I feel certain his ultimate goal is to help mature the body of Christ, but
I also think he wants to make sure that his preparation investment is worth his
effort.
I understand where he is coming from because when I’ve been on the
verge of some teaching situations, I too have had those same thoughts cross my
mind.
Paul is quick to bring us back into spiritual balance, “For by the grace given me I say to every
one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather
think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith
God has given you.” (Ro 12:3 NIV)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----I relate to your friend’s sentiments. The last time I did a Sunday School class frustrated me greatly. I had far less than twenty each Sunday. And worse yet, one Sunday it was these few, the next Sunday those few, and another Sunday a mix of the two. I took my topic seriously. I had learned many interesting things about it which have built many useful insights for me over the years. I wanted others to learn and benefit, too.
-----But in a way, I didn’t take my “students” seriously. They were evidently there to pick up whatever tidbits they could on whatever Sunday they would. The entire structure of facts and evidence and concepts was not important to them, otherwise, they would have committed to being present consistently. That was disheartening to me.
-----On the other hand, I understood each had an unique life of interests for which each assembled understandings and meanings around the core of how they perceived the Lord and His Word and their relationships with Him. I understood this was actually the primary importance. So I salved my disheartened spirit by likening the whole process to scattering corn on the ground for the chickens to pluck up. Whatever that chicken got to and picked out did it good; whatever the other got to and picked out did it as much good, too. Then, in this other way I did take my “students” seriously, knowing they were building their own relationships with the Lord, as they should be doing.
-----It leaves me once again noting how the Lord proceeds working paradoxically in His children. God says, “Come now, let us reason together,” (Is 1:18) so being reasonable would seemingly be the right thing to do, especially when He bids His people to do it amongst themselves, too: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.” (Lev 19:17) Reasoning requires knowledge. Knowledge necessitates teaching. So you would expect the assembly of His children would sit at times, as in school, seriously sharing knowledge. But we fail that and sit as in chat rooms throwing around insights just to see what of them stick to the walls. And we walk away with some good done.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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