Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He started teaching by meeting needs of His learners. With the woman at the well, He started with her need for water (John 4:7-26). With Zaccheus, He invited him to come down from the tree so that he could see and hear Jesus (Luke 19:1-10). With the centurion, Jesus healed the servant (Luke 7:1-10). The same approach of meeting needs through Bible study and discipleship opportunities is effective for leaders today. By first addressing the needs of adults, leaders and teachers are helping adults find how God meets their needs through the Bible. Only then do Bible study and discipleship become relevant to their everyday lives.

Gilbert Peterson identified six primary needs of adults in his book The Christian Education of Adults. All adults in some form experience these needs: physical, security, affection, significance, accomplishment, and creativity. With these in mind, ministry leaders and teachers can plan Bible studies, discipleship opportunities, and ministry/missions avenues that will address these needs and allow God to work in the lives of adults.

Human beings of all ages need sleep, food, water, air, and exercise. These needs stem from bodily functions. Adults, however, experience physical changes that affect how these needs are met in their lives.

During midlife, men experience a decrease in their physical strength. Kenneth Gangel and James Wilhoit pointed out in their book, The Christian Educator's Handbook on Adult Education, that this decline involves their ability to learn and perform large psychomotor skills. This decline initiates a need to change eating habits and exercise regimen. Women experience menopause during midlife. This physical change affects sleep patterns. Many women adjust their eating and exercise habits to combat their spreading waistlines.

In addition, many adults struggle with other types of physical declines. A loss of hearing ability, particularly with high-pitched tones, is common among both men and women. A sharp decline in visual acuity causes many adults to wear glasses or contact lenses. The metabolism of their bodies begins to slow down, which causes weight problems for most adults. In a more serious concern, Jerry Stubblefield, professor of Christian education at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in his book A Church Ministering to Adults that after the onset of the 40s, the heart, lungs, kidneys, and liver begin to malfunction.

Concern for health becomes an issue for most adults during the middle years. Anxiety over health concerns can cause adults to be open to ministry that is intended to help them deal with their anxiety. Churches are wise to be sensitive to these health concerns.

The need for security is a common need for preschoolers, children, youth, and adults. Security is feeling safe physically and emotionally. It also involves a feeling of acceptance by others. Acceptance by Jesus Christ is a spiritual experience that meets the need for security. The doctrine of the security of the believer confirms that Christ's acceptance is eternal. It can never be taken away. This spiritual security is an important gift to all adults.

In his book Foundations of Ministry, Michael Anthony warned church leaders to avoid assuming that all Christian adults have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Churches are full of adult believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior but have never become His disciples. They may never have experienced Christ's acceptance. In George Barna's "State of the Church, 2000" report, he concluded that half of the people who say they are born again have lost souls (Ted Byfield and Virginia Byfield, "Half the Born-Agains are Still Lost Souls, a Researcher Finds, and There's a Reason," Report/Newsmagazine, 27:9 [9/11/2000]: 54). Bible study, discipleship opportunities, and missions education have the potential of helping adults experience Christ's acceptance and be transformed by His love.

In addition to experiencing spiritual security, physical changes in adulthood affect the level of security for both men and women. Men express heightened concerns over their physical health. Women fear that the changes in their physical appearance will decrease their ability to be attractive and interesting. Consequently, physical changes promote the need for security in adulthood.

In regard to goals in life, midlife brings feelings of insecurity. Men often struggle with goals and values, which may cause them to experience a sense of failure. Underemployment is a concern for many men. Women also struggle with goals and values, but their struggle differs from that of men. Most women in midlife have never had goals. They struggle with a shift from inside the home to outside the family as their children leave home. These struggles can be diminished by an internal sense of security.

The stereotypes of adults often cause confusion among adults themselves. They equate stability with maturity. They think they are supposed to be controlled and restrained in their outlook. However, they often find themselves "seething with anxiety" (Charles M. Sell, Transitions Through Adult Life [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991], 133). By accepting these anxious feelings, adults can retain their sense of security. Christian education can meet this need of security by providing small-group opportunities where adults can talk about their struggles. They can share ways to understand what is happening and accept one another with love.

Hence, the crises of life may cause adults to become involved in learning activities. Through these learning activities they are attempting to meet their need for security. By understanding their situations and experiences, they can accept what is happening to them as normal and respond with a feeling of security.

Peterson also identified the need for affection as a specific concern for middle and older adults that may or may not be a specific need for young adults. As a result of the major physical changes taking place in midlife, affection becomes an important need that must be met. One way to meet physical needs is to provide the fit4 Wellness Plan as a small group opportunity (available by calling 1-800-458-2772).

