 T-NET International • Discipling Disciplemakers • January 2003 |
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Bob Gilliam, President Being a “Creative Developer” can be dangerous. I recall the day I learned how wings lift airplanes into flight. That was so exciting, I just had to implement my newfound knowledge. I hauled an eight-foot long one-by-eight board (weighing about 15 pounds) and some rope to the roof of the barn. My younger brother tied the board across my arms, and soon I was on a dead run that I was certain would have me gliding off that roof for miles and miles . . . when my mother’s screams stopped me from death (or something like it.) As a child, that mixture of creativity and inexperience often led me to the brink of disaster. And I have a much greater appreciation for my mother! Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” With this in mind, I would like to examine the very common practice of intergenerational Sunday School classes. There is a seductive logic to these and I totally understand why churches are attracted to the concept. Unfortunately, both experience and research have shown this approach to be as effective for disciplemaking as using a one-by-eight to glide off a barn! So, could I invite the truly wise among you to listen to the counsel of an experienced (if somewhat battered and bruised) church consultant explaining why intergenerational Sunday School approaches are a counterproductive choice for disciplemaking churches?
Before I explain this, I need to clarify two issues First, the Bible is very clear that we are not to exclude others from our fellowship for any reason! A valuable part of the maturing process for Christians is learning to overcome barriers to relationships. What I am about to say does not promote exclusion or encourage snobbery. Intergenerational mixing is healthy and necessary in many other places in church programming – worship services, small groups, task groups, choirs, virtually every place except in Sunday School. However, there are important reasons why your Sunday School should not be organized intergenerationally, and these reasons are just as important and biblical as those relating to exclusion. We must learn to apply both at once. Second, it will be helpful to remember that both scripture and experience teach us that “Sincerity does not ensure success.” My sincere belief that I could fly did not prevent me from being sincerely wrong. To this day, as a creative developer, my mind is always working, but I have discovered (sometimes the hard way) the importance of discerning God’s mind through godly counsel, and learning as much as possible about how the ultimate Creator/Developer designed His creation (including you and me). Now, let me show you how this applies to intergenerational Sunday School classes. Two Problems with Intergenerational Sunday Schools When churches organize their adult Sunday School classes so that each class is composed of all ages they are ignoring some of God’s established physical laws. Those who ignore these laws, no matter how sincere, are actually ignoring God and will suffer the consequences of their actions – ineffectiveness and failure. God’s physical laws are just as binding (and no less divine) than His spiritual ones. The book of Proverbs deals with issues of money, business, wise counsel, relationships and so forth, describing the way God has ordered His physical creation. Proverbs also makes it clear that we are to continue to seek after wisdom and that there is more to it than what God gave us in scripture. (My mother didn’t need a scripture verse to tell me to get off the roof.) There are two reasons why it is counterproductive to have intergenerational Sunday Schools. My first reason for warning churches away from Intergenerational Sunday Schools is that adult classes should be some of your most effective outreach if organized for evangelism, attraction and assimilation.
When you make those classes intergenerational (and then we are in danger of ignoring many biblical imperatives – 2 Corinthians 5:20; Romans 15:7, Matthew 28:19-20.) You would probably agree that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. But if Christianity is a relationship, then anything that inhibits relationships will inhibit Christianity. Virtually all experience and research tells us that differences between persons inhibit relationships between them. This includes differences in language, culture, education, yes, and also age! This is a natural human inclination and is even truer in younger persons, strangers, and non-Christians in a church setting! Experience teaches the same thing. Ask a teenager whether they would prefer to attend the high school class or the “geezer class.” You know the answer. Mature adults will almost as frequently choose a class with their own age group as teenagers do. Friends, “Denial” is not a river in Egypt! We must be honest enough to agree that “That’s the way humans are!” Organizing intergenerationally forces most younger adults, newcomers and non-Christians to either act unnaturally or drop out of Sunday School. This is why 95% of persons attending intergenerational Sunday School classes have been Christians a long time and are over 40 years old. It is also why intergenerational Sunday Schools experience less than 2% evangelistic growth a year. The intergenerational approach builds an “age barrier” in human relationships inhibiting attraction, evangelism and assimilation the very things a disciplemaking church wants to encourage. But there is a second reason intergenerational Sunday Schools inhibit disciplemaking. It’s because . . .
This style of organization In his excellent book, Diffusion of Innovations, Everett Rogers has collected the last 60 years of research on the process of leading people through change. (This book has a 58-page bibliography listing over 1,000 other research projects). Rogers explains that the change process involves five phases. (Think about Romans 12:1-2 and transforming your mind.)
Rogers explains the critical place where this process often breaks down is in the persuasion phase, when most people do not depend on or use objective data. “Most persons depend mainly upon a subjective evaluation . . . that is conveyed to them from other individuals like themselves who have previously adopted the innovation . . .” p.18. They “share common meanings, a mutual sub-cultural language, and are alike in personal and social characteristics,” p. 19. We most easily make decisions to change when there are plenty of persons “like us” to discuss decisions and life applications with.
