By Rev. Joseph D. Burchill

Ray needed to recruit a teacher for the junior high girls’ class. He saw Mrs. Rose walking out of the door of the church. He quickly followed her to her car. As she shut the door, he knelt at the car window and began to plead his case. After all, he was kneeling in gravel. How could anyone say "no" to someone kneeling in gravel? Out of pity, Mrs. Rose agreed to teach the class.

God’s Word doesn’t ask people to teach out of pity or loyalty or guilt. God’s Word says to teach because we know that it is the gift and call upon our lives. As a young Christian Education worker, I taught a workshop dealing with the call of God upon the lives of my staff. I made them a gutsy (now looking back it could be called a dumb) move. I told them that they could resign if they knew they were not called to do so but they had to covenant to pray that God would lead them into another ministry within the church. Four people came forward and resigned. I began to pray for each one that God would show them their ministry.

One young man really struck me as being a good teacher. He was a public school teacher and I imagined that he enjoyed teaching. He was the first one to resign. I found out that he was having a really difficult time with his junior high class. They had poured a bucket of water on him. They even tied him to a chair one morning. Fortunately the superintendent heard his cry for help. He was frustrated and defeated in his service for the Lord. As he and I began to pray together on a regular basis that God would show him what ministry he was to be involved in, he began to understand the importance of God’s call. He became very involved in the drama ministry and within just six months had lead more people to Christ than he has as a teacher for six years. The other side of the story is that God called a lady to teach the junior high class. She lead four kids to Christ within the year.

How about you? The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 12, tells the church not to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. Use them for ministry in the church. He challenged Timothy to be diligent and use his gift for ministry in I Timothy 4:14-16. I Peter 4:10 says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." It is my prayer that you are not just another "warm body" but you know that God has equipped you for ministry in the Sunday school. Let’s be the best prepared we can be to serve the King of Kings.

(This article appeared in the "Winter, 1991-92" issue of "The Herald.")