I wouldn’t blame you if chapter 8 is your least favorite chapter in this book as it is mostly historical, but as I have been saying, don’t read just for information but also for inspiration.
When you read the Bible, does it make you think of things that God is
speaking to you that you really don’t see in the text? I think that was true
for me not only in the Bible, but also in chapter 8.
Click here for a video teaching on this session.
The first quote from “Building a Standard Sunday School” was like that.
On the question of being “In the Field or From the Office?
I remember being in my first pastoring ministry and I was a husband, a father, a student in seminary, a pastor of a small church in Whitt Texas, and working for a newspaper. When I was at church out on visitation, I felt badly that I was not at home. When I was home, I felt badly that I was not spending enough time studying. When I was at school, I was thinking I needed to be at my job at the Fort Worth Star Telegram, bringing in more of a paycheck.
And you
guessed it, when I was at my job, I was thinking I should be preparing for a
sermon or visiting someone in need. That cycle was almost comical.
You probably have felt that way that the call of God in our ministries
is sometimes a never ending task. But the truth is, some day there will be an
end to our ministry and the question is, are we preparing someone to fill our
shoes.
That problem is found in the opening quote of Chapter 7:
“Perhaps the most difficult question constantly facing the department
[of Sunday School Administration] is the balancing of time between office
promotion and field work.”
The dilemma for you as teachers is should you
a)
Be teaching a good lesson or
b)
Be developing good leaders
That balance is like me being a pastor, a husband, a father, a student,
an employee. I fully relate with your work as a LifeGroup leader and commend
you for what you do.
That actually was why I came up with the POINT strategy of having at
least five different people to serve as POINT men and POINT women for Prayer, Outreach, InReach, Need-meeting, and Teaching.
I had a current leader send in who was in charge of each of those
ministries. Who was the POINT People? It was Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher,
and Spouse of the teacher.
Administratively, Chapter 8 says that we need DEVELOP a system
for training Sunday School officers.
You can skip over the Enlargement campaigns; Large Conferences and Clinics; Superintendents’ meetings; Free literature; A monthly publication; and Emphasizing the Standards.
They are all historically interesting for its information, but it’s not
practical for today. But in reading through the information, what is our
inspiration?
We should be strategic. The standards offered a strategy for its
time. What is the strategy of LifeGroups for our time? What is God calling you
to do for your LifeGroup now and how do you balance developing a good lesson
with developing good leaders, all the while developing a good life at home and
at your jobs?
This chapter inspired me develop a network within our association, of
others in our 90 plus churches, of what they are doing that we should do.
Our churches are not in competition with other churches. I just spoke
to a FBC member who is going to another sister church in Bell county and in
fact in our city. I told her to go with our blessings but be a good spy while
she is there, and send us back good intel information.
I didn’t really say that, but I don’t get out much to visit other
churches. I think we should, not so we can defect to other churches, but so that we can positively affect
our own ministries with good ideas and strategies from other churches.
Historically, only five percent of churches in any year met the
standards Flake set out. But I think that as we reach for something that is a difficult standard is how we grow.
That’s why Jesus said “Be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is
perfect.” God’s standard of excellence is perfection and though we will never
reach sinless perfection, our response is to try and reach for the stars.
And when we fail, we should seek forgiveness but never settle “for give-up-ness”. In other words, just because we not achieve our goals, keep setting the standards high and work towards them.
The same is true in seeking to improve our Sunday Schools and Life
Groups.
When we lose a person who transfers to another church, it behooves us to
look to ourselves. If our preschool, children, or youth numbers are down, we
should remember that we as leaders in our adult classes should look to
ourselves and ask ourselves “Are we doing all we can to train our students to
reach out to other students?"
Are we training our parents to raise their children and youth to want to grow so that our church will have a preschool, children and youth
atmosphere of wanting to grow spiritually.
I am not talking now numerically but spiritually. Is your teaching
impacting your class to the degree that your students and the families of your
class members are growing in their ministry.
Not merely academically. Not intellectually. And teachers watch out
now, I am going to step on toes. Listen to me.
Is it for your own ego that you are teaching? Do you relish the
accolades from your class members who lavish praise on you “Wow great lesson”?
Do you beam with sinful pride when you hear your class members say, “Oh
come to our class, we have the best teacher!” and yet, and yet, week after
week, they come and listen and laud your lessons, yet never listen and lead
another to salvation.
Jay Vernon McGee today is preaching through the woes of Jesus found in
Matthew.
6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men,
‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8 But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your
Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call
anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in
heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher,
the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your
servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who
humbles himself will be exalted.
Like I said at the beginning, I wouldn’t blame you if you thought this
section was the least practical in information, but for inspiration, the goal
for us to look for doing more than simply getting through the lesson, but
getting the lesson through should be the measure of our success.
Is our church (and is the largest organize ministry of our church -- the
adult Sunday School LifeGroup ministry--) is it organized to meet and exceed the
standards that God has set for our times?
Not for Flake's Time. Not for First Baptist, Nashville. For FBC Killeen!
If our church succeeds in providing enough preschool teachers;
If our church succeeds in providing enough children and youth leaders;
If our church succeeds in reaching the unreachable standard of
perfection in providing homes which are growing and thriving in ministry;
And if we succeed in reaching people and yes teaching people and also
in serving people and ministering to people, all because of our LifeGroup
ministry;
Then you may not get the accolades of being a dynamic teacher; you may not have a book written about you 100 years from now how you brought an entire denomination back from a pandemic; but if you succeed in developing your class to be doing what God has for this time and this location and this setting and this class room for this church;
Then, you will undoubtedly hear from our Lord and Savior, WELL DONE GOOD AND
FAITHFUL SERVANT, ENTER INTO YOUR REST.
And that, my friends, will be a far better blessing than being called
Rabbi and Teacher in the marketplace.
My final question to you teacher is:
What is YOUR STANDARD of success in your classroom?
Blessings to you
