Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, Part 3
A few years back, a rather non-subtle bumper sticker stated, “If you can read this, thank a teacher.” This pithy statement was a reminder that many of the skills we take for granted are owed to someone taking the time to help. This is certainly the case when it comes to our biblical training.
Spending time at the church building during the week allows me to see “behind the scenes action.” There are few days when I do not see one of our elementary teachers running copies, making bulletin boards, preparing teaching tools, or a host of other activities for the express purpose of training young minds to know the Bible. Solomon wisely stated, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). While the primary audience for this verse is parents, these faithful lower lights in our teaching program take it upon themselves to aid parents in the great work of training young minds in godliness.
Teaching young children is not easy work, nor is it easy to plan how this teaching will take place. Too often, children’s classes can devolve into more of an arts and crafts session than biblical training. Navigating between serious Bible teaching and activities to reinforce this teaching can be challenging. It is here that our lower lights shine! Take a moment to visit the classrooms for younger students and it is readily apparent our teachers are serious about Bible instruction. Peruse the curriculum for each of these classes and the attention to biblical matters shines. These teachers have honed their skills and collaborated with one another to develop important reinforcement activities that are much more than time-fillers.
Even in these strange, quarantined times, our teachers have gone the extra mile. Packets have been created to send home with each child so that parents will have resources available to make sure their children’s biblical instruction is not impeded. Because of the work of these teachers, parents have more tools to carry out the very things Moses instructed Israelite parents to do long ago: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 6:6-8).
To have a godly, knowledgeable, dedicated group of teachers such as we have is a blessing that not many local churches enjoy. While not a single member of this group seeks nor desires notoriety, may we each take occasion to thank God for the work they do. May we also take time to thank them for their willingness to serve. These lower lights work hard to point young minds to the greater light of our God.
