Mastering Teaching

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Successful teaching not only opens the mind but also stirs the emotions, fires the imagination, galvanizes the will.
—Howard Hendricks

While milling around at conferences, I occasionally bump into pastors who say to me, "Prof, you once changed the whole course of my life."

"Fantastic!" I reply. "How did it happen?"

"Years ago in class you made one statement that opened my eyes to a whole new perspective on ministry."

I never cease to marvel how powerful truth is—even one sentence of truth—and how profoundly teachers can motivate others. Successful teaching not only opens the mind but also stirs the emotions, fires the imagination, galvanizes the will. If I didn't embrace that, I would despair, for I live not just to teach truth but to change people.

Of course, motivational teaching isn't necessarily the norm. I've heard some Quaalude teaching in my days that left my mind more in a torpor than a tempest. What is the difference between that and stimulating teaching? How can teachers motivate their students?

My wife belongs to a fraternity of journalists that some time ago sponsored a talk by playwright Arthur Miller. She got two tickets, and I jumped at the chance to go with her. After his presentation, Miller invited questions.

"Mr. Miller," someone asked, "How can you tell when you have a good play?"

"When I sit in the audience during one of my plays," he answered, "and in the midst of it I want to shout. 'That's me!' then I know I've got a good one."

Miller has hit on one of the most important principles not only of great plays, but of motivating teaching: our soul is moved by what we can identify with.

People want to see themselves: their dreams, their needs, their problems, and their heartbreaks. ...

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