Notice that Jesus starts out by asking His followers what others are thinking before He asks them for their opinion. He starts with questions that are less personal, before moving toward a more direct and pointed inquiry; listening to their opinions, then talking about God’s revelation of the truth.

At Dare 2 Share Ministries, we’ve tagged this powerful approach to teaching theological truth with the label ALT-ernative Teaching. ALT stands for:

A – Ask great questions.

L – Listen intently.

T – Teach God’s Word.

Using an ALT-ernative Teaching style unleashes teens’ natural curiosity and pushes them to think more deeply about what they believe and why.

Provocative Questions

So what makes for great questions to trigger discussion? Questions that can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”; spiritual questions relevant to how to live life; questions likely to start a debate. One great way to get a pulse on the kinds of questions that will intrigue your teens and stimulate discussion is to ask them to provide you with their questions. Here’s a small sampling of the kinds of questions teens are wondering about, taken from a real youth group’s recent Q & A time:

• If someone lives their whole life doing bad things, and then on their death bed hears the gospel and accepts Jesus, do they still get to go to heaven?

• How do you forgive your enemies?

• It sometimes doesn’t seem like God is listening. Am I praying right?

• How can we tell when something is God’s will?

• Why does God forgive us when we do wrong things?

• How do we know Christianity is the right religion?

The very depth of these questions indicates teens are seriously seeking to know God more deeply and better understand His ways. The more you can tap into your students’ genuine curiosity and shine the light of God’s Word on the real life questions churning inside them, the stronger their faith will grow.

The second step in the ALT-ernative strategy is to “listen intently.” As you introduce this new ask-listen-teach approach to communicating theological truth, be prepared for some awkward silence. Remember awkward silence is your friend. After you ask your question, refuse to talk until your teenagers start sharing. Time may seem to slow down. You may feel embarrassed. You may feel tempted to just jump in and start talking. Fight the temptation with silence. As awkward as it is for you, it’s just as awkward for your teenagers. If you’re patient, God can use this uncomfortable silence to do something in their hearts and push them to search their souls for an honest answer.

As your teens share their thoughts, affirm their honesty (not necessarily their answers). When their views are out in left field, listen carefully and attentively, then respond with comments such as,“Thank you for your honesty…” “So what you’re saying is…” “Go a little deeper with that.” “Does anybody else agree with this answer and why?”

Once you’ve listened, it’s time to make the transition to the third step of the ALT-ernative Teaching approach--“teach God’s Word.” This is where the power is--in God’s Word. So make sure you take your teens there and don’t just serve up your own opinions. Do your homework in advance. Know where the key passages are that deal with the topic at hand. As you share what the Bible says on the subject, it will lead to even more discussion and, if you’re lucky, a debate among students.

Don’t be intimidated by the possibility that your spiritual discussions might take you to a place where you don’t know the answer. I guarantee there will be times the conversation will go in an unexpected direction. Sometimes a simple “I don’t know, but let’s try to find out together” may be all you have to say.

Remember that teenagers will learn a whole lot more about the nature of God and spiritual truth if they are able to engage with the subject honestly without getting shut down by their youth leader. So ask first, then listen, then teach and watch to see how God can use this approach to make the mix of theology and teens a dynamic experience, not eye-rolling drudgery.