It's the season of the year when I start getting more messages like this one:
"The guy just talks and talks and TALKS and takes all the air out of the room! I'm not getting through the lesson. He obviously can't read our body language, because he just keeps..on..going..forever. I talked with him once and he said he was sorry. Then he did it again even worse the next week. Two people have dropped out because he finds a way to go from our Bible lesson to the presidential political race (and of course they don't like his preferred candidate). Glenn, I'm about to close down this study, because it's just not worth it. What should I do? How do I fix this guy?"
Small groups and new Bible studies are starting up, and after a couple of weeks the "difficult" people become evident, don't they? This guy is describing the classic "excessive talker." You can also run into know-it-alls, lesson-hijackers, therapy-seekers, non-responsives, and aggressive skeptics.
I've made about every mistake you can make, at least with the difficult people who usually appear in Bible studies and small groups and adult Sunday School classes. And God has graciously allowed me to learn about ministering effectively with "tougher-to-love" people that He puts in my classes and groups.
If you need this information, you need it bad!
If you don't need it now, you likely will soon. Every Bible teacher encounters these people. It's part of our growth plan!
By the way, the answer to "How do I fix this guy?" is "You don't. You love them." No where in the Bible are we told to fix people -- that's work that only God can do. But how do you love people in a way that helps them develop, giving them useful and constructive feedback? That's what this audio lesson is all about!
"The guy just talks and talks and TALKS and takes all the air out of the room! I'm not getting through the lesson. He obviously can't read our body language, because he just keeps..on..going..forever. I talked with him once and he said he was sorry. Then he did it again even worse the next week. Two people have dropped out because he finds a way to go from our Bible lesson to the presidential political race (and of course they don't like his preferred candidate). Glenn, I'm about to close down this study, because it's just not worth it. What should I do? How do I fix this guy?"
Small groups and new Bible studies are starting up, and after a couple of weeks the "difficult" people become evident, don't they? This guy is describing the classic "excessive talker." You can also run into know-it-alls, lesson-hijackers, therapy-seekers, non-responsives, and aggressive skeptics.
I've made about every mistake you can make, at least with the difficult people who usually appear in Bible studies and small groups and adult Sunday School classes. And God has graciously allowed me to learn about ministering effectively with "tougher-to-love" people that He puts in my classes and groups.
If you need this information, you need it bad!
If you don't need it now, you likely will soon. Every Bible teacher encounters these people. It's part of our growth plan!
By the way, the answer to "How do I fix this guy?" is "You don't. You love them." No where in the Bible are we told to fix people -- that's work that only God can do. But how do you love people in a way that helps them develop, giving them useful and constructive feedback? That's what this audio lesson is all about!
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