I realize that a particular group of people love the King James Version, and I am not here to tear that Bible down. Millions of people have come to know Jesus Christ through this beautiful translation, and I am so thankful for that. It is not, however, the only accurate translation of the Bible.

I remember my Old Testament Survey class in bible college; it was my first real step into Christian higher education, and honestly, I was intimidated. I had never sat under bible scholars and wasn’t sure if I was prepared for such a class. I quickly realized that those weekly Sunday school lessons had paid off! It seemed like I knew at least a portion of every lecture. My Sunday school teachers had planted the seeds of Biblical knowledge, and I didn’t even realize it then. I am thankful for the teachers who invested their time and effort into my discipleship process.

One of the greatest disservices we do as youth pastors or Sunday school administrators is failing to adequately train our Sunday School teachers. Volunteers often have little to no training before they are thrown into a classroom full of rowdy middle schoolers. This was my introduction to Sunday School. I was asked to replace the 2nd teacher in that classroom in that same year! I had been given a packet that contained that quarter’s curriculum, a pat on the back, and a reminder to be finished 10 minutes before the service started. I was utterly overwhelmed and would have quit on the spot if my conscience had allowed it. While I’m certainly glad I stuck it out, I feel that I could have been much more effective if I had a little training.

One of the most difficult challenges that all Sunday School teachers face is meeting the needs of all of their students when each of their students brings a different personality and tendencies to the table. I am the proud father of a scientific anomaly in the form of identical triplet boys. My three sons look exactly alike except for a few well-placed freckles that allow me to tell them apart quickly. While they're genetic copies of one another, their personalities, as well as their learning styles, are entirely different.

You're not just a warm body in a room. Your class is a divine appointment. God has called you to lead this classroom. You probably accepted this role because, on some level, you believe you can teach others. The enemy will try to convince you that you're not qualified for the calling God has placed on your life, but remember, the enemy is a liar, and he isn't going to stand idly by while God's Word is taught to a new generation of believers.

There is a terminology in mass communication called “The Hypodermic Needle Theory,” “Which asserted, in essence, that everyone in an audience reads and is affected by a given text the same way.”[1] This theory has long since been debunked because we understand that individual people have the power to think for themselves and process information differently. Generation Z is perhaps the greatest generation to challenge the Hypodermic Needle Theory to date due in part to their familiarity with a culture of mass information. Millennials, who preceded Gen Z, were considered digital pioneers, whereas Gen Z is understood to be “Digital Natives.”

Some of the most significant issues that arise in Youth Ministry are because of leaders placed in roles that their character has disqualified them from.