Sunday School Answers

I spent the weekend with 7 enthusiastic twelve year-olds who will be confirmed in a couple of weeks. I hope I didn't break 'em or screw 'em up. I will use ANY means necessary to make an argument for Christ. Any prop, any song, any joke, anything I can think of that will help them get it. This weekend was no exception. I packed my bag of tricks and pulled out everything I had to make my case for following Jesus and being little Christs. They were a good group and they seemed to be connecting the dots during our sessions. We had lots of good discussions and they did an amazing job asking questions and offering examples.
But I have found that no matter how articulate and gifted a group like this may be (and I mean across the board from Sunday school, to youth group, to confirmation retreats) you CANNOT avoid the dreaded "Sunday School answers." They are my teaching nemesis and I am determined, God as my witness, to squash them. Let me explain my frustration.
When I teach (and I use that term loosely) - I will ask follow-up questions and try to pull thoughtful answers from these bright, young minds. I'll ask a question like, "What kinds of things did Jesus do to humble himself?" The kicker is we just finished an entire HOUR talking about servanthood, humility, being last to be great and we've backed it up with scripture and stories and modern-day examples. Not to mention a candy incentive program that has me hurling Dum Dums and Smarties like a busted pinata for every right answer. And now we re-cap and for some reason it's fallen out of their brains like a Jell-O casserole. I pose the same question, "What kinds of things did Jesus do to humble himself?" - The answers digress to 2nd grade Sunday School chock full o' patent leather Mary Janes and clip-on ties. "Jesus loves me!" "Jesus died on the cross!" And they're right. Of course they're right. But those answers will ALWAYS be right. We gotta start expecting more in-depth answers, folks. And not because we need the "correct" answers to questions, but because we need to be in tune with God's word and how it effects us every day. I'm not trying to dog out my confirmands. They were truly inspired and they really blew me away with the way they responded to questions. But across the board, we need to pose these questions as a means to think and pray and respond to God. "Jesus loves me" will ALWAYS be the right answer. Maybe the better question would be "How can I love Jesus back?"

Successful teachers are effective
in spite of the psychologoical theories
they suffer under.
- Anonymous

On the Way to the Cross

I'm responsible for putting together the Good Friday worship service at my church. My kids in youth are responsible for executing it. If you think about it, that's a pretty tall order. To hold up the story of the crucifixion and all the raw emotions swirling around it. So a few weeks ago I started getting my game face on for this service. It's a heavy service and I put a lot into it to make sure it's something that leaves a lasting impression. It's somber and dark and the picture you paint ain't a happy one. For some reason I really struggled with it this year -- the creative juices trickled rather than flowed. For the longest time I just couldn't seem to get my hands around that "one idea". Where was it? I NEVER had this problem. I needed to focus and get this thing done so God would be glorified but I kept getting interrupted. How could I glorify God when all these people needed something from me?

I was interrupted by a parent who was struggling with her teenage son. She's hurt and concerned and trying her best to love him but busy kicking his rear in the right direction too. She just needed to talk.
I was interrupted by a mom who asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her daughter who's applying for a college scholarship. Ironically, I sort of put the scholarship in motion in the first place and the deadline was only a couple of days away. I was interrupted by a co-worker who needed me to prepare power point slides for our Easter service. I was interrupted by my 6-year-old Max's baseball game. I was interrupted by parents and kids and games and e-mails and telephone calls and dinner with my family and work-outs with my sister and conversations with friends and all I wanted to do was write this Good Friday service and glorify God and be left alone to stare up at the cross and thank Jesus for dying for my sins ....

... and then it hit me. The journey to the cross - Jesus' journey to the cross - from the time he set foot on this earth, His entire life was about that journey to the cross. And instead of going from point A to point B to get there, He allowed himself to get side-tracked by people who needed Him. More importantly, it's how He responded to those folks that was so telling of His genuine compassion and kindness. I guess that's the message that really glorifies God. I feel so blessed now to have been interrupted and thrown off course a few times. I hope I was able to respond to the people who needed me in a way that showed Christ's love. I thank God that He sent His only son to die on that cross, but mostly, I thank God that He sent His only son to show me HOW to get to that cross in the first place. Amen.

What good is having someone who can walk on water
if you don't follow in his footsteps?
~Author Unknown