The denominational Bible study material I use for the adult men’s Sunday School class I teach presents some really stale examples and case studies. For instance, one recent unit on I Peter’s teaching about suffering describes a hypothetical church member raised in a “nominally” Christian home who gets serious about his faith as an adult. As a result of his zeal, he attends church three times a week and refuses to drink socially with his parents and brothers and sisters. As a result, his folks make fun of him and his churchgoing convictions. My first reaction as I read this example is to wonder if this guy is really “suffering” more for religion than he is for Christ, but maybe I’m just too cynical. At any rate, I believe the case study is weak. Just another example of our denominationalizing and institutionalizing.
So with that view in mind, here’s the hypothetical I would rather see in the denominational literature, because it really hits closer to the mark that matters. It goes like this:
No church member at First Church is a more faithful attender than Joe Blow–Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, special events in between. He teaches Sunday School, chairs influential church committees, serves as a deacon, faithfully tithes 10% of his income and and gives generously to special mission causes. His speech is pure and devoid of profanity; he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t gamble, he doesn’t indulge in pornography; he doesn’t even dance or go to places where others dance. He is as free from moral vice as a man can be! Folks in the church think Joe’s a magnificent servant of the Lord.
But at Joe’s workplace, something else is going on. As a department head, Joe supervises a significant number of people, mostly “unchurched,” who regard him as a grim, legalistic task master. He is humorless, he is racially prejudiced, he is narrow, he is judgmental. One subordinate recently observed, “If that’s Christianity [meaning Joe], then I don’t want anything to do with it.”
Oh, what to do with thee, Joe? I want to know!
I don’t guess we’ll see Joe in the denominational Sunday School literature. He’s just a little too audacious.
And so am I!
April 18, 2007 at 9:40 am |
You can do as my husband does on occasion– just write your own Sunday School material to share!! There have been times he felt the “wrong” scriptures were the major focus and used others to make the point! Aren’t we glad we’re FREE to choose what God puts on our hearts– including illustrations and examples! The important thing is to present the truth!
January 3, 2008 at 12:31 am |
Nice blog, I found it while googling my friend, your sister’s son in law, Tim.
I don’t know if you’re talking about the Lifeway material or not, but I have often thought that about the Southern Baptist material. Often when I would teach lessons, the students would get the essentials of the Lifeway lesson packaged in the Ben Howard presentation. I think that is really the best way to use the material. When I was on church staff and had to listen to some of our Sunday School teachers who literally read the lesson start to finish as their lesson for that day, I was more convinced than ever that teachers should put their own materials on the lesson’s bare bones outline.