Kincaid Chance is about 11 or 12 years old. As the narrator in a 1990 novel, he has three older brothers and two younger twin sisters. His mother is a devout Seventh-day Adventist. Though his father is unchurched, he supports his wife’s staunch insistence that Kincaid and all their other children attend church faithfully every Sabbath morning. Kincaid is somewhat less than impressed.
Throughout the book, the author, drawing unmistakably on autobiographical experiences, describes various scenarios in the Adventist subculture: potlucks, Pathfinders, worship services, and Sabbath School. In fact, Sabbath School is a scene that recurs quite regularly throughout the book. And Kincaid always wishes he were elsewhere.
“ ‘Any questions?’ asks Brother Beal [Kincaid’s embattled Sabbath School teacher], looking even more churchscrunched and bleached-out than usual. And my heart goes out to him, because it’s so clear that there can never be questions, because his words ask no questions. . . . ‘Any comments then?’ he asks. And I want to shout: Yes! . . .
“But I say nothing.”a
What was Sabbath School like for you as a child? This is a question whose answer should be considered seriously even if our responsibility is only for adult Sabbath School. It is important because the answers focus on some principles that pertain to Sabbath School for children, youth, and adults.
It is a reminder that those who attend our Sabbath School classes are not all the same. First, in any given adult Sabbath School class, the members are different developmentally. Some may be brand-new converts to Christianity; others may be lifelong, mature Christians. Second, members are also different educationally. Some may have advanced degrees; others may never have completed elementary school.
At the most basic level, the members of any given Sabbath School class have varying degrees of biblical literacy. A book recently published in North America points out that most of society has little knowledge of the most basic aspects of biblical knowledge. The author suggests that this has resulted from a time in the nineteenth century when “churches . . . started focusing on loving Jesus rather than on listening to him.”b
Certainly biblical literacy is essential. If Christians do not know what information is contained in their Bibles, there is a problem. But knowledge is something more than just mere facts, more than just an awareness that Jesus loves us. In Scripture knowledge is relational and transformational.
Ellen G. White writes, “As long as individuals are content with a theory of truth and are yet lacking in the daily operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart, which is manifested in outward transformation of character, they are cutting themselves off from the qualification that would fit them for greater efficiency in the Master’s work.”c
In Jesus’ time, it was the experts in religion, those who knew Scripture best, who rejected Him. Mere information is not enough. “Even the demons believe” (James 2:19, NKJV).
“If we ever know the truth, it will be because we practice it. We must have a living experience in the things of God before we are able to understand His Word. This experimental knowledge is what strengthens the intellect and builds us up into Christ our living Head.”d
The expression “experimental knowledge” appears about 300 times in the Spirit of Prophecy. Careful reading of the context in each use of this term indicates that it refers to knowledge that is lived in one’s life. It means a knowledge that transforms behavior, not just knowledge of mere facts.
The psalmist writes, “Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my mind and my heart” (Ps. 26:2, NKJV).
Sabbath School should be a place where we try our minds and our hearts. It should be an intentional effort to try the minds and the hearts of our Sabbath School members. It seeks to be more than mere information; its goal is transformation.
a David James Duncan, The Brothers K (New York: Bantam Books, 1993), 94.
b http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070401/9qa.htm
c Selected Messages, 2: 56, 57.
d Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 97, emphasis supplied.
Gary B. Swanson is Associate Director of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
