The old adage says that a good picture is worth a thousand words. This is true up to a point. Pictures have their advantages and their disadvantages. A good set of Bible teaching pictures can be a great asset in telling Bible stories and in qualifying someone who may not be accepted otherwise as a teacher except that the person possesses pictures (and hopefully a good working knowledge of the stories).
Advantages:
- Pictures help to clarify story settings, relationships and any activities not commonly known to the listeners. (Altars and sacrifice, the tabernacle, anointing, the crucifixion)
- Pictures are very helpful in reviewing earlier stories as the visual is associated with the story and triggers the recall.
- Pictures may help to preserve the flow of the story as they are displayed in a sequence.
- Pictures may help to illustrate the main truth in a story or climax of the story.
- Pictures may give courage (and focus) to an otherwise fearful beginning storyer.
- Contextualized pictures may ease some culture shock in presenting the stories.
- Many pictures have powerful emotional content in certain cultures—prodigal son at father’s feet, woman wiping feet of Jesus with her hair.
- Pictures, especially color pictures, are necessary to illustrate certain story items like shed blood in the OT sacrifices and of Christ on the cross.
Disadvantages:
- Cost and availability.
- Introduction of pictures may say to new storyers that one must have pictures in order to tell the stories. (Think before you leap!)
- May introduce things in the pictures that are culturally inappropriate—length of women’s clothing, Jesus and Samaritan woman alone at the well, etc.
- May focus on wrong instant of the story—Noah and sons building the ark, etc.
- If produced by non-evangelicals may picture inaccurate observance of baptism.
- Wear out from constant use and poor storage and transport conditions, needing periodic replacement.
- Pictures of prophets are generally unacceptable to conservative Muslims.
- Contextualized pictures may ease culture shock by identifying with clothing, race and features but are historically inaccurate. (It is a toss-up between accuracy and effectiveness in teaching the lsson point.)
Always test pictures before using them to determine which ones are unacceptable and which ones do not communicate well.
Written by an IMB missionary whose identity will remain undisclosed
