InFocus Curriculum

InFocus Curriculum
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Jesus Christ is not only our Savior and Lord but also the greatest teacher who ever lived. As such, he is the Church's model for education and discipleship. Jesus left his followers a sizable body of instruction, and he commissioned the leaders of the Early Church to make disciples by teaching it. This part of the Great Commission is still valid for every church today. We believe the core of all church curricula ought to be the things Christ taught and commanded.

This teaching of Jesus, the instruction he passed down to his followers, is crucial to a holistic understanding of the Bible. On the one hand, it summarizes the Old Testament, and on the other, leads us directly to the redemptive work of Christ, which is the gospel message. It is foundational, furthermore, to the apostolic instruction unfolded in the remainder of the New Testament. Thus, the Jesus catechism binds together all of Scripture.

Jesus left his Church a catechesis (a teaching method) to spread his catechism (the teaching content). Our Lord delivered his message in instructional blocks which shifted in emphasis and increased in spiritual and theological depth as his followers matured in their understanding of the Kingdom mission. Some teaching he reserved for the inner circle of future leaders he was mentoring in hands-on ministry. Jesus also targeted certain teaching toward seekers, some toward opponents, and some toward the crowds in general. This same vision should shape Christian education today.

Teaching the Scriptures should continue to be one of the key tasks of pastors and other church leaders. The one who ministers the word must explain both its doctrine (what to believe) and its ethics (how to live). This dual task will encompass the full content of both testaments.

But all ministry of the word must ultimately find its foundation upon the person of Christ himself and his authoritative instruction left to us in the canonical gospels.

The first role of the Christian educator is catechist--to lead young and old to a faith-relationship with Christ and then to ground them in the things Jesus taught. All other tasks are secondary. To merely convert the lost is not enough. Evangelism is incomplete without discipleship. Conversion is unfinished until a life of obedience is established. The Jesus catechism is the original and primary tool for achieving that end.

We are convinced that this biblical material can be packaged into a coherent and comprehensive curriculum that speaks to the minds and hearts of people today. In this way the first-century Jesus catechism can become a Jesus curriculum for the twenty-first century.