Scholarship Attempt

There is a small scholarship at Knox that is given for the best essay on how Sunday School can be the most interesting hour of the week. Interesting is definitely not the attribute that I would choose as being the most important. But since I am trained in the field of education and have given a lot of thought to teaching kids, I decided I should at least take a shot at it. So even though it is pretty long because of the essay requirements, I thought I'd post it here since I spent the time writing it. Here it is:


When most people think of Sunday School, enjoyment is not often the first thought that comes to mind. While our goal should never be to please ourselves during worship or study times, time spent at church really can be the most interesting time of the week for children. What could be more captivating for a curious child than the beauty of the truest love story of all time and the immensity of the Creator who authored it? The heart of the truly fascinating Sunday School hour must be the glorious gospel of Christ, laid out in truest truth of all time: Holy Scripture. When we are sharing the Word with others with love and passion, we are fulfilling our true purpose in life: glorifying God and enjoying him. No television show, board game, Game Boy, snack, toys, or Bible trivia game can compete with that kind of ultimate fulfillment. Sunday School would look radically different and be much more interesting, if perhaps less entertaining, if we were committed to Scripture teaching instead of fun, looked at Sunday School as a chance to exercise the gift of imagination; and had a deeper, more committed love for our Savior and our students.

A reliance on the efficacy and beauty of the Bible
The problem with many Sunday School programs is a failure to believe in the beauty and fullness of God’s Word. If we truly believed that God’s Word was living and active, sharper than any two edged sword, we would not replace studying infallible truth with play time, snack time, and game time. As children grow older they begin to reject Christianity and we are shocked, but if we have given them a misrepresentation of Christ perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. Glow-in-the-dark Jesus Loves Me bracelets aren’t what sustained the apostles through torture, prison, and martyrdom. We should not rob our children of the spiritual nourishment that they need.
We must teach the whole counsel of God, supporting our covenant families and helping to establish our new converts in the truths of faith. Children should be taught Scripture memorization from the earliest possible age. Time and time again we hear about believers who God has encouraged and strengthened in times of need by reminding them of verses memorized in childhood. God Himself has commanded us to hide His Word in our hearts as a safeguard against sin. It is universally acknowledged that young children have a unique capacity for memorization. We should not waste this golden window of opportunity for our littlest ones.
Not only should we teach Scripture memorization, we should also teach theology. The doctrines of God, man, sin, the church, and the end times should be taught in a systematic fashion. We shouldn’t forget that we are raising the pulpit of the next generation. It is tragic how many men come to adulthood, and even to seminary, without basic Bible knowledge. Our children can and should be taught the books of the Bible, who authored them, when, the audience to whom they were written, and basic outlines of each book.
This must all be done at an age appropriate level, but if we were this serious about teaching the whole Bible then Sunday School would not be the province of Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus alone. Too often we use children’s immaturity as an excuse for our own laziness. This much teaching is a lot of work! Nobody has created any coloring sheets or puppets about Melchizidek.

The use of one of God’s finest tools: the imagination
This is not to say that the Sunday School hour needs to look like boot camp or a puritan meeting. Accommodations must be made for youth, short attention spans, and different stages of mental and spiritual development. Sunday School can be a time that includes songs and games, but we must keep our focus. We should use our imaginations to draw out and illustrate the Word, not replace it. The connection between what is being done in the classroom and its spiritual application should be readily apparent to the students. We shouldn’t be afraid to use our best talents to tell the greatest story of all time. Students should see the passion and love for Christ in our manner and lives. We need not be afraid to be afraid to be funny and animated, but we should never sacrifice truth to do so.
I once taught a Sunday School lesson for two and three-year-olds that serves to illustrate the kind of “creativity” that distracts from truth, rather than teaching it. It was a lesson about Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh and storing up food for the coming famine. The lesson plan book suggested that I bring in bread dough for the children to manipulate while we discussed the how the grain that Joseph stored up was made into bread. It is ridiculous to suggest that a toddler learns any spiritual truth by playing with bread dough in this fashion. Their total focus is on playing, not God’s provision. It would be more useful to draw their attention to the things that God has blessed them with. After talking about it for a while, the children could “draw” what God has given them. It could even be a mural on big butcher paper that hangs in the classroom for several weeks and serves as a reminder of the lesson. There are many fun, age-appropriate, useful activities that can be done in Sunday School. Scripture memorization can be done with games and songs, role plays and skits can be a great chance to let students practice applying truth, and thoughtful arts and crafts projects can help remind children of the truths of the lesson.
Our imagination is one of the most powerful creative gifts that God has given mankind. Our challenge is to unleash our creative power to exposit the poetic beauty and magnificence of Christ in terms that children can understand. We can use real life examples, activities that reinforce truth, involve children in service to others, and introduce them to pondering the most fascinating questions of life: Who is God? Who is man? What is man’s purpose? We must not be afraid to use the dialectic, and to truly talk with children. Children of every age love this kind of attention from adults. Time spent exchanging ideas and sharing truth is exciting and makes one aware that he truly is uniquely and wonderfully made. We should not be afraid to teach new words and new ideas and to engage students at the place that their interest lies. Children who love space can be engaged in discussions of God’s infinity and transcendence. Children who like sports or skateboarding can dialog with you about God’s order and the laws of physics and gravity that He put into place.

Love as the key to effective ministry
A passionate love for Christ is absolutely essential for the truly interesting teacher. The teacher who loves Christ will love the students, spending time getting to know them individually and praying for them individually. This love for the students is so very important. We all have the ability to recognize whether another person likes us or not and no one wants to spend time with or listen to someone who does not care about them.
A teacher that loves Christ will exhibit an enthusiasm and warmth for the faith that will inspire impressionable children to imitation. A teacher like this will not be afraid to stand against the culture and make Christianity distinctly clear and different from worldliness and vanity. This kind of love and faith will support the teacher through times of doubt and difficulty, strengthening her when she is discouraged by the sin nature of her students.
Teachers who love Christ will preach the hope of Jesus Christ and life eternal in rest and bliss in a powerful and compelling way because that is where all their own hopes rest. This is what we want to convey to our pupils. This is what makes the Sunday School hour the most interesting of the week. What on earth could be better than contemplating the delights of the heavenly kingdom under the guide of a teacher that is loved and trusted?
If we were committed to Scripture, imaginative, and had a true, deep love for Christ, our Sunday Schools would be greatly improved and certainly more interesting. The more time we spend pondering the truths of our faith, the deeper, more beautiful, and real they become to our children and ourselves. No one thinks fairy tales or epic stories are boring. The story of redemption is the most beautiful and exciting story of all time, because it is true and is the one story that satisfies all of our heart’s deepest longings. May the Lord grant His church more skill in loving and appreciating that story.