Maintenance or Commission which one is your Sunday School involved in?
Common belief is that Sunday school is in a slump. More and more we read of worsening attendance, Christian churches getting rid of Sunday school, closing them through the summer holiday period. Walking into any Christian bookshop and you will discover many books indicating statistics on the decline of Sunday school and the deficiency of scriptural knowledge amongst the population. Books on how to regenerate your Sunday school are great sellers. The most favorite workshops at our conventions are those that assure us we can see development and renewal in this area of church life.
Evidently we do have problems in Christian instruction. A lot of people are worried and want to cause something to happen about it. But the risk is we have acquired a “maintenance mind-set” in our approach to the problem. Our time is exhausted with “ought” and “should.” We “ought” to fix up our buildings and a lot more people will come. We “should” get a new programme that is more effectual and attractive. We “ought” to get more socially involved with the local community, asking them to church. We “should” publicise through different media and then they will come.
I'm certain you are able to think of a lot of other things we “ought” and “should” do. The problem is all these matters keep us engaged in the preparation and discussion meetings, but, does all this action have any affect on God’s people? Will it alter lives? Will disquieted souls be consoled? Will God’s love be shared? Will people be interested in coming to Sunday school to spend time with these maintenance concerns?
What we want to do is get “commission minded” as history distinctly demonstrates this is what is most successful. As we extend our reach to a needy world of suffering people telling them the message of Jesus. As we tell them of his dying on a cross and resurrection we personify a first century Christian spirit, centering our attention on God and His accomplishments in the world. Keeping our eyes firmly on God’s presence and ministry is our first priority and everything else will get through.
People nowadays are more and more making it clear that they want a lot more spirituality in their lives. They are looking to know the meaning of life. They are looking for support in times of trouble, in person and in times of national crisis. Backup broadly speaking as they travel though life. What are we going to do to assist them? Are we going to continually become distracted committing our emphasis on the “ought” and “should” of our maintenance minded approach to Sunday school? Which does nothing to share God’s message of love and at the worst serves only to rearrange the chairs because of a continually waning group.
Our maintenance approaches have been showing little fruit. Maybe it's time to get back to a sense of commission and regenerated emphasis on sharing God’s love in today’s world.
