It happened again this week.
A friend had worked really hard in preparing his Bible lesson. He had taken notes on a previous teaching time, made plans to improve his teaching, and was looking forward to his teaching this time. Not only had he studied the lesson well, but he had also prepared an important technological visual aid so his listeners would hear and see the lesson. He was so excited when he started the lesson.
Except, the technology didn’t work.
No matter what he and others tried to do, it didn’t work.
All his teaching plans, it seemed, had gone awry. At least, he felt that way. Frustration captured him quickly—and his confidence in his teaching preparation wavered.
Maybe you’ve been there at some point, too.
In my early years of ministry, our visual aid options would have been quite limited – maybe a flannel board (remember them?) or a slide projector – and we simply didn’t think much about doing anything but speaking when we taught. We weren’t, though, more spiritual than teachers are today; we just didn’t have the options available today. My guess is that we would have used technology, too, had it been available.
And, hear me closely: I am not arguing against the use of technology to undergird our teaching. The educator in me thinks pedagogically, and the missionary in me thinks contextually—and both point to the importance of visual teaching and learning in today’s culture. There’s unquestionably, in my judgment, a place for using technological tools in teaching the Word today.
We just can’t depend on those tools.
We can’t depend on them because they won’t always work like we had planned. The electricity might go out. Your computer or projector might quit working. God might even give you an opportunity to teach in a place where there’s little electricity in the first place. Even in places around the world where cell service is surprisingly available, the use of cell phone technology for teaching is limited to its functioning properly.
More specifically, though, we just need to learn in general to use our own words to paint the pictures of the Word for our listeners as we teach and preach. The Word is powerful on its own, and we’re both privileged and challenged to teach it well. Think with me about some of the stories of the Scriptures that readily challenge us to read and explain the Word with vivid imagery:
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- the appearance of light in the darkness when God said, “Let there be light”
- Adam and Eve cowering among the trees in their sin
- the questioning heart of Isaac as he and his father made their way up the mountain, “But where is the sacrifice?”
- Moses approaching a burning bush that would not be consumed
- Moses looking into a Promised Land he would not enter
- Joshua grieving defeat of the Hebrews at Ai
- Isaiah crying out, “Holy, holy, holy!”
- Elijah calling down fire on the altar in opposition to the prophets of Baal
- Jonah frustrated when God offers grace to Nineveh
- parable after parable that Jesus taught with imagery and intentionality
- a hurting, desperate, blood-diseased woman made well and a synagogue ruler with a daughter now raised from the dead
- a lame man now healed and leaping with joy in the temple area
- Paul and Silas singing in a prison cell
- Paul writing words of gratitude and joy to the Philippians
- Paul’s describing the armor of God
- John’s trying to describe the new heaven and the new earth
I could go on and on, but I trust you get the point. It’s easier to paint pictures of the many narrative accounts of Scripture, but you can take your listeners into all the Scriptures as you explain and show the texts with intentionality. Many of us just have to work harder at it.
Doing so requires us to prepare well not only to understand the Word, but also to communicate it—and helping our listeners hear and see the Word through our prayer-saturated, well-thought-through words is worth the effort.
Posted on July 3, 2025
Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.
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