I’m studying with a friend who objects to Sunday schools. I don’t know how to approach her objection. She says that where she worships the service is very simple.\u00a0 They don’t have choirs, musical instruments, or Sunday Schools or classes.\u00a0 She said they try not to incorporate anything in worship that they don’t see taught in the New Testament.\u00a0 They don’t have Sunday School for the same reason they don’t have musical instruments.\u00a0 She wrote that parents are to teach their children at home and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.\u00a0 She wrote that in many churches people teach whom she feels aren’t qualified and that some even teach from tracts.\u00a0 She thought class arrangements were no different from a fellowship hall. It seems to her that providing a place for classes would be the same as providing a place to come together after worshiping to eat.\u00a0 A lot is probably spent on class material … crayons, pictures to color, stickers, attendance charts, etc.<\/p>\n\t
I would start at\u00a0Ephesians 4:11-12, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.<\/i>” There is a list of duties given to some people by Christ. Not all Christians have these duties. They are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Each set of duty is unique, though their duties often overlap. Each duty was for the improvement of the church. Exactly then, who is a teacher? How does a congregation have teachers without classes?<\/p>\n
Teachers are mentioned in\u00a0I Corinthians 12:28-29\u00a0as a gift God has given to the church. “And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles?<\/i>” Again the point is that everyone is not a teacher. Every Christian ought to be able to teach, but every Christian is not a teacher. The reason is pointed out in\u00a0James 3:1, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.<\/i>“<\/p>\n
Galatians 6:6\u00a0indicates there are students as well as teachers. “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.<\/i>“<\/p>\n
My question for the no Bible class groups is “Where are your teachers?” If they claim to have teachers (independent of evangelists and pastors), then the question is “How are they carrying out their duty to teach those in the congregation?” While Sunday morning Bible classes are a popular choice, it is not the only one available that will fulfill the command to have designated teachers. However, I usually find that the no Bible class groups have no teaching going on at all except the sermons presented on Sunday morning by the preacher. It is the lack of teachers that ought to be troubling and not when or where the classes are taking place.<\/p>\n
Some of her arguments are distractions: lack of qualified teachers and the cost of teaching. Do we tell Christ that we decided not to have a preacher because we couldn’t find anyone qualified and besides preachers cost too much? No, once it is agreed that we are required to have teachers, then we will get busy ensuring that there are qualified teachers and that they are supplied to do their duty. “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also<\/i>” (II Timothy 2:2).<\/p>\n
The comparisons to fellowship halls and instrumental music will only stand if it is shown that teaching is not authorized in the Scriptures. Since teachers are authorized, then the comparison doesn’t stand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I’m studying with a friend who objects to Sunday schools. I don’t know how to approach her objection. She says that where she worships the service is very simple.\u00a0 They don’t have choirs, musical instruments, or Sunday Schools or classes.\u00a0 She said they try not to incorporate anything in worship that they don’t see…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[358],"class_list":["post-2648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-bible-class"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33263,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-right-for-a-woman-to-be-over-a-sunday-school-department-so-long-as-the-preacher-over-her-is-a-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":0},"title":"Is it right for a woman to be over a Sunday school department so long as the preacher over her is a man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thanks for your many great posts on these subjects. I greatly appreciate the resource. Do you believe it is proper to have a woman over a Sunday school department? The preacher says it's OK due to the fact that he is over her ultimately, but I don't buy this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33306,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-for-a-woman-to-talk-about-the-bible-on-facebook\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":1},"title":"Is it wrong for a woman to talk about the Bible on Facebook?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I was wondering, do you think it would be okay for me, a female, to talk about God on Facebook since there are men reading what I am saying and sometimes even asking me questions? I never answer a question without a Bible verse though, and if it's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3941,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/questions-about-bible-classes\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":2},"title":"Questions About Bible Classes","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Titus 2:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is apparent to me that Christians as a whole do not understand the purpose of Bible classes. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is not just locally because I have receive similar questions from Christians in other areas. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I think it would be beneficial for all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32096,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-teach-my-girlfriend-a-little-at-a-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":3},"title":"How do I teach my girlfriend a little at a time?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello sir, I am a member of a church of Christ. I have a girlfriend who is part of an apostolic church. They have choir, praise dances, communion first Sunday of each month, and more false doctrine. Could you tell me where to start to let her see the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69924,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-women-teach-classes-with-teenage-boys-since-bible-classes-are-not-a-part-of-the-assembly\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":4},"title":"Can women teach classes with teenage boys since Bible classes are not a part of the assembly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello, Where I attend church, we recently have had enough teens move up to where we can have a high school class. Men were willing to teach this class. We don't have elders. The men met because one of the young women volunteered to teach the high school class. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-instrumental-music-be-used-for-worshiping-god-on-days-other-than-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":2648,"position":5},"title":"Can instrumental music be used for worshiping God on days other than Sunday?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was also speaking with her regarding instruments in worship. She claimed that since it is only the first-day assembly, which is that worship was done together in one place, then to go to a place where they have instrumental music on a Wednesday night is not sinful. She\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}