Every year around major holidays there is a spike in retailer sales. As consumers bustle around to get that steal of a price they forget their manners and often become less than amazing people. The context I am observing is different but shows that same attitude of consumption.
What I have recently noticed has been the consumers within the church. There are many people who serve within my church faithfully and persistently, but there are those who are of able body and ability choose not to be in service.
There are many people who are apprehensive about teaching students. Teaching a Bible lesson to children, even your own children, should not be daunting but exciting. If you find that perhaps you feel challenged by the task of teaching children, perhaps this is a place of growth and discipleship in your own life. I have grown in my own life in the simplest of tasks preparing and helping teach the children of my church.
It is not right to dump the responsibility of your children on the backs of someone else every Sunday so you are able to sit in on and consume a Sunday morning Bible lesson whilst your children sit in Sunday school. Sunday morning lesson time is not simply free morning-care so parents are able to attend their own study.
From the perspective of the teacher, there are many parents who drop their children by without a second thought, in wholistic expectation of attending and consuming without assisting in any form of service. Teaching and serving others should be a great joy, not an arduous burden, and too often the latter becomes true for the teacher.
If Sunday is the only time a couple has away from their children and they leave them in different classes to escape, then perhaps a weeknight sitter should be in order. If more parents were more involved with their children in Sunday school, their children would learn efficiently what church should look like as they grow older. Not to discredit the powerful work of those old-time Sunday school teachers, many have helped children understand what salvation is, but having parents involved in church service is important.
Attending church is not about coming to consume, it is about discipleship of other believers. Discipleship takes place at all levels, by all believers. The important thing to keep in mind is that as Christians we must serve other believers. We don't need to be professionals at what we are doing; we must focus only on how we are seeking to serve the Lord by discipleship and teaching of others to follow Christ and do the same.
