Learning Styles for Christians

Learning Styles for Christians                       Scripture: Luke 24:36-48 & Acts 3:12-19

Once Upon a time, there was a woman who was taken from her husband and kids by a mean witch. She was transformed into a pretty rose that would sit in the witch’s garden along with several other identical rosebushes. Each of the rosebushes were the same shade of red, had identical fragrance, and shape. In fact, they all had the same number of petals, leaves, and thorns.

After much pleading, the witch agreed to let her visit her family every night when the sunset. But as soon as the sun rose in the morning, she would find herself one of the three identical rosebushes again. Still, she wanted to be with her family night and day, of course. She continued to plead for her freedom. Finally, the witch said that if her husband truly loved her, he could identify her among the other beautiful roses.

That night, she told her husband, “tomorrow morning go out to the field before noon and look at the witch’s rose garden. If you can pick a rose from the bush that is me, I will be set free.”

When the sun began to rise, she was suddenly gone and back in the garden. After tending to the children, but well before noon, her husband went to the field and found the beautiful red rosebushes exactly alike. He looked carefully and then picked a rose. Instantly his wife was returned to him.

 But how did he know which rosebush was his wife?

 

 

 

Truthfully, this puzzle had me stumped. We have here in our congregation some experts on roses and they, no doubt, probably already figured out that the husband just looked for the rosebush that had no dew on it. Since, after all, she was able to spend the night in her own house; she would not have been covered by the night’s dew.

 

To be honest, When I first read the story, I didn’t get it. I was thinking that somehow his wife must have had a brighter shade of red or been a bit of a thorn in his side at times. Once I turned the page, however, it seemed so simple. Once I had someone explain the answer to me, that is, it seemed so clear that I wondered how I could have missed its meaning beforehand.    You see, I am the kind of learner who needs to have things explained to me. 

 

Short and tall, young and old, Thin and … let’s say, not so thin, We humans, of course, come in many different diverse packages, and of course, inside, our thinking styles tend to be just as diverse.     Educational psychologists have classified seven unique learning styles.  Your individual learning style has more influence than you may realize. Your preferred styles guide the way you learn.

Research shows us that each learning style uses different parts of the brain. Here is the key, By involving more of the brain during learning, we remember more of what we learn.  

 

 

The seven learning styles are:

·       Visual:  Needs to see the learning

·       Aural:  Audio learners, need to hear it, musical sounds and rhythms

·       Verbal:  Speaking, Writing, word based recording events; Reading is key.

·       Kinesthetic or Physical (hands on learner,)

·       Logical: Not to be too Spock like, but a logical understanding helps us connect the stories

·       Social: Learns better in groups or in teams

·       Solitary: Learn individually, makes personal individual connections.

 

So Why all this talk about Learning Styles?  Well, I guess that I am revving up for back to school in a week.  Today, I want to talk about Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher. 

According to Dr. Ray Pritchard of Crosswalk, 

 “Other words come more quickly to mind—Lord, Savior, Master, and Redeemer. But here’s an amazing fact. Of the 90 times Jesus was addressed directly in the gospels, 60 times he was called Teacher. This was the word the multitudes used. This was how the disciples referred to him. Jesus himself used the term when he said, “You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am” (John 13:13). When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he said, “We know that you are a teacher who has come from God” (John 3:2).”

 

So let’s consider Our Teacher:

In our first scripture today, we read in Luke chapter 24 that following His resurrection, Jesus found the disciples in the upper room, the same room where He had shared the first communion with them. At this time, of course, following his unexpected execution and then the crazy stories of his missing body, His friends were no doubt a bit disheveled. Actually, I think I would use the term “freaked out.” Then, Jesus appeared to them. The scripture reports that he had some food and invited them to examine His wounds in order to fully believe. This was obviously a Visual lesson but remember the more kinesthetic tactile lesson he saved later for our doubting Thomas. The scripture explains that He then opened their minds to the scripture and explained their meaning.

This was not, of course, not at all the first time that the Lord had spoken to the disciples about scripture. I want to be careful here and not offend anyone, but to tell you the truth; I don’t really think that the disciples were always the sharpest tools in the shed. There were quite a few instances where they seemed a bit; shall we say, slow. Jesus, of course, the Master Teacher, believed in NCLB, you know, No Christian Left Behind.

