Children: in Life, in Meetings, in Our Hearts

Hi Family, A brother and I were talking last night about another aspect of teaching our children, and he thought it necessary to pass on.

To this point the veil has been dropping from our eyes as we've been seeing more clearly the "Bible study" / "worship services" mindset (old covenant) we've been living with in regard to teaching the children. That IS how we have been functioning. Bible study one, two, four or even seven times a week is NOT God's Way of imparting Truths of His Word to others. We know that! We've lived in the way of the Spirit, caring about people and working day by day by day, trusting God to bring His Word. Likewise, it seems He'd have us impart other truths of His universe in the same way. Bible "classes" won't cut it, and neither will geography, computer, cooking, or biology "classes" once, twice, or even seven times a week. No matter how innovative or creative the "classes" might be, they've gotta go!

Maybe part of the key to unlocking that door is let's kill the clergy⁄laity mindset we've had. In about every academic learning situation, we've functioned in a "teacher"–"audience" frame of mind. The posture (myself included) has been one of "the teacher". Sure, I'm their sister too. But I've also made myself "clergy".

An example: Jane knows trig so Jane becomes THE "trig teacher." (Of course we don't refer to people as "teacher," but that IS what they are.) This IMMEDIATELY does two things. 1) It relieves everyone from taking responsibility in that child's life regarding trig. It actually steals opportunities from others to invest in that child because "someone else is teaching that so I don't need to." 2) Because the child has only ONE teacher in that area they seldom if ever seek out help in the flow of life from others. The responsibility falls in a predetermined way, on one or two people's shoulders for each "subject." It's an unspoken assumption on everyone's part. Jack teaches physics to these certain children, so no one else does or would even consider it. And the "student" would rarely look for help elsewhere. As a result of this clergyism, people aren't THINKING in terms of investing in certain areas of a child's life because, after all, the teacher ("pastor") has that responsibility. (I'm sure parents are caring about what their children are learning and from whom, but you get the overall drift?)

God says He's raising up a PRIESTHOOD! ALL are servants of the faith, administering faithfully what God has given them, whether spiritual, physical, or intellectual strengths. The "programmed" way of life hinders God's process of working through the Priesthood of believers! Are you seeing it? We would NEVER think in terms of: "Sue is my teacher about walking in the light." Yet we DO live with "Jane is my trig teacher." Immediately we don't have to take responsibility for Jane's "students" in that area any more.

Think about it? Shalom, Mary

P.S. We're ALL in this together. He is lovingly and patiently bringing this to our attention. Not with a rod to beat us, but with a crook to guide us to much greener pastures. So let's thank Him for His Kindness and His goodness to specifically watch over us and teach us His ways, okay?