Why My Dad Was My Best Sunday School Teacher

My dad taught both my fifth and sixth grade Sunday school classes.  Looking back, I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to study under him, but I’m not so sure I felt that way at the time.  You see, one of the things I enjoyed in Sunday school was doing crafts. I loved having a little project to do as part of the week’s lesson.  My biggest criticism of my dad? He never did any crafts! I was pretty bummed about it, and I let him know! Other teachers did crafts, so why didn’t he?

Here’s what was so amazing about my dad though—we were always in the Bible, discussing the Bible, or watching a video that illustrated the truth of the Bible.  It was all about the Scriptures.  Yeah, his class was less crafty than your usual elementary Sunday school, but the things that my father taught there I have carried with me into my life and ministry.

What’s really cool to me is that my dad had only become a strong Christian a few short years prior to becoming my Sunday school teacher.  I remember seeing him reading and studying the Bible, taking ample time preparing for his lessons.  I remember hearing him talk about how God would wake him up at night and prompt him to read the Scriptures.  

That impacted me.

Being newer to the Bible, though, caused him to have some difficulty with the pronunciation of certain Biblical names.  I still chuckle when I think of how he would prnounce Esau.  (Admittedly, though, does anyone really know how to pronounce Esau without someone telling them?)

My dad taught me my first lesson in exegesis—read in context.  He would tell us over and over again, “When reading a passage of scripture, always read a little bit before and after so you know what’s going on.”  It’s true—a really easy way to avoid misinterpreting the Bible is simply to read it in context.  I learned this both in Bible college and seminary, but I learned it first from my dad.  Take Matthew 4:9 for example:  “‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.’”  Sounds like a great verse to put on a mint or keychain, right? Well if you read just a verse before, you find out it’s not God who said it, it’s the devil, when he tempted Jesus! Context matters, and we can really misunderstand Scripture if we don’t read it in its context.  (If you’re wondering if anyone has ever actually taken this verse out of context, there’s a meme going around Facebook poking fun at a picture of a day calendar that has this verse printed on it.)

Thank you, dad, for teaching me how to read in context.  

Through the art of repetition, my father ensured we would never forget key ideas as we went through our year-long overview of the entire Bible.  A big one I remember was the definition of a prophet.  Seriously, I think he asked us every week, “What is a prophet?”  He always made certain to emphasize that a prophet was not a psychic! God spoke through His prophets.  I couldn’t teach my Confirmation class about the prophets this week without thinking about my dad.  He also helped us understand the concept of atonement, that it was “at-one-ment,” meaning that what Christ did on the cross brought us back to God.  We talked a lot about Proverbs.  Dad emphasized to us that a proverb was a short little saying like, “A nagging wife is like a dripping faucet.” In fact, he used that proverb as an example so many times my mom thought he was implying something about her!

I learned how to teach the Bible from my father.  I have fond memories of how he would have us read just a few verses, then stop us to explain something, then have us read a few more verses, then ask a question.  It was in those little spirts of reading and explaining that I not only learned the Scriptures, but I learned a really valuable teaching method that I still employ today.

In fact, that was a method I first employed when he let me start co-teaching his class with him.  I was in eleventh grade and I loved it! At some point though, he stepped back, and his class became my class.  I will always be grateful for my very first experience in teaching the Scriptures.

Parents, you have more influence in your children’s lives than you realize.  The example you set in your personal relationship with the Lord, the words you use, and the time you spend discussing Scripture with your children matters even when it doesn’t seem like it does.  Don’t underestimate the spiritual impact you can make on your children.  I have a dad that showed me just how powerful that influence was in my own life.  For that, I am forever grateful.