Teaching NO students?

I heard an excellent lecture recently, which I thoroughly did NOT enjoy. The material was excellent, and the speaker had good communication skills, but something was missing. I am still not totally sure as to what it was, but it seemed like the lesson would have been delivered whether or NOT anyone was present.

It struck me that the lesson was “FLAT”. I am not sure exactly what that means, but there didn’t seem to be enough “energy”. Again, the material was good, there was just something missing it the delivery.

When Jesus taught, he taught people. What alternative is there? Well I think I saw it. My friend taught the lesson, but not people. Jesus engaged his listeners. He used emotion and vivid images in his teaching. My friend didn’t, though he had some good stuff.

Jesus, G^d on earth, didn’t seem overly concerned with CONTROL. I find many today, to be consumed by control. We can’t engage our students because they MIGHT go OFF script and we certainly can’t have that. Jesus taught with confidence, and we so often do NOT.

This raises some questions about teaching. What matters? What changes? What can we control, and what should we control? How do we teach to maximize impact? How do we teach more like Jesus?

Hmm, I wish I knew the answers.