During a Christianity Explored training session, Rico Tice explained that we learn best if we are being taught in four different contexts:
- From the front;
- In small groups;
- One-to-one; and
- On your own.
I think it is obvious what the unique qualities of each context are. I am convinced that we should be reading the Bible and exploring what it means in all four contexts if we want it to seep deep into our hearts and lives.
I think this not only because this is a good principle for all learning (although I think it is, and it is striking how the College of Law balances all apart from one-to-one), but because it is particularly the case for the Gospel which is a proclamation of news but is already known and experienced by all Christians, and which is shared by a community but is also personal to each individual.
For the last 2 years I've been deliberately trying to balance all four in my life, and I am increasingly convinced of the worth of keeping that balance.
I should probably write a long post about the strengths and weaknesses of each, and describe how doing all four prevents the harm which would be caused by too much weight on one or the other. Its too late though so I'll leave you to think it through on your own!
Interesting that only one of the four is outside the context of the community of faith... and even that is pretty much dependent on what has already been learnt in the community context. I wonder what this does to the perceived primacy of quiet times... Is there a sense in which quiet times are useful but not central. Or to put it differently, is Christ's one-to-one communion with the Father something unique to him and its analogy in us is seen primarily in communion with the Father in the context of the local church. The Lord's prayer after all is in the first person plural...
ReplyDeleteJust some thoughts here - I have by no means reached any firm conclusions on this but I'd like to if possible! :-)