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Page 37
Children should early be led into giving money for missionary purposes,
and this as far as possible should be their _own_ money which they
themselves have earned. For the child to go to his father on a Sunday
morning for money for the missionary collection does not answer the need
on the educational side; it is the child's real _sharing_ that leaves
the impression and teaches the lesson.
There is also real educational value in leading children to give
clothing, food, or other necessities for the use of the needy. Here,
again, the giving should involve something of real sacrifice and
sharing, and not consist merely in giving away that for which the child
himself no longer cares. The joint giving by a class or the entire
school for the support of a missionary worker whose name is known, and a
somewhat detailed report of whose work is received, lends immediateness
and reality to the participation of the pupils. A strong appeal can be
made to the spirit of giving by the adoption by the class of some needy
boy or girl whose Christian education is provided for by the efforts of
the class, and to whom personal letters can be written and from whom
replies may be received.
Social service.--The children of our Sunday schools should be given an
active and prominent part in all forms of community welfare service. The
successful enlistment of the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts in many
valuable forms of community enterprises contains a vital suggestion and
lesson for the church school. Wherever good deeds need to be done,
wherever help needs to be rendered, wherever kindness and service are
necessary, there the children should be called upon to do their part.
If the tasks and responsibilities are suited to the various ages, there
will be no trouble about securing response. Nor, on the other hand, will
there be any doubt but that the lessons learned will be entirely vital
and will serve to connect the religious motive with everyday life and
its activities.
Religion finding expression in the home.--No system or method of
religious instruction is effective the results of which do not find
expression in the life of the home. It is here in the intimate relations
of children with each other and with their parents that the moral and
religious lessons of forbearance, good will, and mutual service find
most frequent and vital opportunity for application.
Children need early to be made to see their individual and joint
responsibility for the happiness, cheerfulness, good nature, and general
social tone of their home; and to help at these points should become a
part of their religion. They should be stimulated to share in the care
of the home, and not to shirk their part of its work. They should be
interested in the home's finances, and come to feel a personal
responsibility for saving or earning as the situation may require. They
should have a definite part in the hospitality which the home extends to
its friends and neighbors, and come by experience to sense the true
meaning of the word "neighborliness."
The appearance and attractiveness of their home should be a matter of
pride with children, and this feeling should cause them to be careful in
their own habits of neatness, cleanliness, and order about the home. All
these things have a bearing on the foundations of character and are
therefore a legitimate concern in religious instruction.
The final tests of our instruction.--In such things as we have been
discussing, then, we find one of the surest tests of the outcome of our
teaching the child religion--_Are the lessons carrying over_? Is the
child, because of our contact with him, growing in attractiveness and
strength of personality and character? Is he developing a habit of
prayer, devotion, spiritual turning to God? Is he doing a reasonable
amount of reading and study of the Bible and the lesson material of the
school? Is he taking such personal part in the various social and
religious activities of the church and the community that he is "getting
his hand in," and developing the attachments and loyalties which can
come only through participation? In short, is the child given a chance
to apply, and does he daily put into practice and thus into character,
the content and spirit of what we teach him?
_The answers we must return to these questions will measure our success
as teachers and determine the value coming to the child from our
instruction._
1. To what extent do you believe your pupils are living differently
in their daily lives for the instruction you are giving them? Do
you definitely plan your teaching to accomplish this aim? For
example, what _definite_ results are you seeking from the next
lesson?
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