A few months ago the pastors of my church (a husband and wife) asked me about considering teaching middle school Sunday school and I said I would consider it. When I got back to Japan I told them that I would do it.
Fast forward to last Sunday, I got the materials for the class that I was supposed to teach from and like any responsible person I promptly put them on my bookshelf and forgot about them until last night (Saturday) half an hour before I needed to leave to play at Reno's. So, I scrambled. Not really, but I was a little on edge. Anyway I too the material to read at the bar in before and in between sets and this is literally the first thing I read, "QUOTE", followed later by, "QUOTE"...yeah, there's a quality curriculum for you. The whole point was to explain the value of the Bible and the information it holds. I'm not gonna say that I couldn't make the point going through such means, but I don't think these methods would actually assist in such a discussion.
So I decided that I'd improvise a little bit. The curriculum start in James and it made me start thinking about what it means to be a Christian. What do I value as a Christian and to whom am I trying to prove my belief in God? There are other questions too, but I actually feel like I've got these answers somewhat sorted out in my head, but they are hard to explain and I know that kids at these ages (11-14) don't have them figured out yet because I didn't at there age and I've had discussions with other kids in very similar situations that are asking the same questions. So I put together a lesson plan and went to church this morning.
As I was setting up the for the band the head pastor approached me and said that he wanted me and the high school teacher to give a preview of what we would be doing this year in Sunday school, to which I responded, "Ok, sure, no problem" but in my mind I was saying, "Wait...what? for the YEAR! crap..." I do believe I actually said this with my face as well as I turned to a friend who could totally read my face as she laughed at me. I asked the high school teacher what he had planned for the day and he said he had no idea,"whew, at least I'm not alone". As we continued talking I jokingly suggested the theme for the year be "The Edge of Glory". My original thought was that it would go over the parents heads (or maybe below their radar) and make a pun that only the students would actually appreciate and show some love to my uncle who recently passed. But then I started to give it more thought and realized that it's actually pretty close to what I wanted to talk about anyway.
If you're familiar with the song you're well aware that Ms. Gaga has no spiritual insinuations in this song whatsoever, it's basically about her hooking up with a guy, nothing special at all. It has a catchy beat and a killer tenor sax solo but doesn't offer a whole lot outside of a dance beat. Anyway, in thinking about what it means to be a Christian and how a Christian should act, I resolved that as a Christian my desire should be to want to please God, to align my will with God's. It is when we are doing what we can to align our will with God's that we approach the...wait for it...edge of God's glory. It sounds a little Sunday schoolish but it's the truth and I am teaching Sunday school. If we are focused on loving God and living to honor Him then nothing else matters. We will have no choice but to live a Christian life style and follow Christ's example.
I can't account for anyone else and the life they chose to live. I can only say and act on what I know to be a Christian. I will also say that I, and everyone else, am a human and I am prone to sin. I WILL let you down. It's a fact, I've already let some of you down already, maybe you just don't know it yet. It's a fact of life in our broken world. I hate it when people point to people that claim Christianity yet live in a contradictory life style. Like I said I'm not perfect and I've done things that would leave others to believe that I'm not a Christian, but it's something that I'm working on. As long as Christ is the focus in my life I don't have to worry about the Christian example that I'm setting.
Until next time,
Peace Out!
Gabe
p.s. Just an fyi, much of this is brought up by recent conversations I've had with other staff members and students.
Fast forward to last Sunday, I got the materials for the class that I was supposed to teach from and like any responsible person I promptly put them on my bookshelf and forgot about them until last night (Saturday) half an hour before I needed to leave to play at Reno's. So, I scrambled. Not really, but I was a little on edge. Anyway I too the material to read at the bar in before and in between sets and this is literally the first thing I read, "QUOTE", followed later by, "QUOTE"...yeah, there's a quality curriculum for you. The whole point was to explain the value of the Bible and the information it holds. I'm not gonna say that I couldn't make the point going through such means, but I don't think these methods would actually assist in such a discussion.
So I decided that I'd improvise a little bit. The curriculum start in James and it made me start thinking about what it means to be a Christian. What do I value as a Christian and to whom am I trying to prove my belief in God? There are other questions too, but I actually feel like I've got these answers somewhat sorted out in my head, but they are hard to explain and I know that kids at these ages (11-14) don't have them figured out yet because I didn't at there age and I've had discussions with other kids in very similar situations that are asking the same questions. So I put together a lesson plan and went to church this morning.
As I was setting up the for the band the head pastor approached me and said that he wanted me and the high school teacher to give a preview of what we would be doing this year in Sunday school, to which I responded, "Ok, sure, no problem" but in my mind I was saying, "Wait...what? for the YEAR! crap..." I do believe I actually said this with my face as well as I turned to a friend who could totally read my face as she laughed at me. I asked the high school teacher what he had planned for the day and he said he had no idea,"whew, at least I'm not alone". As we continued talking I jokingly suggested the theme for the year be "The Edge of Glory". My original thought was that it would go over the parents heads (or maybe below their radar) and make a pun that only the students would actually appreciate and show some love to my uncle who recently passed. But then I started to give it more thought and realized that it's actually pretty close to what I wanted to talk about anyway.
If you're familiar with the song you're well aware that Ms. Gaga has no spiritual insinuations in this song whatsoever, it's basically about her hooking up with a guy, nothing special at all. It has a catchy beat and a killer tenor sax solo but doesn't offer a whole lot outside of a dance beat. Anyway, in thinking about what it means to be a Christian and how a Christian should act, I resolved that as a Christian my desire should be to want to please God, to align my will with God's. It is when we are doing what we can to align our will with God's that we approach the...wait for it...edge of God's glory. It sounds a little Sunday schoolish but it's the truth and I am teaching Sunday school. If we are focused on loving God and living to honor Him then nothing else matters. We will have no choice but to live a Christian life style and follow Christ's example.
I can't account for anyone else and the life they chose to live. I can only say and act on what I know to be a Christian. I will also say that I, and everyone else, am a human and I am prone to sin. I WILL let you down. It's a fact, I've already let some of you down already, maybe you just don't know it yet. It's a fact of life in our broken world. I hate it when people point to people that claim Christianity yet live in a contradictory life style. Like I said I'm not perfect and I've done things that would leave others to believe that I'm not a Christian, but it's something that I'm working on. As long as Christ is the focus in my life I don't have to worry about the Christian example that I'm setting.
Until next time,
Peace Out!
Gabe
p.s. Just an fyi, much of this is brought up by recent conversations I've had with other staff members and students.
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