Part 1: How NOT To Teach Sunday School

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

The Reformation

The darkness continued for centuries but all along there was always a remnant, the brave few who couldn't be bought, sold, or compromised. They kept the flame alive in spite of the best efforts of man and devil to snuff it out. But by the middle ages, especially with the invention of the printing press, the quiet true believers began to raise their voices-- and immediately the persecution returned with a vengeance. Rome was back in the business of burning Christians and Bibles.

But as they say, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Through the sacrifice of so many brave believers, the light of the Word could once again shine for millions who had been kept in the dark, betrayed by their own leaders. Many reforms were made, rejecting a multitude of anti-Biblical teachings and practices, and beginning a revolution that would have immense influence on the development of the western world.

However...

What was needed was not just a reformation but a return, a restoration. Too much was retained from the compromised religious system, including special buildings, clergy class, rituals, and a copy of the world's educational paradigm. That's right, Sunday School is patterned after what the world considers the right way to train the masses. That educational model may be fine for academics in general, but there's a problem when we try to stuff Biblical discipleship into that mold: it "ain't fittin'". Discipleship was meant to be more like the old concept of internships, where an apprentice would learn at the feet of a master, and that's exactly how Jesus trained the Twelve.