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You can sign up all of your teachers by emailing me their email addresses: josh@joshhunt.com I can't believe it! This is incredible!I have thought for a long time that there is a fundamental flaw in all curriculum design. The flaw seemed to be almost universal. The flaw is an assumption that God has widely distributed the gift of being able to write life-changing prose. I think it is a flaw. I don't think God has widely distributed the gift of being able to write life changing prose. I think God has given that gift to a very small percentage of the body of Christ. Charles Swindoll has it. Charles Stanley has it. Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, John Maxwell, Max Lucado, Jim Cymbala. . .there are others. But, the list is pretty short. I have asked groups of pastors and Ministers of Education, "Has your life ever been changed by any curriculum piece you have ever read?" Some groups have actually laughed out loud at the thought. From one perspective, curriculum doesn't matter. That is, when I am in a group, I would like for someone to say, "Let's open our Bible today and turn to ____________." Curriculum is about what informs this reading outside of class. In class, we don't study the curriculum, we study the Bible. And here is another thing. Many people are not readers. They just don't read. We can encourage them to read, but many are just not readers. My guess is that curriculum pieces are some of the most under-read pieces of printed literature on the planet. I imagine a high percentage of the curriculum pieces that are printed go unread.
Reading the great books has been the single most important influence on my life outside of the Bible itself. More than sermons or Sunday School lessons or any other source, books have shaped me. If we can get people to read the great books, and then discuss the Bible in class, we have a winning formula. (We also encourage people to read the Bible on their own, of course.) Well, here is the good news. Starting in the fall, LifeWay has a new curriculum that has people reading the great books. It is called Masterworks. I can't believe it! This is incredible! The first two books are The Secret of Happiness, by Billy Graham, and Living Above the Level of Mediocrity by Charles Swindoll. Let me emphasize that I don't see these as a book study. That is, we are not studying these two books. We are studying the Bible. This is all about what we ask people to read outside of class to inform their reading of the Bible. You could do far worse than ask your people to read Billy Graham and Charles Swindoll. For more information on this and other of LifeWay's curriculum outlines, click here. |
Having sung the praises of this new curriculum outline, (see left column), let me share something that concerns me. This is not really about curriculum, it is about the way Sunday School is often done. Here is a quote from the teacher's guide for Masterworks for September 7. What is wrong with this picture:
One thing that is slightly problematic to me is the study centers around the text of the book, not the text of The Book. But, I think in the broad context of this study (it is a study of the beatitudes.) there will be plenty of Biblical content and direct contact with the Bible itself. I believe that Sunday School needs to have a healthy dose of contact with the naked Bible itself. Still, I'd let this one go. The real issue here is the last phrase, "without getting personal." Let me be very frank here. (My middle name is Frank.) Getting personal is exactly what we need to do. Sunday School tends to be way too theoretical, antiseptic, and other-worldly. What we need to know is how this really works in the real world of real people's lives. We desperately need to get personal. Teaching is truth poured through a person. We try not to distort the truth as it pours through us, but we let it flow through us. As it does, the truth is tinted by our personality. This is how it should be. We don't just tell them what the Bible says, we tell them how it works in our lives personally. It is people that God uses. It is people that change lives. It is not so much principles or ideas or concepts as much as it is people. And it is people that get personal. People today are searching for better principles and methods. What we need is better people. It is people that God uses. Any time your life has been changed it has been changed because someone got personal. Life is all about getting personal. Teaching is all about getting personal. It is certainly possible to get too personal, or to get personal in inappropriate ways. I was in a service one time where this happened. A lady came forward and asked to share something with the congregation. The pastor handed her the microphone. (In retrospect, not a good idea.) She was weeping as she confessed, "I need to confess my sin of sexual immorality with Joe Schmow." This was more information than we needed. What made matters worse was Joe was setting about 4 rows back. I don't think he was in the mood to have his sins confessed. There is a such a thing as getting too personal. Still, we don't mean to say we don't want to get personal at all. I have been to too many classes that were all theoretical, high-and-mighty theories and concepts and the-Greek-says that never touched the real world. I want to raise my hand and say, "How does that really work in the real world for you personally?" Paul said it this way, "We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us." 1 Thes. 2:8 Not only the gospel, but our lives as well. That is what I would invite you to do: share not only the gospel, but your lives as well.
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Is your class a purple cow? While driving through the countryside in France a few years ago, Seth Godin had an insight marketing that also relates to Sunday School. At first he was totally fascinated by mile after mile of storybook cows. Perhaps you remember when your children were young and you would point at the cows and say, "What does the cow say?" After while, the cows became so common they were boring. Mile after mile of brown cows. Boring. They started ignoring the cows. A purple cow, however, would have gotten their attention. A purple cow is remarkable. A purple cow is interesting. A purple cow gets people talking. Is your class a purple cow? The #1 predictor of the growth of any class is the teaching ability of the teacher. If we can produce great teachers who produce great lessons growth will pretty much take care of itself. Toward that end, every teacher should enjoy the following training: The most important way to make your lesson remarkable is to keep your eye on the ball of emotions in the class. "Don't just inform the head," as Howard Hendricks says, "inspire the heart." I am working on a book called I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E. Teachers. "I" stands for, "Inspirational." Incredible Teachers inspire people and move them emotionally. I would invite you to read Seth Godin's book, Purple Cow. Mostly, I'd like to invite you to become a purple cow. Teach in a way that is remarkable. Move people to tears. Create an experience that will make people want to go out and bring their friends.
The #1 predictor of the growth of any class is the teaching ability of the teacher. This 13 part video teaches your teachers how to make disciples through the Sunday School.
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