BIBLE CLASSES AND PRACTICALITY Recently I read a story that occurred in the early 1900’s. We live in an agricultural area and you may find it amusing. It also teaches a very important truth that ought to be considered. It seems there was a young man who brought one of his learned “doctors” home with him for the weekend. After supper, the boy told the professor they would harness the horse and ride over the little town. The teacher wanted to assist and so the boy got the harness and handed part of it to him. The visiting scholar started to put it on the cow, which was standing near. The boy guided him to the horse, which nudged the “doctor” in a friendly way. The professor ran out of the barn and fell over the milking stool. By now he was ready to go home. But he was soon pacified and they took a walk across the field. On their return the “doctor” told the boy’s father about seeing the “corn bushes” and the little “cotton trees” but he could not understand why the land was in such long, wavy ups and downs. He thought it ought to be arranged to make walking more pleasant. The lesson from this fable is obvious. Education ought to include the practical and not just theory. It is possible to accumulate much knowledge and very little of what we used to call in middle Tennessee “horse sense”. The reasoning may also be applied in the church. Examine some of the literature we use. We are called upon to fill in blanks, which when filled will tell us how many words appear in the third chapter of Jonah. We are asked to circle the correct letter as to how many slaves the Queen of Sheba had. About the closest thing to practicality are those questions calling on us to tell the subject of the lesson or repeat the golden text. Now really, if parents are struggling to help their children overcome a drug problem, what benefit is it going to be for them to know that figs are not mentioned in Deuteronomy 6? A family dealing with grief or a man who has just learned he has a terminal illness will not likely receive comfort and edification in knowing the number of stones in the ephod of the priest. Institutions that train preachers could also do well to emphasize practicality to their students. Our Lord was the master teacher. There has never been another who had better insight to the problems of life. Education should be motivated by common sense. Class room “doctors” would be helpless for buildings andlor equipment were it not provided by practical men whose sons they try to teach. We are not criticizing those who are close students of the word. But we are saying there is a need to show people how it applies to them. What could be more helpfiul than impressing again, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so”? Leon Cole
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 09:47:36 +0000