A transition that prompts the need for affection is the departure of children from the home. The empty-nest experience influences the number of friends. As children mature and leave home, both married and single parents find themselves searching for the affection they once received from their children. Their number of social contacts may diminish as their children graduate from high school. They no longer have social contacts stemming from the their children's activities. Again, small-group opportunities for parents can meet the need for affection.

As adults have fewer friends, the quality of these relationships become more intense and significant than in young adulthood. Friends are no longer just people with whom to socialize on the weekends; they become sources of support and companionship as they experience life crises together. The affection they share for one another becomes a source of strength and encouragement.

Adults experiencing special circumstances also heighten the need for affection. Divorce, underemployment, unemployment, health problems, and death of family members become common experiences of the adult years. Expressions of affection can help adults journey through the grief associated with these experiences.

Another basic need of all adults is a sense of significance. It is feeling appreciated by others. This need is particularly important to middle adults because of the way they are pressed into service by family, church, and community.

One tends to find a sense of inadequacy with a self-perspective largely reflected by roles played as a spouse, parent, and employee. These feelings of inadequacy play a role in the intensity of a person's midlife crisis. However, part of the results of the transitions taking place in midlife is the opportunity for renewal and authenticity. Both men and women in midlife find their identity as someone's spouse or parent to be satisfying. As their need for significance is met, they develop an authentic self-worth based on themselves, not someone else.

As Christians, however, the need for significance was met in creation. The fact that human beings are created in God's image and by His love is truly grounds for significance (Gen. 1:27). As children of God, believers find their self- human need for recognition or appreciation is part of what it means to be made in God's image. God needs human beings to thank Him for all of His blessings. In a similar way human beings need worth in God's love.

Recognition for one's accomplishments is quite important. Many adults tend to desire forms of recognition that suit their personalities. For example, a shy person would not want to be recognized in front of a group. Whether they receive recognition greatly affects their sense of self-worth. This external source of self-worth can result in frustration. When a sense of self-worth is anchored in God's love, adults can realize and accept appreciation from others with a healthy sense of significance.

A fifth primary need of adults is accomplishment. Whether adults are homemakers, firefighters, engineers, teachers, or artists, God creates human beings with a drive to accomplish something during their lives.

Despite some physical decline, most adults do not experience an intellectual decline. In midlife, adults often pursue goals that involve mental skills such as academic degrees. In Adult Development and Learning, Alan Knox identified the following major characteristics of home and family settings that contribute to accomplishment in life:

• General acceptance by family members that adult life entails growth and change.
  
  
• Familiarity with other adults as role models engaged in systematic learning and adaptation.
  
  
• Availability of learning resources for adults in the home, such as books, recordings, and study guides.
  
  
• Awareness of opportunities for organized learning for adults outside the home.
  
  
• Opportunities for adults to engage in activities that help clarify needs to grow and change.
  
  
• Willingness for adult members to spend time and money on continuing their education, along with encouragement and recognition when they do.

Christian education can play an important role in meeting the need for accomplishment. In The Adult Learning Projects, Allen Tough discovered that when adults are the learners, they prefer learning opportunities that are self-directed where teachers serve as facilitators. As they learn this way, they experience accomplishment. As teachers, they need guidance in developing their teaching skills that allows them to be self-directed and recognizes their accomplishments. They need opportunities to discuss and reflect upon their experiences with a small group of fellow teachers. In addition, the Christian Growth Study Plan (www.lifeway.com/cgsp/catalog or call 1-800-968-5519) can be a learning strategy for adults to pursue on their own and receive recognition when they accomplish or complete courses. Church leaders are wise to provide these kinds of opportunities for the adults in their churches.

The final primary need of adults identified by Peterson is creativity. Just as God is creative, adults are open to creative change in their lives. During the adult years, the need for creativity is met by opportunities for new experiences. These new experiences may stem from the physical changes for men and women. A red sports car may meet a man's need for creativity when he experiences a receding hairline or expanding waistline. A home-based business may meet a woman's need for creativity when her child-rearing duties end.

The need for creativity is also met by new relationships. For most, these new friendships are healthy expressions of creativity for both men and women. Again, church families can provide a variety of fellowship opportunities for adults who need healthy relationships with Christian friends.

Adults also need to be creative. Drama, art, music, and even teaching Bible studies can give adults the opportunities to use their skills and talents in creative ways. These opportunities can be strategic side doors for many secular persons to enter the church. They can get to know people in a church family and develop relationships that can eventually bring them to Jesus Christ.

AdultApplication: As you reflect on these needs of adults, identify how you experience these needs. This identification will help you relate to the adults in your group.

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Written by Morlee Maynard, ministry coordination specialist, LifeWay Church Resources.