But when the persons around us There are profound implications for our Sundays Schools in this well-established research. Sunday Schools that organize by age, or lifecycle, provide plenty of “similar persons” for others to discuss applications with. This results in effectively producing new Christian decisions and actions in the group. However, intergenerational groups build their own short-circuit. They may be excellent at imparting content in the knowledge phase, but most participants stop there and do not effectively form new decisions or life-changes! As strange as it sounds, this is exactly what some Christians may unthinkingly desire in a Sunday School class. They might want to attend a large, non-relational class that focuses on Bible content, but without an accountability structure to make them uncomfortable in areas the Spirit of God may be prompting them to change. Objections Now, it wouldn’t be fair to stop here and not address five objections to this issue. First, some turn to Titus 2:3-4 and argue that Sunday School classes should be intergenerational because older women are commanded to teach younger women, clearly requiring different ages to mix. But Rogers explains that persons who differ from one another may do well communicating new ideas (in the knowledge phase) but then, the learner needs a group of peers to continue the change process (in the persuasion phase). This means that it is quite alright to have an older teacher in a Sunday School class, but optimally, the students should be of similar age. This passage does not argue for entire classes to be intergenerational. A second objection is raised by small churches, which can only have a few Sunday School classes and so must, of necessity, be more intergenerational. This is certainly true, yet it does not negate the principle. These churches must simply do the best they can to match up people with the greatest similarities without over-programming. A third objection is raised by large churches, which have a strong tradition of at least one large intergenerational Sunday School class (often called “The Bible Class,” or “The Pastor’s Class”). They would argue that if this class were stopped, many attendees would actually leave their church. I would concede that this is partially true. Some probably would leave. In this case, it is usually best to continue this class simply to retain these persons. However, this is not a mandate to organize all classes intergenerationally. Keeping this class gives your church more time to win these persons over to a small group or Sunday School class that actually will more effectively stimulate spiritual growth. A fourth objection is that organizing homogeneously creates cliques and promotes exclusivity. This objection misunderstands the application. When a church organizes its Sunday School by lifecycle, this allows persons of the same lifecycle to meet together. However, it never forbids a person from a different lifecycle from attending. This objection is a “straw-man” argument. Finally, I would freely admit there are exceptions to the principle that “persons are not attracted or changed in intergenerational Sunday School classes.” For this (and any) principle, there will usually be a 2-5% fringe of persons who function differently because of unique circumstances. However, no church can be effective if they build their programming on exceptions. Exceptions should be admitted and then addressed on an individual basis, but not by reprogramming the entire church. Application – (So what’s a mother to do?) If your church has one or more intergenerational Sunday School classes, here are eight steps to help you respond to the problem and to improve your effectiveness in disciplemaking: 1. Become convinced yourself that this approach is ineffective. Think about reality. Do the teenagers and older adults you know naturally choose to relate closely with each other? On your block, or at work, do most persons usually choose friends who are different or similar in lifecycle? Poll several persons you know. Ask them if the person who was most influential in their decision to trust Christ (other than the pastor or a parent) was similar, or different from them? 2. Provide good options. Before changing any present intergenerational classes, be sure you have excellent lifecycle classes for the members. Be sure the teachers are well-trained. (They should provide the same excellence of teaching as the intergenerational class.) 3. Influence, but do not empower the teacher of the intergenerational class. In all probability this teacher is a godly person trying to do their best to use the gift God gave them. Go to them and discuss the issue together. Be sure that they do not see this as a way of taking their ministry away from them. Discuss “the facts.” Then discuss a way to help them have an even greater impact using their gift by organizing the class in line with the principles of God’s creation. If, however, you have a rogue teacher, do not empower them to continue their disobedience to Hebrews 13:17. 4. Use the pulpit to preach on the need for application, not just information. Explain the principles in this article. Help persons to make good decisions leading to their own effective spiritual growth. 5. Use discontinuity. Pick a time, such as summer, or the three months before Easter. During this time, reorganize all classes into electives. Then, after this time, reorganize classes by lifecycle (being clear that persons may choose any class they want.) When classes focus on applications of a specific lifecycle, upwards of 80% of humans will naturally choose the class for their lifecycle. Simply stop offering the intergenerational class. 6. If you must keep your intergenerational class, use teaching methods that sub-organize the class. This will allow persons to develop closer relationships over time and can improve the situation. However, this will, by no means, solve the problem. Application will continue to be uncommon for participants. 7. Plant a new class. An excellent strategy is to ask the leaders of the intergenerational class (or if they won’t, other leaders) to start a new Sunday School class that is based on lifecycle. Then you can attempt to persuade as many as possible to move to the new class. 8. Finally, don’t force people out of the intergenerational class! Force almost always results in persons leaving the church. This is worse than if they simply continued to attend the class. Please remember that shepherds lead sheep. They do not “drive” them. So, “Do no harm!” Instruct, reprove, exhort, but if this does not work, be patient and pray. Do not use force. It never changes persons on the inside anyway. In American churches today, there are many godly Sunday School teachers and church members who attend intergenerational Sunday School classes. They sincerely believe they are doing the right thing. Unfortunately, this is not the way God made human beings to grow spiritually. The sincerity of these Christians does not change the will of God. As disciplemakers, we need to help these well-meaning brothers and sisters to see the truth (just like Aquilla and Priscilla did for Apollos) so they can experience the fruitfulness God wants them to have. Perhaps this article will help if it is presented with an attitude of building up and not tearing down. God has created humans to need relationships with others “like themselves” to do effective outreach and to grow spiritually. Being successful in disciplemaking involves discovering and living in line with God’s established order. Why not try these tested principles in your church? I can guarantee you . . . they will fly.
2 Corinthians
5:20 (NIV)
Matthew
28:19-20 (NIV)
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
Titus 2:3-4 (NIV)
Hebrews 13:7 (NIV)
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