Chapter 6

Christian Education

Exodus 31:3 And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

Deuteronomy 31:12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:

Psalms 119:66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 12:1 Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

Proverbs 23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If it seems I've gone overboard with Scripture passages in this chapter, it's because the Bible has hundreds of such passages.  The first chapter looked at the importance of Bible study for each of us individually; this one looks at it  in terms of the whole church body.  Sunday School and Bible Study in church have never been, and should never be, a substitute for individual time in the Word.  Nonetheless, we often gain knowledge and understanding of the Word in a corporate setting that we never would get strictly from studying on our own.  That's because God gives different insights to different people from his Word, and the very act of exchanging ideas in a group setting can bring additional ones.

What Sunday School or Church Bible Study should not be:

• A forum for debating or showing others how knowledgeable we are; the Bible calls people fools who insist on always blurting their own opinions (the Book of Proverbs abounds with such references, such as Proverbs 29:11: A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.)  If we can't back up what we say with specific Scripture references, we should keep quiet, except to ask a question or share something from our personal experience by way of example.  Bring a concordance with you to look up references!
• Reading out of a book or from notes.  It's fine to read something by way of illustration or example, but simply reading what another person says, and offering it in place of teaching from the Word, is not teaching.  Ig God has called you to teach, He will provide the insights you need to share with others.
• A place just to soak up what someone else has prepared.  There's nothing more frustrating to a Sunday School teacher than to spend hours preparing a lesson, then to go into a class and ask questions, only to be met with blank stares.  If Sunday School is boring for us, it's usually because we make it that way.  Read the Scripture passages for the next lesson during the week, and look up related passages.
• Lessons off a DVD or video.  Although you may occasionally find a good, God-centered lesson on one, these should never be a substitute for real live teachers and live interaction with other Christians.

It doesn't hurt to have special Sunday School promotions, like contests based on attendance and Scripture memorization, but these by themselves won't "grow" your Sunday School.  A strong church has a strong Sunday School program, and a strong Sunday School program revolves, in great measure, around what we do with our children and teenagers.  When children want to come, they often will motivate otherwise reluctant parents to come with them.  So-- here are some ideas for exciting your children about Jesus (if you don't have children or teenagers around, your church may already be headed for extinction, unless you can recruit some).

• Young children, particularly, have a short attention span.  Begin your class with 5 or 10 minutes of instruction, then try to plan play and sharing activities that relate to your lesson.  If you're telling the story of Moses, for example, buy or borrow a wicker basket, and put a doll inside.  Explain how Moses' mother had to put him in a basket in the river to keep him safe from bad men.  To illustrate the burning bush, light a candle, point out how it starts to burn down, and say the burning bush wasn't burned up at all.  The Internet, and Christian bookstores, are full of ideas you can use.  Even general play time shouldn't be just pointless fun; use it to teach lessons about sharing.  Use food items, like fruit, to illustrate a story like the fall of man in the Garden.  Put a bowl of fruit on a table, and set one, not necessarily an apple, aside,  Tell the children they can eat any of the fruit but that one.
• As pointed out in another chapter, on fellowship, children and teenagers should both have occasion to meet for fellowship and learning outside the regular church schedule.  There are some good programs, like Master Clubs, and Patch the Pirate, for youngsters, but investigate before you use them.
• Always have something for the children and young people to look forward to.  Plan your programs for at least six months in advance, and let them know what's coming up.  Find some skits and some simple sing-along music on the Internet, or in a Christian bookstore, so they can practice something to present to the whole congregation, and to the community if possible.  A puppet ministry is a fine way to get children and youth involved, and teach valuable lessons at the same time.  Don't just put on some kind of play around Christmas time; let them be active all year round.  Yes, it takes a lot of work, and, yes, getting teenagers to cooperate is like pulling teeth, but when we make the effort, we show love and concern, and people in general will respond to that if we persist.
• Like everything else, programs for children and youth must be under girded with prayer.  Whatever the occasion, whether it's something at the church or not, always begin with prayer.  Everything we do in Christian education, whether for adults or for children, should have two very basic goals: bringing the lost to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and helping believers grow in understanding in their daily walk of faith.  Part of the learning process is learning Godly habits, like prayer and Bible study.

