How to Teach a Better Bible Class: Ask Open-Ended Questions by Josh Hardin

The first thing to do in order to lead a good discussion class is to ask open-ended questions. Nothing kills a discussion like a question to which everyone knows the answer. No one wants to speak up, because it is obvious that no one should have to. When someone finally does speak, they say one or two words and then go silent. No one else says anything, because there is nothing else to be said. Discussion over.

Open-ended questions, however, can allow a discussion to build. They allow the class as a whole to work through the thought process of answering the question. The students have to think through to find the solution rather than trying to determine just what the teacher wants to hear. The teacher acts as mediator for the discussion. He or she makes sure everyone stays on the subject and that the class continues to move forward. The teacher also makes sure that the students see the problem with a biblical mindset and think through it in God’s way. Certainly, there will be some answers that are not quite right. The teacher can see how the student might have arrived at that idea and guide them back to looking at it in the proper light. Once a discussion has gone far enough, the teacher can summarize the good things everyone has said and move on to the next questions or passage of Scripture.

Here’s an example. In a class about the Exodus, a teacher might tell the story about Moses going up on Mount Sinai to receive the law from God. Meanwhile, down below, the people melt their gold and make an idol of a calf, which they praise as being their god. Moses comes down off the mountain and smashes the tablets of the Ten Commandments in anger.

The teacher asks: “Did the people sin by making a Golden Calf?”
A student answers: “Yes.”
Teacher: “Should they have done that?”
Student: “No.”
Teacher: “Should we worship idols today?”
Silence.
Someone finally says: “No.”
End of discussion.
Teacher goes on reading and making comments.

Instead of asking those yes or no questions, the teacher could have asked open-ended questions to make the students think. “Why do you think the Israelites made a calf to worship right after they had seen God’s power bring them out of Egypt?” “Why did Aaron agree to build the calf?” The students’ answers may also give rise to other questions that can be discussed.

With these types of questions, the students have to think through why the Israelites did what they did. What were they thinking? What was their mindset? Did they really believe that calf, which they just made, brought them out of Egypt? Most importantly, how do we avoid falling into that same type of mindset and thinking today? The class thinks through the problem together, the teacher makes sure that people stay on the right track, and the students learn to evaluate problems and figure out biblical solutions on their own, even when the teacher is not around to give them the answers.

It may frighten some teachers to ask open-ended questions. Students may give some answers the teacher does not expect. Students may ask some questions the teacher cannot answer. But it is important to remember that no teacher has all the answers, and it is okay to say, “I don’t know. I’ll have to do some more study on that.”

It takes more work to teach using open-ended questions, but the class itself is easier because the teacher talks less, and the students actually learn more and are able to examine the Bible in a way that will help them think like God wants them to.