My husband recently began using My Utmost for His Highest devotionals in his post-high school Sunday School class.
It didn’t start that way, but that’s where they are now.
R and the young people are pondering just what Oswald Chambers is really saying to them!
Ask Me Any Question
The class began this summer after R read an article that stated some 80% of church-going young people left the church when they left home. The most common reason?
Unanswered questions.
Or, as a young woman explained, “what I learned in high school Sunday School was to stop asking questions.”
The article also noted that young people wanted to see Christian life lived out in older people.
Or, “the people who actually ‘did it.'”
While on the high school mission trip, R discovered all the participants had questions and were eager to hear answers. He began the class when they returned.
Goals
He had several goals for these post-high school students–most of whom he’d taught in Sunday School years before:
1. They needed to know there was an answer to their questions.2. They needed to realize they knew what they need to know to hold their own on the issues other presented to them.
1.Who is Jesus?2.What do you need to do to be saved?
“Every Christian in class knew the answers to those two questions. They were very surprised to discover those two questions are at the heart of what they’re confronting when they go out into the world.”
Using My Utmost for His Highest as a lesson book
R noted that something often happens in his life during the week, so he has a personal example for the young people.
“My Utmost for His Highest is full of stuff that’s nonsense if you don’t have spiritual eyes. The wisdom of God is foolishness to man, and My Utmost for His Highest is full of those as Oswald Chambers explains spiritual principles. A lot of times it’s the opposite of what you think.”
R and I both benefited as young people when we were mentored by older Christians in a variety of settings — whether Bible studies, friendships, or church Sunday Schools. It’s a joy to experience the same “giving back” that we received.
And it is delightful to share the–sometimes–confounding devotionals found in My Utmost for His Highest.
“Cheating,” though, by asking God for help in understanding the wisdom of these devotionals has served us both well for many years!
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?