We don't want to leave the adults in our congregation out.  Often what happens in small churches is that the best teachers are involved with children and youth, and the adults are left either with the pastor (who has enough irons in the fire), or somebody who teaches simply because no one else will volunteer.  Adults need something to point toward, too; consider letting them do skits for the children, which will provide learning opportunities for both.  Apart from regular fellowship times, which we discuss elsewhere, there are approaches and activities that can engage grownups, too.  For those who, like me, have sat through a multitude of lessons over the years on the very same Scriptures, we often forget that there is always something new the Spirit can show us.  We should always approach Sunday School and Bible Study that way.

In practical terms, though, what does this mean?  Ready for more bullets?  Here they come!

• If no one has one, either in print or on a PC, get a Strong's Concordance (it's called that because you have to be strong to list it :)).  Look up some of the key words in the study passage (before class!), and/or a good Bible dictionary (like Vine's), and find out what the words meant in the original language.  That can offer insights we would not otherwise get, especially since the meaning of many words has changed since the time of King James.  "Conversation", for example, means "lifestyle", not flapping our jaws (that's mountain talk for yapping too much).
• Also, get a good chain reference, like Thompson's, the old standard.  You can follow through passages in Strong's, but that can be cumbersome, to say the least.  Looking up related passages, like the ones at the beginning of each of the chapters in this book, can really help them come alive.  You can accomplish much the same thing with a Bible search program, either on your PC or on the Internet..  Many of them are free for the taking.
• While we're at it, invest in a Bible handbook.  Look at the information about customs, food, plants, animals, place names, etc., if you can relate what you learn to particular passages.
• If there are names in a passage,  whether of places or people, including names of God, look them up in Strong's to see what the actual meaning of them is.  Often a particular passage will bear on the translation; Beth-El, or Bethel, for example, means "house of God", and there is a particular story connected with the name.  Proper names ending in "el" or "iah" have a connection with God.
• For prophecies, do some Biblical or historical research to see how and when the prophecies were fulfilled, if they have been.  Consult a Bible timeline, if you have one, or look up the name of the nation or city on the Internet.  You'll discover that some prophecies have two levels of fulfillment, immediate and long term.  Immanuel, God with us, was a child born to Isaiah's wife, but was also, as most of us know, one of the names applied to Jesus.  Some predictions, like the restoration of the nation of Israel, have a very recent fulfillment (1948).  In Strong's or another reference, study all of the many Old Testament prophecies and how they were fulfilled with the life of Jesus here on the earth.  If all of that doesn't build your faith, it's probably dead.
• Information for its own sake has no value.  Paul pointed this out in 2 Timothy 3:7: Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  He was referring to people in the Last Days, which many believe we're now living in.  We should never engage in academic discussions and call it Sunday School or Bible Study.  The meaning we gain from study should be meaning we gain for our own lives, not just something to make us more knowledgeable in a general way.
• Try reading Scripture, in class and alone, in a very personal way.  Substitute your own name, or "me" or "my" for "you" whenever that's appropriate.  Someone has called the Bible, "God's love letter to us," and in may ways that's true.
• Look for news stories that illustrate some principle in a passage your studying.  For a description of many of today's headlines, just read 2 Timothy 3:1-9.
• Share testimonies of how God has worked in your life in a way that relates to the Scriptures you're studying.

All of this takes, dare I say it, time.  If we're too busy for God, the saying goes, we're too busy.  If you, and other in your church, aren't willing to make the investment of time, money, and effort required in carrying out this, or any other plan, don't be surprised if the obituary for your church is already written.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that 20% of the people in a church do 80% or more of the work.  For a small church, that can be a tremendous burden.  It helps to remember that God transformed the world with only twelve men, empowered by his Holy Spirit.  Two people, even if they're not Paul and Silas, can turn their community upside down.  If we get burned out, and I've been there, it's because we're burning our own fuel.  Remember Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.  And, Nehemiah 8:10: Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.  We are never alone, even if it seems we're the only one trying to serve God in our community  Look at the story of Elijah, and his complaint to the Lord after he fled from Jezebel (1 Kings 19).

The next, and last, chapter looks at ways we can reach out to our community, both to help and be helped.