Is the Bible boring?
It’s okay to admit it. We’ve all had moments when we’ve felt that our Bible time was more of a slog than a vibrant Bible experience. The Bible is a big ancient book of text. It clocks in a bit longer than the novel Les Misérables, a little shorter than the entire Harry Potter series. And if you don’t classify yourself as a reader, that amount of text can seem pretty daunting.
I’ve spent the past couple of decades trying to encourage teens, youth workers, and anyone else who will listen on how to push through Bible tedium. I’ve focused on how Scripture wants to be taught, highlighting those passages that challenge us to engage in Scripture diligently, intently, and meditatively. Along with those great actions, I’ve been sure to note the payoffs that Scripture says we can expect when we approach it that way.
In doing this, I have been laser-focused on how the Bible wants to be taught, but I have overlooked another very important component: how our brain wants to learn, which is, our learning style.
Curiously, this week, March 11-17 is “Brain Awareness Week,” so what better week to talk about the brain and the Bible?
There are many learning styles, but there are four anchor categories worth highlighting. These four are represented in the acrostic, VARK: Visual, Auditory, Reader, Kinesthetic.
Here is an ever-so-brief snapshot of each style.
Visual: You are drawn to images, maps, charts, diagrams, and flowcharts and other visual ways to organize the information. For visual learners good Prezi or PowerPoint diagrams rock.
Auditory: You may best learn through lecture style situations, group discussions, listening to podcasts. You may cater to repetition and mnemonic tools like “Every Good Boy Does Fine” and you may especially like the fact that these four anchor learnings spell the memorable acrostic VARK. You may also like knowing there is a vlog version of this past (see below).
Reader/Writer: You love words! You prefer reading and note-taking; you may like to journal, make lists, collect/use quotations. If you viewed the vlog version of this post first, you may have sought out this post when you learned a text version of the vlog was available.
Kinesthetic: You like tactile, hands-on learning situations. You like to learn with your hands; you’d rather take a watch apart than have someone tell you how it works. You likely prefer real scenarios and video of REAL things showing you how something works.
So how can these different styles help us engage in Scripture?
Visual: If you’re visual learner, I’d steer you to drawing timelines and maps in the Old Testament, or diagrams and flowcharts of Paul’s long paragraphs in the New Testament; use colors and symbols to mark key words and phrases in Scripture.
Auditory: If you’re auditory, I’d steer you to listen to the Bible online, or talk to someone every day about the epiphanies you’ve had in Scripture.
Reading/Writing: If you’re a reader, First off, a big thick book should be attractive to you. But I’d invite you to do more than read the words: mark them, highlight them. Then make lists of what you learn about the things you’ve marked. Process the lists: what’s most convicting? What’s most confusing?
Kinesthetic: If you’re a kinesthetic learner, I’d invite you to print out a few passages of Scripture, take them to a park, then walk and memorize passages as you walk. Or, when you finish your time in Scripture, create a clay or Play-Doh item that depicts a key takeaway for your Scripture time.
God, in His sovereignty, seems to have designed different parts of the Bible to cater to different learning styles. And the parts of the Bible that cater to your learning style are your gateway into the rest of the Bible.
For a little deeper dive into the subject, check out this sheet: VARK Learning Styles and Inductive Bible Study
Pro Tip: Google around for learning style assessments and find a simple tool you can use to help teens in your ministry evaluate their learning styles. This could be some of the most helpful info you’ve ever gathered about your group.
And here is the VLOG version of the post, for you auditory learners!