More Than Sunday School

Sunday School, i.e., religious education, was a priority in the three-legged-stool understanding of being a Christian with which I grew up. (See More than Behavior, 1/28/19 blog.)

In the era of Christendom in which I grew up, religious education, particularly Sunday School, was a primary activity of church life with the Bible as the primary focus of study. Moral issues sometimes came into focus, but always from the perspective of what the Bible had to say about the issue. What the Bible said was always the final word. Biblical knowledge, including the ability to cite specific passages along with the correct chapter and verse, was taken as a sign of ... of what? I am hesitant to use the word maturity. The knowledge of the Bible was a indicator of one's involvement in church, maybe the degree of one's commitment as a Christian. It was certainly a measure of one's orthodoxy, i.e., being right.

This kind of religious education was about study with the assumption that learning would take place. It was about gaining knowledge of Biblical facts with the assumption that such knowledge would result in the understanding of spiritual truth. Those underlying assumptions did not prove to be true.

This focus on study is prominent even today. Every Sunday School class has a curriculum the group studies. Small groups of every stripe meet throughout the week around some study focus: the Bible, a book, a video series.

The current controversy in The UMC over LGBTQ+ issues reflects the bankruptcy of this emphasis on religious education (dare I say, Bible study?!). The countless years and hours of study and the vast amount of Biblical knowledge have not translated into Christlike attitudes, thinking, or ways of relating. It is common today for the accumulated biblical knowledge to be used to support attitudes, thinking, and ways of relating that are clearly out of step with the spirit of Jesus.

A conscious shift of focus is needed: from education to spiritual transformation; from study to discipleship. We do not need more input, more content to learn. Yes, study is vital. It cannot be ignored. But knowledge is not the intended outcome of study for a follower of Jesus; spiritual transformation is. The desired outcome is spiritual growth that leads to the transformation of heart and mind. The desired outcome is a growing disciple whose attitudes, thinking, and ways of relating begin to more and more reflect the attitudes, thinking, and ways of relating of Jesus. The desired outcome is a Spirit-shaped life that reflects the grace-filled ways of the Kingdom. The desired outcome is that we are transformed by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2). The desired outcome is that we put on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). The desired outcome is that we love as Jesus loved.

The desired outcome determines the course of study.

Among other things, we must learn how to read and study the Bible as an ancient, Near Eastern collection of books. The way we read it (through our Western, Enlightenment-shaped thinking, and scientific orientation) allows us to use the Bible to reinforce our current thinking (think "proof texting") rather than to allow the truth of God to shape how we think and live. The result is we wrap our human thinking in religious garb and call it "Christian." We must learn that the Bible is a collection of books with different perspectives and purposes. The books are not "created equal." We must learn to let the Bible be what it is rather than the idol we have made it. We must learn to discover the message the original author sought to communicate about God and the ways of God. We must learn to read the Bible in order to encounter and know God rather than to learn facts about God.

Which leads to a second focus of study. We must gain a clear understanding of the nature and character of God as revealed to Moses (Exodus 34:6-7) and in Jesus, the Christ. What we identify as biblical truth must align with and be an expression of that character.

Knowing the nature and character of God leads us to know the ways of God that Jesus taught: the Kingdom of God. In my book A God-Shaped World (Westbow), I use the Gospel of Luke to identify four central characteristics of the Kingdom: each person is viewed and treated as a beloved child of God, relationships are based upon grace and forgiveness (not merit), power is used to serve, and material wealth, as a form of power, is used to do the work of the Kingdom.

The ways of the Kingdom call us to learn how to live in an intimate, personal relationship with God, opening our hearts and minds to the transforming power of the Spirit. They call us to live in glad dependency upon God. We need to learn how to pray, how to use our struggles as an opportunity for spiritual insight and growth, how to access the power of the Spirit in our daily lives, how to live out of the peace of Christ and the joy of the Lord, how to rest in God's grace.

This personal relationship leads us into greater self-awareness and self-management. It leads us to recognize and know our gifts and passions. It leads us to live out of our gifts and passions for the sake of the Kingdom and the good of others.

Living as a beloved child of God and as a follower of Jesus ultimately leads us to love as Jesus loved - freely, generously, out of what is in our hearts rather than in reaction to what the others does. It leads us to love our enemy as well as our neighbor.

If our Bible study does not lead to the transformation of our hearts and minds, if it does not lead to spiritual growth, if it does not produce the mind of Christ in us, if it does not lead us to love as Jesus loved, what value does it have?