The life is more important than the lesson

Recently I heard a group leader for children say, "I feel like I don't know enough to teach these kids! I'm just trying to stay one step ahead of them. I don't know if I'm cut out for this." It's a common concern I hear over and over from children's Bible study leaders. We feel such a great responsibility to give kids the knowledge they need to know God and experience Christ that we are afraid we'll miss giving them something they need. Sometimes we may even fear that they'll ask a question--kids ask the darndest things--that we won't be able to answer and we'll be found to be not quite the biblical scholar we hope to be.

I tried to encourage this teacher the way I normally do. I asked her to recall a whole lesson she was taught as a child. She could not, of course. Then I asked her to recall a teacher who made a positive impact on her. She thought of a name immediately. I reminded her that it's not her lesson so much as her life that these kids were see. God was using Christ in her to teach. The kids were learning that faith was important to her and that she loved God enough to serve Him.

Of course, we all need to grow in our knowledge of the Lord and His Word. But there were some guys in the Bible that had more Bible knowledge than anyone. They were called Pharisees. Jesus had another name for them - hypocrites.

Yes, I want my kids to have knowledgeable Bible teachers. But more importantly, I want adult voices in the lives of my kids who are saying the same things I am with a heart that thirsts after Christ. If you love my child with the love of Christ and show her a life after God's heart, then suddenly, I'm not so worried about what you know.