Teaching Tips: What is Your Focus?

As it is in all churches problems arise. You don’t have to even believe for them, problems just show up. You might ask why. The answer is churches are made of people and people have problems. The presence of problems doesn’t indicate a lack of faith. Paul had multiple problems; however he was a man of faith. Paul had to deal with everything from attacks on his life to disagreements with coworkers, yet he stayed focus on making disciples.

Our purpose is to make disciples of children.  Our objective is to cause them to believe the Bible, act on their beliefs, and share their faith. There are opportunities to lose the focus of discipling. We are to meet the physical needs but we can’t become babysitters. We have to get their attention but were not in the entertainment business. We have to have order and discipline in the class but we are not here to do parenting. We need to minister the Word but children’s ministry is not a stepping stone to “higher” ministry, nor is it a soap box to say and do what we want.

Here is a natural situation in which focusing on the problem can be disastrous. The main purpose of a cattle ranch is to produce calves to sell and make a profit. Weeds can be a problem because cattle eat grass and weeds in the pasture take up the space you would want grass to be in. To kill all the weeds could cost $40 to $50 per acre.  If it takes 17 acres each year for a cow to raise a calf then it would cost $680 in weed killer for that one cow and calf. If your profit in the calf is $400, you would lose $280 per cow. With a cow heard of 50 cows your bottom line would be minus $14,000. If you focus on the removal of weeds you will lose big time. A weed prevention plan is needed, but the cow producing a calf needs to be the center of attention. We can’t afford to focus on problems.

Think about the “weeds” you have in your ministry to children. Be aware of them, but don’t allow them absorb the majority of your efforts. After your class is over reflect and ask your self, “What was done to make disciples of the children?” Are these things the focus of your time and energy? If not, changes are in order to be successful.