·       So let’s examine their early education. The Lord healed a sick Centurion’s child, raised a young man from the dead, healed lepers and the blind, and cast out demons. Yet on board a ship in a storm, the disciples despaired and called out to Jesus that they were going to be lost at sea. Perhaps they were not the best auditory learners.  But He had faith in them.

Later, Jesus told the disciples that the Son of Man must suffer and Peter actually argued with Him. When they witnessed the miracle of the transfiguration and saw Jesus actually talking with Elijah and Moses, Peter was thinking about putting up a tent for the new guests. Maybe they were not always real visual learners either.  Another teacher might have been rather frustrated, But Jesus was patient that Peter would eventually get the bigger picture.

 

After Jesus fed 5000 people with a couple loaves of bread and a few fish, He and the disciples got into a boat, and Jesus warned them, "Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod?" According to Mark (8:14) the disciples thought that Jesus meant that since they didn’t have any bread for the journey, they shouldn't buy any bread from any Pharisee they might see on the other shore because something was wrong with the yeast they used. For His disciples, Metaphors, and verbal and social learning were also not always a strength. 

At this point, I can just see myself complaining in the staff room about this impossible class of students.  But not Jesus, He continued to teach. From the Good Samaritan to the Master with his talents of silver, Jesus told stories in His parables that were both culturally relevant and yet individual enough to apply to everyone.  He used visual illustrations as He washed the feet of the disciples to teach servant leadership. 

Always the Master Teacher, He used repetition and logical social and culturally accurate stories that challenged and questioned His audience.  He asked deep Socratic like questions of both his student disciples and the Pharisees that challenged Him.  To His disciples he asked, Who do the people say I am, who do you say I am?  To the Pharisee he asked, “Whose face is on that coin?”

When Mary anointed Jesus with perfume, she was disciplined by the disciples for wasting expensive perfume that could have been sold for cash. When Jesus tried to tell them that He would soon be executed but then would be raised up after 3 days, they still didn't get it. In fact, on the night Jesus was arrested, the disciples ran for their lives. Peter couldn't even stand up to a servant girl who identified him as a friend of Jesus.

It really seemed like they just were not going to get it. They needed to hear, see, touch and then say it for themselves. But you know what?  They did. Jesus opened their minds and their hearts, the Master and very patient Teacher once more explained the scriptures to them and they finally did get it. They were not left behind.

In our second scripture in Acts, we read that Peter and John explained to a large crowd that included priests and Pharisees that Jesus’ crucifixion had been foretold by the prophets. Through faith they explained the meaning of the scriptures and taught others to understand Jesus’ resurrection. Through the mercy of Christ, they got it and now they were the teachers.

In Washington State, in order to graduate, students used to study for the WASL.  Now it’s the Smarter Balanced: English language arts and math tests, the Measurements of Student Progress (or MSP): for Science test for grades 5 and 8 and the High School Proficiency Exams (or HSPE): Reading and writing tests for students through the Class of 2016. Students in grades 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10 need to show on state mandated assessments that they are at standard.

 

Wow, that is a lot of assessment and as teachers, we spend a lot of time teaching to those set standards.  Jesus also taught to a standard and he was very clear in Mathew 7, 11: When he said, “Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the Law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets. 

Let me say that yes, the assessments for each of us will be unique, but the standard applies to all of us and I can tell you that that you will not need a number 2 pencil, just the ability to believe, and this Teacher always gives “make ups.”

The noted bishop and church father, Saint Augustine once said that, “Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.”  

This is what this passage means to me: There with Jesus in the upper room, following His death and resurrection, when the disciples truly believed, they were ready to fully understand, and to begin teaching His message. Today, God continues to open our eyes and open our understanding, He opens the scriptures to us so that we may open our mouths and tell others about Him. Jesus, the Master Teacher, continues to teach to us individually and socially, He provides us a written record in the Bible, with logical audial stories, and many opportunities to see and touch His vision of the world through countless mission outreaches opportunities.