I attended a children’s ministry conference this spring. Many teachers stopped by my booth to look at Bible Orientation. Some were intrigued and a few bought books for their personal use, but the attitude I most encountered was encapsulated by one teacher’s comment, “Oh, this isn’t really Sunday School material; it is learning material.” Yes, it is!
I am teaching children’s Sunday School again. I do not teach Sunday School to give children a good time in church. I teach Sunday School to teach the Bible, the whole Bible. Children need to know that the Bible is the written foundation for our faith and that the Bible is accessible to them.
The Bible is not a smorgasbord from which we choose our favorite verses and reheat them for every situation. No, the Bible, the entire Bible, is our sacred Scripture and it all fits together. My goal is that students going through the complete Bible, Genesis to Revelation, for the first time, will get a general idea of where to find things in the Bible and understand the Bible as a comprehensive whole. They will see that everything in the Bible tells one story, the story of God’s relationship with people.
I aim to grow Bible-smart kids:
- kids who have a sense of ease and familiarity in using the Bible, reading it and finding information in it
- kids who understand the organization of the Bible: chapter and verse, order of books and categories of books
- kids who know the content of the Bible, at least the main characters, stories, themes and literary genres. (They will learn to interpret poetry differently than history.)
The method is simple: students read the Bible. They look up verses all the time. I ask questions with references and students look for answers in the Bible. Because the children in my class already know stories from the Bible, they often answer questions without looking up the verse. Sometimes I let them get away with that, but more often I direct them to see what the Bible says and they check whether their idea is right or wrong. I estimate that they are batting at about 50%.
Every time I start with a new group of children my initial impression is “This is not going to work; their reading skills are not up to the task, they don’t comprehend what they are reading, and it is all so slow…” but every time, when students regularly attend class, their skills improve. I have 9 regular attendees, grades 2-5, 7 boys and 2 girls. Reading levels vary widely. It took 4 weeks to finish Genesis, but we are in 2 Kings now, and the class can find their way around the Bible even when we jump between books. In the Judges worksheet they compared what God commanded in Exodus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, with what the people were doing in Judges. They found that information on their own, even though their reading skills generally are not as developed as I anticipated.
However, to my great delight, students themselves are starting to collate the Scriptures. When we surveyed David’s story, the 7-11 year-olds were shocked that the man “after God’s own heart” in 1 Samuel would sin in 2 Samuel. Wide-eyed Julia exclaimed, “He broke two commandments!” Another child added specifics, “Adultery and murder!” (Yes, they know what adultery is. We covered that in the Exodus Ten Commandments worksheet.) After the next few references Simon added, “He broke three!” (You can look that one up on your own.) Without my prompting, these kids measured David by God’s law in Exodus. That is what Bible Orientation is about, discovering what the Bible actually says and then looking at it as a whole, one part informing another. When Caleb asked, “So do you think David is in hell or heaven?” we continued reading the Bible and discovered that David confessed his sin and God forgave him. The final question was, “Does that mean that God forgives all sin, no matter what we do?” That was answered by a resounding “Yes!”
Bible Orientation is a long-term project. I expect it will take about 3 years to go through the whole Bible. The goal is not to pass a test. Students are developing skills. They are learning to wield the sword of the Spirit.
My entire life I have been accused of expecting children to do things they cannot do— until they do it. I encourage you, I dare you to teach Bible Orientation to one child or ten. You will be amazed to discover that the Holy Spirit teaches them just like He teaches us.
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