In 1983, a
highly respected colleague attended a Crossways International (CI) seminar that
I conducted. He has taught CI's various courses ever since to thousands of
people. We have produced a 20-minute CD in which he discusses how he uses the
materials.
When he
conducts a new-member class, he leads participants through the 30-unit course
titled The Divine Drama®. He states that doing so enables prospective members gain a proper
understanding of the Bible's "big story" and the themes that surface
within it. They are discipled, not merely added to the membership list.
The courses
that he uses more than any other is CI's 60-unit Crossways®. Often, people who
have completed that course sign up to do it again. On one occasion, a
72-year-old lady who had taught Sunday school for many years signed up for the
course. After she had completed eight units, she came into the pastor's office
with tears in her eyes. She said, sobbing, "Crossways is destroying my faith!"
He was very concerned and spent 40 minutes discussing the matter with
her. Then she said, "Pastor, I am beginning to understand something.
I have taught Sunday school for many years, but I have never read the
Bible!" She completed the course, and then signed up to do it again and
continued to serve as a Sunday school teacher with passion.
What amazes me
is one of the methods that my colleague used to reach out to non-members. He
would sit at a table in McDonald's with some of CI's basic materials on display.
People would ask him what those materials were all about, and he would explain
the materials to them. Others would gather around the table, and the discussion
would sometimes continue for two hours! Those "searching" people were
more prepared to talk in McDonald's than sit in a church pew!
We would do
well to ask ourselves, "Do we merely invite our people to sit, stand,
sing, say, and scatter, or do we inspire and equip them to study, search, seek,
stoop, and sweat?" How much time do we spend getting Sunday school
teachers, committee and board members, and parents (above all others) into
God's Word in depth? Sad to say, many parents are prepared to practice
"drop off" Christianity when it comes to their children's spiritual
growth. Their attitude is, "You teach my kids! That's what we pay you to
do!"
Note well:
Several years ago, the president of a large US denomination pointed out the
following statistics: 50% of children baptized make it to confirmation class,
and 50% of those confirmed are still in the church when they turn 20 years old.
Do the math: only 25% of those baptized are still around 20 years later. Unless
we do something to turn things around, within a few decades church attendance
in North America will be what it now is in Europe!
