“With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.”
Mark 4:33
How did Jesus teach his disciples? He told stories.
His stories of common everyday things were used as lessons for great mysteries. These stories, which we call parables, were used as anchors for his disciples to understand about the Kingdom of God. Jesus was an engaging story-teller as a teacher, but even if we’re not gifted at telling stories like he was, we must use them as a technique in our religious education classroom.
As witnesses (Day 31), we are called to tell the great story of Jesus’ life and how it has impacted us. Being a witness requires us to be ourselves. It requires us to get out of our comfort zones and be real and be human. The easiest way to tell stories in your next lesson is to tell your story and how it relates to the topic of the day. Or, tell a story from the Bible with important explanations and connections to your life or the lives of your students.
Reference the list of the types of stories you can tell in class from pages 126-127 of 31 Days to Becoming a Better Religious Educator. What kinds of stories can you incorporate into your next lesson? What kinds of stories could you have incorporated into a recent lesson?
