Why People Don't Learn
Occasionally some member of the church will say,
"I am not learning anything; I am not getting anything out of the class." Therefore, it will be profitable to consider the subject: Why People Don't Learn.
Many school children don't learn as much as they should in the public schools. There must be a reason or reasons for it. Just so, there must be a reason or reasons for people in the church not learning as much as they should in the Bible classes. It would be impossible for one person to give the exact reason for every individual case, but here are some possible reasons:
1. It may be that the teacher doesn't know what he or she should know. If I were to attempt to teach the Hebrew language, I know the students wouldn't get anything out of the class for the simple reason that I don't know anything about that language. The same thing would be true if I were to attempt to teach German, French and many other languages. I have never studied them; I have made no preparation in those fields. Therefore, I leave the teaching of such subjects to others. And, if I knew no more about the Bible than I know about those subjects,
I would leave Bible teaching to someone else.
2. The teacher may be lazy and fail to give the information which the students need. There have been many cases of that kind, not only in public schools, but in Bible classes. I have visited congregations where some teachers seemed to be that way. I remember a case of that kind in a congregation in Mississippi a few years ago. I was there for a meeting and on Sunday morning sat in the adult class taught by one of the elders of that church. The members of the class had a little book that contained some questions, and there were more books in sight than there were Bibles, two to one. If the elder had a Bible with him that day, I don't remember seeing it. (Please don't jump to the conclusion that I oppose the proper use of the proper kind of literature. I don't! I am simply making the point that when one attends a Bible class it is a pretty good practice to take a Bible along.) The elder would ask the questions by reading them out of the book and someone would give the answer. Without any comment or clarification whatsoever, the elder would read the next question, it would be answered, and he would read the next. In about ten minutes the elder was out of questions (some in the class were out of answers long before that) and sat down. We sat there in stone silence for a few minutes, and when I couldn't stand it any longer, I stood up and told them that we might as well make some use of the time. I said, "I am going to pretend that I know nothing about the Bible and the plan of salvation and I want you to tell me what to do to be saved." One in the class said, "Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized." Several others said, "That's right!" But when I called on them to take the Bible and prove it, that was a horse of a different color! Evidently they had not received the information they needed along that line. At least, if they had been exposed to it, it didn't "take."
There are other teachers who take up the time discussing personal experiences. A person doesn't have to know much Bible to do that! I am made to wonder about the diligence of the teacher who is always saying, "If you will pardon a personal reference ..." Personal references
may be interesting to some, but THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION, Rom. 1:16.
3. What is being taught may be so clear to the teacher that he takes for granted the students understand when they don't. We preachers and other teachers go over certain points in our teaching and study so often that those points are crystal clear to us. To others they may be no clearer than mud. For that reason, after discussing a point, the teacher should ask, "Is that clear? Do you understand it? Are there any questions?" It is just as bad for a teacher to overestimate the pupils as to underestimate them.
4. Many students don't learn because they don't study. That is true in the field of secular education and it is certainly true in the church. How much time do you spend studying the lesson before going to the Bible class? If your child were to spend the same amount of time studying arithmetic, would he "get much out of" that subject? Would he pass or fail? The religion of Christ must be learned. The Lord said, "Take my yoke upon you, and LEARN of me (Matt. 11:29). To Timothy, Paul said, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast LEARNED and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast LEARNED them." (2 Tim. 3:14.) If you are waiting for the knowledge of the word of God to come to you without any effort on your part, you are waiting in vain. Even though your child has the finest arithmetic teacher in the world, he must apply himself in order to learn arithmetic. You must apply yourself in order to learn the Bible.
5. Some people don't learn because they don't listen. Teachers in the public schools have trouble getting the students to listen, and preachers and Bible class teachers are confronted with the same problem. School teachers will tell you that most pupils would be able to pass a simple test without opening a book if they would only listen. Members of the church would learn much more than they do if they wouldn't let their minds wander around all over creation while the teacher is talking.
6. Some students don't learn because they pretend to understand when they don't. They are reluctant to say they don't understand because they are afraid to "show my ignorance", as some put it. But bear in mind the fact that others are "ignorant" too! So, you are not by yourself! Also, it is much better for a person to show his ignorance if necessary and learn something than to hide his ignorance and learn nothing! To follow the former course is to become informed; to follow the latter course is to remain ignorant.
7. Many do not learn because they just don't want to learn. School teachers know what I mean. Some students don't care if six plus four equals ten or a hundred and ten. Some don't care if "he" is a pronoun or an adverb. Some in the church seemingly don't care if the church was established on Pentecost or the fourth of July. The preacher is spinning his wheels and wasting his time, as far as they are concerned, when he talks about the organization through which the work of the church is to be done, for they don't care whether it is done through the local congregation or the 4-11 Club! They don't learn because they don't care to learn; they have no convictions; and they have not the proper respect for God's word. Seemingly, some don't care if the Lord was crucified on Calvary or shot on Bunker's Hill! My prayer is: "Lord, please help them if you can, for I am at my wit's end."
8. Some students don't learn because they are mentally retarded. However, I doubt that being true of many members of the church, if any. It is true that many are mentally lazy, but there is a vast difference between being mentally lazy and being mentally retarded. Surely people who are successful in business and who secure and hold good positions in the business world are not mentally retarded! When a man can remember how much he got for hogs three years ago, how much he had to pay for a mowing machine fifteen years ago, and how much he had to pay for cotton picking twenty years ago, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH HIS MEMORY! It is a mighty poor excuse for such a person to say, "Well, I read the Bible some, but I just can't seem to remember it." He either doesn't read it enough, or has his mind centered on earthly things to such an extent that the word is choked. Paul said, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3.) In his explanation of the parable of the sower, the Lord said, 'He also that received seed among the thorns is he that - heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful." (Matt. 13:22.) That is a perfect picture of many church members, if I ever saw one!
9. Others (in the church MANY others) don't learn because they don't attend school regularly. If a child were to attend school one day while the class is on addition and not go back till the class is studying division, he wouldn't "get much out of" arithmetic, would he? Nor would he "get much out of it" if he never arrived at the school building until the arithmetic class was over each day. That's the very reason why the "come-once-in-a-while" and "eleven-o'clock-on-Sunday-morning" church members don't know much Bible!