Why the Basic Seminar Transforms Lives

The first Basic Youth Conflicts Seminar was taught in 1965 as a course at Wheaton College and Graduate School. Forty-five college students, pastors, youth directors, and teachers enrolled. It grew beyond what anyone expected. Within six years, attendance at the seminar had multiplied dramatically. In 1971, a third of a million youth and adults attended the seminar. To date, over 2.5 million people have gone through the 32-hour course. What has caused this phenomenal growth?

People from all backgrounds come to the seminar because their pastors, doctors, lawyers, relatives, or friends tell them that their lives, marriages, and families have been transformed by what they learned when they attended the seminar. Many have stated that they would gladly trade their four years of college or seminary for that one week of training.

What is so transformational about the contents of the seminar? I now understand that the seminar is effective because it explains several of the commands of Christ and how to apply them to daily living. Here are the commands of Christ that are featured in the Basic Seminar.

1. Design: Accepting God’s design in the way He made us—“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39). If we reject and hate ourselves, we will not be able to love God, Who created us, or others who were made in His image.
2. Authority: Getting under the protection of God-ordained authorities—“Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth” (Ephesians 6:2–3). It is always right to honor parents; however, if they ask us to do something that is morally wrong, we cannot obey them.
3. Responsibility: Clearing our consciences of past offenses—“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23–24).
4. Suffering: Forgiving those who offend us—We are to forgive offenders “seventy times seven.” “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14–15).
5. Ownership: Yielding our personal rights—“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29). Meekness is the result of yielding our rights.
6. Freedom: Having physical drives under the control of the Holy Spirit—“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:29).
7. Success: Engrafting Scripture into our souls—“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7).

The seminar message has explained these seven commands of Christ—their rich foundations in the Old Testament as well as their practical application in the New Testament. The personal illustrations that are given throughout the seminar provide additional insight on how these commands can be applied to daily living.

If the Basic Seminar has helped so many people by simply explaining seven commands of Christ, how much more powerful could a study of all 49 general commands be?

You can join thousands of others who are receiving encouragement from daily e-mails focused on learning and applying the commands of Christ by enrolling in Daily Success at dailysuccess.org.