowing, Jesus crying out in a loud voice, the temple curtain ripping in two. 

Smell:  Think of the spicy aroma of Jacob’s stew, the stench of sweaty soldiers on a battlefield or the smell of perfume poured on Jesus’ feet.     

Taste:  Imagine the bittersweet juice of the fruit in the garden and the earthy taste of bread at the last supper. 

Touch:  What did it feel like for Thomas to touch Jesus’ scars?  Or the five smooth stones in David’s hands?

2.  Move on to kinesthetic senses.  Imagine how Peter physically felt running to the tomb – heart pounding, breath gasping, his side hurting.

3. Finish with emotions.  Was Peter scared running to the tomb?  Excited?  Imagine Adam’s shame when He heard God walking in the garden and David’s joy when the stone found its mark.  Emotions are powerful motivators and humanize stories that can otherwise may seem distant and remote. 

Once you’ve finished this list, you should now have plenty of flesh to put on the word.  Just think about how much easier it will be to help kids experience the reality of story with these details in your back pocket. 

When you take this list back to your boxed curriculum or go to write a lesson from scratch, you don’t have to include all of the details you’ve recorded, just the ones that you think will be the most effective for bringing the word to life in their imaginations.  Take a cue from novelists who talk about capturing the “telling detail,” describing one or two key details that paint an entire scene in their audience’s mind. 

On a side note, if you’re not telling a straight up story, for instance you’re teaching on the famous love passage from 1 Cor. 13, you’ll have to find other ways to bring out the details and make the word flesh (describe a clanging symbol and a resounding gong) and we’ll look at examples of how to do that well in future posts. 

In the mean, have fun mining the details and experiencing the word of God coming to life in your own awesome imagination. 

What are some of your favorite details from the Bible?