Psalm 12:5 English Standard Version (ESV) “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

The only reason to quote this verse of scripture in relationship to Sunday school is to point out that it is to be a safe place. If safety is found they will continue to come back. Attendance will then accomplish the secondary role of Sunday school.

Yesterday the idea of unpacking our baggage first when entering into the Kingdom was presented.

What is in the bag?

Life experience, influences, joys and abuses.

Hopefully the child has no experience with abuses. The younger the child and the more horrific the abuse, the less likely they will be sharing those experiences. Those babes in Christ need special attention to make them feel secure enough to help them overcome what happened to them. I will not offer up advice on things I am not qualified to handle.

Most of my readership fits into the older babes in Christ. That range might be 15 to 50. I don’t know.

I was 15 when I first discovered God loved me. What I discovered over the years is not what I got from Sunday school as much as what I didn’t get.

A Sunday school that focuses only on teaching the Word will not find the time to help these new disciples unpack their baggage. These older babes in Christ need a safe place to speak up and share what they think and why without feeling judged by everyone. The quiet ones need to share more than anyone else.

The quiet ones need someone to come alongside of them and explore why they do not feel safe.

I never got that and it was what I needed most during my early years.

The older babes in Christ have the most baggage to unpack.

Matthew 19:14 English Standard Version (ESV) but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

The imagery of teaching little children is one of a parent instructing their own children. They have had them since the day they were born and know them intimately better than anyone else. I get it.

Now accept that being born again happens at any age, 8 to 80 as they say. Do you instruct an 80 year old in the same way you instruct an 8 year old? If they are born again yes, because they are both newborns.

The work of presenting the gospel has already taken place and the seed planted has died to the ground and has brought forth new life in the Kingdom.

Kingdom dwelling is vastly different from living in the world. Both the 8 year old and the 80 year old begin on day one. They have no experience.

Which one is easier to teach? The 8 year old of course because they have fewer expectations, less experience in the world, less baggage that they brought with them.

The first lesson on day one should be on unpacking their bags and discarding anything that has no value in Kingdom living.

The 8 year old might have a small bag if any at all. The 80 year old however has decades of life to examine and evaluate. They may have packed some things away so long ago that they don’t remember them until the unpacking begins. They will also hold on to some things that are not needed because they just do not want to part with them.

The 8 year old will likely embrace Sunday school. They are in school at that tender age and will accept that there are things to be learned. The 80 year old might not be as receptive to the idea that they need to attend Sunday school. They heard the gospel in the congregation with others and they may want to remain in the congregation with everyone else. They will have a more difficult time accepting they are just a babe in Christ.