Today marked our first effort to teach the children in this new, intentional format.
Various ones have done a lot to teach the children, but this is the first time it has felt like there was a critical mass behind the effort. We have three different houses. There are six adults committed to teaching each time. We are dividing up by age group. There is a curriculum. We are meeting regularly (every other week).
And I am the only male who has volunteered to help teach. You see, males are really involved with all aspects of churchlife, but we, as a group, always let the females drive when it comes to teaching the children. I did not commit to helping because I care so much about teaching the children. I committed because I don't care, and I don't think not caring is a good thing.
So, this is one of those instances where I am trying to let my actions go before my heart.
I am not stating this fact about males and females and teaching children as a criticism. Maybe is should be, but I am simply stating it as an observation. Women care more about teaching children about God than males do.
One interpretation is that this is how it should be. God has put something in women that give them a special care and burden for the kids. I think there is some truth to that.
Another interpretation is that this is another reflection of our male dominated, traditional roles culture, and that the men defer to the women because this work is not cool and because it is, well, work. I think there is some truth to that too.
But I want to care. I want to be part of raising up this next generation. I've already mentioned that I'm scared to death about it (see that post here). But I think God calls us to approach, with Him, what we fear. To let Him live and do in us what we would not live and do on our own.
So today was day one. I was assisting Vena, and we had the 4th-6th graders. To sum it up: it was great. Vena had a curriculum, and we both used our own styles and strengths to teach from it.
It was about being generous. We read from Genesis 13, where Abram allows Lot to choose which land Lot wants first. We also read Matthew 19, where the rich young ruler approaches Jesus, only to be disgruntled that Jesus calls him to give away everything and follow Him.
We read it together. Then we created our own skits to act it out. Vena's group did a traditional interpretation of Matthew 19, while my group did a modern-day version of Genesis 13. There were 5 girls and 1 boy, so I think it was good that the one boy, Will, saw that one of the teachers was male too.
We laughed. We shared. We discussed. Vena even talked about how people in the church are offering to help her and Greg fix up their new (old) home, and I thought it was so great that she was sharing her real life experiences with the kids. Vena later told me that she appreciated my ability to move away from the script and just go with the flow. We were a team, and I think the kids really got something from it.
At the end, we prayed together in groups. It reminded me of how much a privilege it is to pray with children.
Overall, I think it's a good beginning. And it's coming off of a Sunday whole church meeting where we intentionally had the adults and children together to learn about and discuss Ephesians 4.
There is certainly enough to think about in how to do churchlife with other adults that I can completely understand someone not wanting to think about the kids on top of that. But the older kids are approaching 12 and beyond. In a decade, most of them will be gone.
What will they leave with?