Part 1: How NOT To Teach Sunday School

Why we need not a revival or reformation, but a revolution

Change Is Good

Now that we know what the problem is and how it started and continues to this day, what can be done about it?

The first thing we need to do is show some discernment in approving anyone to teach. We would do well to heed the words in James 3:1, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.", along with Luke 12:48b, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." We need the church leadership to step up and take an active and personal role in testing people (1 Tim. 3:10) before appointing them to positions of importance in the church.

The second thing we need to do is throw away those quarterlies and start training the approved teachers. Just a "master teacher" and a Bible, some pencils and paper (okay, laptops and outlets). They need a course of study that will result in teachers who can field students' questions without an answer key or "an appeal to Caesar" (go ask the pastor). I'm not saying pastors shouldn't ever be consulted, only that we can't expect them to do all our thinking for us. These teachers need to be brought to the point where their students can actually look up to them, not only as examples of good behavior, but as students of the Word themselves.

Third, we need to drop all the baggage we've been carrying. It isn't easy to change old habits, but anything worth having is rarely easy to get. God tests us and refines us so we will grow, and we need to start following His example. Students need challenges from teachers who have met those challenges. They need to be trained in how to properly handle the text (2 Tim. 2:15) and to face difficult passages head-on. After all, in 2 Tim. 3:16-17 we read,

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God's people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I know it sounds harsh, but I recommend going "cold turkey". Don't gradually introduce people to the Biblical model of discipleship, because there is the danger of moving too slowly and losing sight of the goal. Just do it!

Well, the solution took up a lot less space than the problem, didn't it? But we shouldn't be surprised, because the Bible really isn't very long for a book that solves all the world's problems. Let's drop the bureaucracy and start doing things God's way.