Stop and Think

I scrolled down facebook and saw this: http://beliefsoftheheart.com/2013/07/23/i-wonder-if-sunday-school-is-destroying-our-kids-2
1. I thought "Sunday school destroying our kids? That is overreacting."
2. I thought "Oh dear, I do see some of a point to that."
3. I thought "Shoot, this means I have to think about this more because I teach Sunday school and write curriculum for Living Stones classes/Sunday school"
4. Well that is darn inconvenient

So I read through it again. I don't think Sunday school is destroying our kids. In the first place, if your kid is only "getting Jesus" on Sunday morning, it won't be Sunday school that is the issue. Second, not all teachers tell the stories in ways that "gloss over" the facts and make the Bible to a pretty little fairy tale. That said--there is a point, and it needs to be seen. And I am all for making sure the gospel is CLEARLY understood in a million different colorful and creative child-friendly ways.

"Look at almost any Sunday school curriculum. You’ll find:

• Abraham was faithful, and God made him the father of a nation. So be faithful like Abraham.
• Joseph was a good little boy (unlike his “bad” brothers), and God made him Prime Minister of Egypt. So be good like Joseph.
• David had a pure heart (unlike his brothers), and God made him King of Israel. So have a pure heart like David.
• Esther was an obedient girl. God made her Queen of Persia and she saved God’s people. So be obedient like Esther.
• Finally, if we fail to be good, Jesus will forgive us (a “P.S.” tacked onto the end).

What’s so bad about these Sunday school lessons? Nothing really. Except that they lie about God, they lie about these “heroes of the faith,” they lie about the Bible, and they lie about the gospel. Apart from that, they are pretty good. Oh, they also create “younger brother” rebels and “older brother” Pharisees.

Is the gospel our central theme, or is it a “PS” tacked onto the end?" ...Our Sunday school lessons teach us to be good little boys and girls, and God will love us and use us. It’s the total opposite of the gospel. It’s a counterfeit of the worst kind.

Let’s teach the wonder of the gospel. Let’s show our kids that God loves us … simply because he loves us. In our beastliness. That he loves us before we are good.That his love isn’t vague sentimentality, but it cost him his most precious treasure to turn us into his prized possession; that the storyline of the Bible is God’s Search and Rescue mission to find the dying Beast and kiss him into joyous life.

• How Abraham was an idol worshiper and God loved him and pursued him;
• How Joseph was a narcissistic boy and God loved him and pursued him;
• How David was a murdering adulterer and God loved him and pursued him;
• How Esther had sex outside of marriage with a non-believer and God loved her and pursued her. *

Our heroes weren’t loved because they were good; they were good because they were loved.We may believe in the innocence of youth, but our children know better. They see the children in the schoolyard (and they see us at home!). They don’t need the counterfeit gospel of pack-mule-moralism; they need the kiss of the Beauty." 

I am all for the things he is saying, although I must say Esther threw me in for a loop and I quickly clicked the link: http://beliefsoftheheart.com/2013/09/30/was-esther-an-unwilling-sex-slave-or-a-compliant-collaborator

"I was surprised by the many readers who were upset at my negative description of “good” Abraham, Joseph, and David. I wondered, “Have they even read those stories?” But I was astonished at the hail-storm of hundreds of angry emails that hated my history of Esther. Esther is beloved. Many think she was forced into sexual slavery. I think she was a complicit adulterer.            

Let’s put aside (for a moment) Esther’s willing compliance or innocence. Why do we begin reading the Bible with a built-in bias for these heroes to have an innate goodness? Nowadays we want think Esther was pure as the driven snow, but readers for over two thousand years thought otherwise. When early readers read Esther, they saw moral ambiguity at best." 

the article then tells a story about a broken women, asking "How would a person who is broken receive Esther?" then why are we taking away hope from broken people to protect ourselves from feeling queezy when we share Bible stories? 

"Let’s not falsely disparage biblical characters, but let’s not ignore their failures either. Because we are no different: flawed, confused, outright disobedient, and proud. Why do we want our heroes to be better than they really are? Because we think we are better than we really are. We would see more of God’s transforming grace if we spent more time acknowledging our own failures, just like the Bible does of its heroes." 

 It is a lot to think about. And in general, I feel like I have been on a journey of honesty as a Christian. Being open to question, to hear other opinions, to say "I don't know, darn it, and I wish I did." So that journey will continue as I teach children Sunday school. 

In the end, I think the Sunday school teachers who are honest and real and following Jesus are going to realize what should be said and how it should be said/explained in a real/true way for the children, that shows Jesus. And the Sunday school teachers who don't will just read off of the curriculum.