Thoughts inspired from classes? (I guess I am learning something after all...)

I can already tell that new entries are going to be few and far between. I'm taking 18 hours this semester (at Wheaton, which means it's even more crazy), I just got a job, I'm a tour guide for the college, and I still have to find time to do homework and be social, much less eat and sleep and all that good stuff. It's pretty darn crazy.

So we've been talking about a lot of similar issues in a couple of my classes. That's what so great about taking classes that apply to my major. It's awesome. But we've been talking about the most effective way to teach people in a Christian setting. I guess I had never really realized how much the church follows the secular schooling method. It's all about a good teacher and dividing people up by age and stuff. Really, the only thing that's different is that there is less homework and you don't get a grade.

Does it really work? First off, does the secular schooling method even work at all? I mean, how many things do you really rememeber from your classes? Not much. You usually remember stuff for a test or paper and then it just goes out of your head. Why would we even want to follow this method? If it doesn't really work for the purpose it was originally put to, why would we want to use it for another purpose.

That's not really what Jesus did either. I mean, he did to some extent follow the normal education system for his time, but even then he didn't follow it to the t. He variated in the people he chose and whatnot. But he didn't start teaching classes, he started talking to people and being involved in their lives. And he normally didn't wait for people to come to him either, he went to them. He found them where they were at and talked to them where they were. Sure he didn't want to stay where they were, but he didn't wait for them to be a certain point or place until he first interacted with them. He just went to them as they were.

I think that's more of what the church should look like. I think that's what the church looked like originally anyway. It's not that our programs and classes are good things that teach important stuff, it's just that they really aren't all that effective for people who don't go to church (much less those in the church). We can't expect people to colme to us we have to go to them.