Beyond the Handouts: Becoming the Best Sunday School Teacher You Can Be.
Before we unpack some Biblical truths, let me encourage you to reflect on your initial call to a Sunday School ministry. I remember the first Sunday School class I ever taught. I was fresh out of high school and completely unqualified. I accepted the volunteer position in part because of desperation. Like many churches, mine was running low on volunteers and was looking for someone who would commit to being consistent with a rowdy group of middle schoolers. The other part of me believed that I could do a good job. I enjoyed being a leader in my youth group and thought God had given me a certain aptitude to teach His Word. Eventually, that would lead to full-time ministry in a youth pastor role, but the seeds of my ministry career began in that classroom. Let me encourage you: 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. So here are a few points to remember while becoming the world's greatest Sunday School teacher.
1) Don't Lean on the Curriculum, Do Your Homework
Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent options for curriculum out there, and perhaps even an expectation from church leadership that you stick to a curriculum. The problem is when you find yourself reading the curriculum for the first time moments before the class rushes through the door, or even worse, you're reading it in real-time. This is a situation that many Sunday School teachers can relate to. We have families, careers, hobbies, and a life distracting us from our class. The problem is that lack of preparation leads to missed discipleship and teaching opportunities. A good Sunday School teacher is not about getting through a lesson plan. They're about real-life change and transformational power that knowledge of God's Word brings. So challenge yourself as a teacher of the Bible to dedicate the time it takes to teach well.
2) Be Yourself and Live What You Teach
As a youth pastor, a big part of my job is recruiting leaders for our student ministry. One of the most common concerns I get from potential volunteers is some variation of, "Am I relevant?" "Am I cool enough?" "Will the students think I'm too old?" I always tell those potential volunteers the same thing: we're not looking for cool or even relevant. Israel tried that with Saul. We are looking for real people living the faith they are teaching. I know that life is messy; your students should see that because one day, their life will be messy. The best lessons you will ever teach are those you have first-hand experience dealing with. A well-known proverb says, "The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow." In the Sunday School teacher's world, the pain we've felt through difficult lessons learned is the perfect platform to teach. I always encourage our leaders to be as transparent as they possibly can because not only does transparency lead to a clear lesson and teaching points, but it also builds trust. Students are keenly aware when a teacher is genuine and vulnerable. Unfortunately, too many people see those qualities as weaknesses and miss the opportunity to connect with their students deeply.
3) You Don't Have to Have All the Answers
If there is one bit of advice that I could give my younger self when I first started in youth ministry, it would be this: It's okay not to have all the answers. It is impossible to have all the answers. Even the most outstanding Biblical scholars realize their limitations. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:18, "Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God." The Apostle Paul is teaching the church in Corinth that to be wise in God's eyes is to apply the principles of the cross, contrary to this world's value systems.[1] Using and living by the system of values that the cross represents is something that we are working towards every day, and we all fall short of it. The good news is that means the pressure is off. If a student asks a question you don't fully understand or know the answer, cut down on your pride and tell them, "I don't know, but we can find the answer together." Honesty and transparency will open doors for building relationships that knowledge alone could never do.
It is an exciting time to be a teacher of God's Word. There are tools available today that were simply not available to previous generations. It is up to us to carry the mantle of discipleship through teaching God's Word, and what an incredible mantle it truly is.
[1] Mark Taylor, 1 Corinthians, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 28, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), 110.
