Every once in a while the topic of Sunday School comes up among the YS brethren. When most youth workers hear the words “Sunday School” they groan. I will readily admit that there are times when I don’t like it, refuse to like it, and wish that we didn’t do it.
I feel like for a lot of us paid staff people, Sunday School is the stereotypical self-fulfilling prophesy. We don’t really like it and in order to prove to the church that it’s something we shouldn’t be doing we don’t try very hard to make the best of it… Then we tell people behind the scenes “Sunday School isn’t very effective.” Shame on we who do this. Sunday School is ineffective because of the attitude we bring to it. We allow it to become and afterthought because we don’t like it. (These are the same trolls who complain about folks who don’t like their precious music. They cry “they’ve pre-judged it and pre-decided that they hate it to destroy it” but yet do the same thing with Sunday School.)
If I were starting over a new paradigm of church I don’t know if I would create Sunday School. But it is something that I chose to do and it’s something that I chose to include in the Light Force vision. I chose to use Sunday School strategically to educate and challenge students towards the goal of their “intentionally modeling a lifestyle full devoted to becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.”
This means that I express my creativity in Sunday School. I work hard in preparing plans and lessons that have impact. I do my best to create a learning environment. I teach relevant topics. (Sunday AM is for application while Wed nite is for Bible teaching.)
I think the difference between me and “the SS whiners” who are so loud on the YS forums is that I have a different attitude. I don’t just say “yeah, I do Sunday School because it’s part of the job.” I say, “I like Sunday School because I can see how God can use it powerfully in students lives and I want it to be a valuable part of my ministry!” I believe that this attitude sets me up for success in Sunday School. My students know that I like to be there, that I am excited about what we are learning, and that I care that they learn what I am teaching. I give it my best.
I think the reality is that this reflects on these folks character. They accept a job knowing that it has a component that they don’t like. Then they allow their personal preference to become a bad attitude. Then they allow their personal preferences laced bad attitude to spread. Pretty soon they figure that since “everyone hates it” that it can’t be valuable. In fact, their sinful attitude has poisoned something that God could have used and they are in need of repenting to their students, their leadership, and most of all to God. When they reject their personal preferences for what God can do… I think they will see tremendous benefit in all that they do.
God deserves our very best. If we have been charged to lead and teach folks in our churches, chose to do it in an attitude reflecting our love and devotion to the Lord and not love and devotion to what we want.
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