The simple and right answer is the Bible!
But I wonder which bits. Most of us have a bias towards teaching our ‘favourite’ bits. I have also come across people who love to go for the most challenging parts and for no other reason than the fact that most would never dare to try. Having recently spent a week teaching Revelation (the book) to a great group of young people I could be accused of daring.
God and Satan
The whole experience was both challenging and rewarding and raised many issues. I think the most significant was their understanding of God. Many face issues where Satan’s activity rears its ugly head in their lives. To know that God is on the throne and Satan is permanently defeated makes a huge difference when you sometimes think that bad things and bad people always seem to win. When put in proper context I was surprised how easy they found it to get the big picture from the book — God was very gracious in revealing himself in that way to that group of young people.
Old Testament avoidance?
I have met people who run a mile from teaching the Old Testament. I don’t know how we justify editorial rights on God’s material by leaving out anything pre-Jesus, because 2 Timothy 3.16 speaks of ‘all Scripture’ being God breathed — I assume such people believe the Old Testament raises too many difficult issues to warrant their time. So, when we’re deciding what to teach our young people, how do we do it?
