Reflections from my first day of teaching in 2008: I started teaching my second semester of “Introduction to the Bible” to undergraduate students at my alma mater (NPU) just last week. Being an adjunct prof is a fairly fun role, but also a strange one; you come onto campus, do your thing for a couple hours a few days a week, hang out in Starbucks and meet students there for some “office hours,” and get to know a small slice of the student body really well. My first time teaching this class I ended up having several great after-class discussions with students, talking through everything from grieving the loss of parents, to questions around a theology of suffering, to how I chose to do this with my life, to whether or not we should forgive people that abuse us. I considered these conversations to be part of the real reason for me teaching, part of how my life got to intersect with students’ lives at an incredibly pivotal part of their own journey. It was a lot of big stuff for students that just met me, I thought. But after all, we do talk, every class period, about a book that can change your life, about a book that has shaped my life in numerous ways and that I pray can touch my students’ lives, too.
Teaching a general overview class on a book (the Bible) that is so formative, and often so personal, to a diverse student body is pretty challenging, though. I had a student join my class today (a week late) and answer 14/15 questions on the quiz over last week’s lecture and reading material correctly – we talkedf and it became clear that he has had a lot of church/ministry/biblical education background already. I also had a student today ask me if Genesis 1-11 meant page numbers – she has obviously never even opened this book before. The breadth of the different levels of knowledge astounds me each semester, and reminds me that I always need to be teaching to MULTIPLE levels of learners. So far I try to always start with the fundamentals, link concepts to over-arching themes and structures, give enough examples to reinforce and explain the concepts to a variety of learners, and then still teach to the next level that will challenge and motivate the already-well-informed student so that they can also grow. It’s such a unique balance to work at – but so worth it! I am reminded again, each time I teach through this book cover to cover in one semester, just how amazing it’s characters, promises, events and themes truly are. This book does change my life.