Kim Essenburg, who teaches tenth grade at Christian Academy in Japan, reflects on how questions have helped her students increase their understanding of a Biblical perspective.

I’m reading essays on my students’ favorite song lyrics—everything from the hymn “Blessed Assurance” to “Breaking the Habit” by Linkin Park to “Mr. Feather” by ELLEGARDEN, a Japanese band.

Throughout our poetry unit, I used 2 questions to help my students increase their use of a biblical perspective: “What is the significance of words?” and “What’s wrong with the world?”

They’re getting it—they’re applying a biblical perspective to their music:

• “It acknowledges that humans have an irresistible urge to establish relationships, and that they cannot live without one another. The Bible confirms this truth, that humans, by their very nature, are lonely creatures that seek company and detest isolation.”
  
• “The basic truth that the writer of this song grasps is that the human heart is dark and evil…. It is a mad, confused world, but the Bible is the map.”
  
• “God also seeks justice for humanity.”
  
• “The Bible does have a lot to say on the topic of perseverance….So while we’re ‘driving and striving’ through life, we can rejoice in the hope of God. God uses both pleasures and hardships to help us develop character traits of endurance and determination.”

Using questions works!