Sunday School

Last Sunday I had a ‘light-bulb’ moment.  My youngest son, who is 5 1/2 years old, informed me Saturday night that he didn’t want to go to Sunday School because it was boring.  Upon further questioning I found out the only thing he likes about Sunday School is when they talk about God (he doesn’t like crafts or other activities).  So I decided to perform an experiment.  I suggested that he spend time with mom and we would read the Bible and talk about God instead of him going to Sunday School.  He thought it was a great idea.

 So Sunday morning I grabbed a Bible and we sat down.  He wanted to start at the beginning so we started with Genesis 1.  It was so much fun!  I loved challenging my 5 year old to think about what we were reading.  For instance, even though God created light on the 1st day, he didn’t create the sun until the 4th day.  So where did the light come from?  It was awesome to see the wheels turning - he thought it came from the houses, but when I said there were no houses or light bulbs, he was stumped.  So we went to the back of the book (Revelation) to find out that at the end there will be no need for the sun because God will shine on them.  So our theory is that the light came from God at the very beginning.

 Matthew wanted to keep going on and on and we’d already spent at least 45 minutes just reading the Bible and talking about it.  And all day afterwards Matthew could not stop talking about how much he loved his ‘M Study’ (Mom and Matthew study).  He couldn’t wait until we did it again.

 I was amazed.  It was such a simple thing, to read the Bible and talk about it, and Matthew loved it so much.  I began to wonder - if kids love this kind of stuff with their parents - what is the point of Sunday School?  My oldest son is the same way - he loves Bible study with dad; he hates going to Sunday school.

So I have a few questions milling around my mind: 1) if kids hate going to Sunday school, why do we make them go?  I’ve heard the arguement that it is important for them to go, so you have to make them go even if they don’t want to be there.  But if you are constantly dragging your child off to something he doesn’t like for all his life, when he finally is old enough to decide whether to go to church or not, what makes us think he’ll suddenly want to go?  And why is it important to go to Sunday school anyway?  I’ve heard it stressed that parents need to be discipling their children.  If parents are doing that, why bother with Sunday school?  Or is it just something to fill up time during the sermon?          2) Why do we force kids to attend something they don’t like instead of asking WHY they don’t like it?  Rather than trying to make children fit ‘our’ mold, why aren’t we asking what they would like to do?

There’s another thing I want to note: even though I’ve heard it stressed that it is important for parents to disciple their kids, how much are we actually held accountable for that?  I don’t hear people asking me if I’m discipling my children, but I do get asked if my child was in Sunday school.  There’s a different message being communicated: Sunday school is more important than personal discipleship.

I know Sunday school did not originate in the early church.  So where did it come from?  And why?  Is it still applicable for today?  I’ll post more as I find out more information.

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Church Culture

I see ‘church culture’ in one form as something (structures, processes, attitudes) that is unique to the majority of North American evangelical churches.  I see it as something that is probably not directly biblical but has become so much a part of our concept of ‘church’ that we almost believe that without it, we are lacking in our spiritual walk with God. 

As I’ve been thinking about what the essence of the Gospel is, I’ve also felt it necessary to examine common church structures.  What things that are a part of ‘church’ are simply ‘church culture’ and not necessarily what is laid out in the Bible as a process or structure to model?  Some of the things I find myself examining are: Sunday School and the Sunday morning sermon.  Are these biblical models?  And if not, where did they come from?  What is the history behind them?  Are there other (and possibly better) alternatives?  I’ll post more as I dig deeper into this. 

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Today’s quote

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” — Angela Schwindt

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