Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Teachers Follow God’s Call

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. -- James 3:1

It’s been almost a year since God called me to teach an adult Sunday school class. I heard His call but I never expected it would be this particular class. God amazes me. I don’t know why. He knows exactly what He’s doing.

There have been so many times when I doubted myself. I still do. I love to read and study the Bible but I always compare myself to Biblical scholars with fancy degrees. I don’t know nearly enough. I doubt I ever will.

The first Sunday that I taught, I looked over and saw one man busy on his iphone. His wife wanted to know what he was doing. Without so much as a pause, I told her he was checking to make sure I knew what I was talking about. The shock on his face still brings a chuckle to my mind. It was exactly what he was doing. He just didn’t think I would know.

I don’t blame him. I’d want to know if my new Sunday school teacher knew what she was talking about too. In that particular case, it was just before Easter and I used material from a small group study I was taking. It was a good beginning. I loved the material and had learned a lot, so I was eager to share it.

I wish I could say that it has all been smooth and easy. Not so much though. Some Sundays are wonderful, the discussion is animated and on point. Other Sundays it’s a battle to get the class involved in the topic.

I always ask God to give me words. I want to say what He wants, not what I want. God knows the hearts and minds of each individual in the class. He knows the hurts and heartaches they’re facing. I want so much for each class member to learn and grow. But that’s up to them and to God.

Some weeks keeping to the topic is a challenge at best. I have to be conscious that we’re following God’s agenda and not someone else’s. One man chuckled the other day, saying that I’d lost control again. He meant the class discussion had gone it’s own way. But really, it hadn’t. They were involved and if the order of my bullet points got changed around, so what?

Other weeks are just such a blessing. We discussed forgiving our enemies and I could feel the healing as the questions and discussion took place. We reviewed Scriptures and we talked about how hard it is. And that some times forgiving is a process that begins anew each day.

Some days I wonder what in the world I’m doing teaching a Sunday school class. Then I laugh. I’m teaching because God told me to. And I pray that I’ll continue to follow His lead in all things but especially in this so that all of us may learn and grow closer to the One who created us all.