If it's broke, fix it, don't throw it away!
I hope all of you will agree with the foundation of the argument which I am about to present, but feel free to disagree with anything that I say, that's what I do this for. The foundation is simply this: the purpose of Sunday School (as we traditionally know it) is evangelism. It is the most effective tool (if done properly)for reaching similarly aged or life staged people with the Gospel of Christ. Obviously there are other purposes served by Sunday School (SS), however the most important is evangelism, not fellowship as is so often the actual case.
Why then do churches feel the need to push SS classes out of the physical building when there is not a legitimate space constraint ('cause I can understand that). But, when they are just trying to create a hip new feel to the church, why do they do this? There is nothing that can or will be accomplished by doing this that could not be replicated while staying in the building and using a still semi-traditional SS format. The problem does not lie in the surroundings, it lies within the congregation. Let's explore:
Usually, when attending a new SS class, a non-Christian, who you can probably only hope to have attend once, is greeted with several shallow questions, and then told to "go to hell." Well, not in those words, but that's essentially what is being said when the folks in the SS class show absolutely no interest in their life, and have zero desire to invest any time whatsoever in their spiritual well being. This fundamental problem is not going to be solved by sending everybody out of the building and altering the environment.
Why not just bring whatever great elements you think you are going to generate at home groups into the SS class. You gonna serve Coffee, do it at SS, you gonna have lasagna, do it at SS, you gonna watch some tv first, do it at SS. Why is it so hard for SS classes to make outsiders feel welcome and develop effective relationships that the Lord can work through?
I think it's a failure of the individuals to care about the lost, and changing the system is not going to fix that. If those uncaring fools were here right now, I'd punch 'em in the face.
Oh yeah, have a Happy Valentines Day!
Why then do churches feel the need to push SS classes out of the physical building when there is not a legitimate space constraint ('cause I can understand that). But, when they are just trying to create a hip new feel to the church, why do they do this? There is nothing that can or will be accomplished by doing this that could not be replicated while staying in the building and using a still semi-traditional SS format. The problem does not lie in the surroundings, it lies within the congregation. Let's explore:
Usually, when attending a new SS class, a non-Christian, who you can probably only hope to have attend once, is greeted with several shallow questions, and then told to "go to hell." Well, not in those words, but that's essentially what is being said when the folks in the SS class show absolutely no interest in their life, and have zero desire to invest any time whatsoever in their spiritual well being. This fundamental problem is not going to be solved by sending everybody out of the building and altering the environment.
Why not just bring whatever great elements you think you are going to generate at home groups into the SS class. You gonna serve Coffee, do it at SS, you gonna have lasagna, do it at SS, you gonna watch some tv first, do it at SS. Why is it so hard for SS classes to make outsiders feel welcome and develop effective relationships that the Lord can work through?
I think it's a failure of the individuals to care about the lost, and changing the system is not going to fix that. If those uncaring fools were here right now, I'd punch 'em in the face.
Oh yeah, have a Happy Valentines Day!
posted by Nick & Jessie @ 1:23 PM
2 Comments:
At 3:42 PM,
Tony E said…
I don't think Sunday School or even Sunday morning's should be primarily for evangelism. Evangelism is at its best when Christians share the gospel with their non christian friends. Too often we want to "out-source" evangelism instead of being bold. It's much easier to say "come to church" then "what do you think about Christ" but I think personal evangelism is more effective.
At 12:38 PM,
James said…
There's a good article on what Tony was talking about over at Relevant Magazine: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7046
Basically, it says that we try and place a burden on people by telling them they're sinners and then "rescuing" them, but that we would be better off being more relational and intentional in our relationships, rather than "doing" evangelism. I think that's what you're getting at, Nick.
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