Most of you have heard by now that, come the end of our Sunday School season, I will be stepping down as Christian Education Director. This announcement is filled with mixed emotions for me and my family as the main reason for this change comes with the exciting news of our third child due in June, but it is also coupled with glumness as I walk away from a very meaningful job (and a little anxiety about having three children three and under running around my house!). This job has been challenging and rewarding and fulfilling in so many different ways and I am grateful for the opportunity to help lead this congregation in its spiritual education.
You never truly understand what you are getting yourself into until you are smack dab in the middle of it. Case in point = this job. Surrounded by piles of Sunday School curriculums, book after book on "correct" Christian theology, self-help books for miles guaranteed to boost any Small Group relationship with God, I found myself spinning in a world of "religion." How was I suppose to sift through all of this to find the best materials to give to all of you; to give to our children? The more "pop Christianity," as many call it, kept beating down my door the more I felt pulled back to the basics. I kept coming back to the Bible. To God's word. None of the other words out there, the self-help books, studies on biblical topics, latest trend in children's curriculum, mean anything if they don't measure up to what God is telling us in the first place through His words.
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that "All scripture is God-breathed." What more do we need than God's OWN word? Yes, we can gain a lot from the right studies and lessons that are biblically based. We can relate to them in this culture and time-period. They can help bring the scriptures to life for us. But, we must not forget to bring all of that back to the Bible. Let the Bible be your measuring stick upon which you measure every piece of "truth" that you have encountered. Don't simply take someone's word for something because they have a good reputation, or they are easy to agree with, or they are trending on social media. Measure their words against God's for yourself and only then will you find the truth.
By the way, if any of you are interested in stepping into my CE Director shoes, I'd love to chat with you ;-)
Blessings,
Kathleen