Well-Equipped Volunteer: Train & Grow Your Children's Ministry Volunteers

Redemption, Sanctification, Atonement, Forgiveness, Sin, Justification – These are big words that a lot of adults have difficulty understanding. I believe that it is important to teach our children these truths. In order to teach them, we must first understand them ourselves.

“It takes as much or more understanding of a biblical doctrine to teach it to children than it does to teach it do adults. If you understand a thing well, you can usually make it plain for ordinary people and children. But if you are fuzzy in your own understanding, you will generally be overly complex in your explanation.” (John Piper)

I have seen the truth of this statement in classrooms that I have observed. Teachers who don’t fully understand the concept they are teaching end up being overly complicated and lengthy in their explanations.

This is one of the reasons why teachers should be encouraged to prepare for their Sunday School lessons early in the week. Doing so gives them a chance to fully understand a concept they will be teaching on Sunday morning. It also gives them the opportunity to come up with and prepare for illustrations and activities that will help to explain the doctrine or concept.

There are resources available for teachers who are interested in learning about Biblical doctrine. Watch for adult Sunday school classes or Bible studies on this subject at your church. There are some good books also that help teach Biblical doctrine. Consider making a good systematic theology book available to your teachers. One book I highly recommend is called, “Big Truths for Young Hearts,” by Bruce Ware. This book was written by a theology professor. The purpose is to help adults teach children Biblical doctrine. I have used this book a lot – it is helpful first for understanding a concept and second for teaching it to children.

Teachers who have taken the time to fully understand Biblical doctrine will be able to teach it well to their students.