John Maxwell’s favorite Sunday School Teacher

My three favorite Sunday school teachers are beautiful examples of this truth. First came Katie, my second grade teacher. When I was sick and missed her class, she would come and visit me on Monday. She would ask how I was feeling and give me a five–cent trinket that was worth a million dollars to me. Katie would say, “Johnny, I always teach better when you are in the class. When you come next Sunday morning would you raise your hand so I can see you are in attendance? Then I will teach better.”

When next Sunday morning dawned I would be up, preparing to go to Sunday school. Not even the German measles, the Asian flu and the Mediterranean fruit fly combined could keep me from getting some of Katie’s acceptance and affirmation! I can still remember raising my hand and watching Katie smile at me from the front of the class.

I also remember other kids raising their hands when Katie began to teach and her class grew rapidly. The Sunday school superintendent wanted to split the class and start a new one across the hall. He asked for volunteers for the new class and no one raised his hand. That day the second grade held the church’s first sit–down strike. Our theme: “We shall not be moved.” Why? No kid was about to go across the hall with a new teacher and miss Katie’s continual demonstration of love.
John C. Maxwell, The Winning Attitude (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1993), 52.