Teaching Zacchaeus, Reading Tactics, and Reflections

“Do you love money?” Jasper asked me as I tucked a dollar bill into my bag— the same dollar he had asked me for a few seconds earlier.

Children’s questions can put you in an awkward spot.

This happened just last Thursday. I was substituting for another teacher in a kids’ Bible club that I used to help with weekly.

When I was a regular volunteer, I would sometimes teach Bible stories and object lessons, or keep things organized with the children. Last year, I decided it was time to move on and focus on other projects, including this blog.

But I still get called in to substitute occasionally. On my way to work that Thursday morning, I got a text message from the Bible story teacher. “Can you teach tonight? The lesson is Zacchaeus!”

Zacchaeus should be easy enough, I thought, “Sure.”

The church where the Bible club is held is about an hour’s drive from my house, so I left soon after getting home from work. During the drive, I listened to the book Tactics by Gregory Koukl. An apologetics teacher on YouTube had recommended Tactics as the best book to read about sharing Christian beliefs.

Once at the church, I finished preparing my Zacchaeus lesson. I’ve learned that it’s best to have only one point, and this lesson’s object would be “It’s more important to love God than money.” Zacchaeus, the money-loving tax collector turned generous Christ-follower would back up my point. The previous Sunday I’d heard a sermon on materialism, so maybe that’s how I came up with the idea.

When the kids came in the classroom (there’s four age groups so I had to teach the same lesson four times), I would start by holding up the Bible (to represent God) and the dollar bill, and ask, “Which is more important, God or money?”

I used a puppet, who’s dressed in a first-century outfit, to help me tell the story. (If you are reading this and you teach children’s Sunday school or Bible clubs, allow me to recommend using a puppet.)

After the Bible story, I asked the children a few questions. The discussion went to Martin Luther King Day, which was the following Monday, and racism.

One little girl looked at me and asked, “Donald Trump is racist, isn’t he?”

“Um, he says some things that aren’t very nice.” I said.

She beamed.

When the next class was in my room, Jasper (not his real name) kept reaching for my dollar bill, and at the end of class, he asked, “Can I have that dollar?”

I knew I’d have to give a dollar bill to every child in the room, and teaching kids to beg isn’t doing them a favor.

“Um, no.” I stuffed the dollar bill in my bag.

Jasper stared at me. “Do you love money?”

“Of course she doesn’t!” snapped a little girl.

“I don’t have dollar bills for everyone,” I explained weakly, because I knew from Jasper’s perspective I obviously did like my dollar bill.

I think some of the children got the point of my lesson. Others, probably not.

Teaching in children’s Bible clubs is like releasing helium balloons into the sky, you never know where they’ll go.

On the way home, I kept listening to Tactics. The author explains how to use principles of logic to engage nonbelievers in spiritual discussions.

I reflected about spiritual discussions I’ve had with strangers, and I how I wish I could have applied some of these ideas to those conversations.

Koukl stresses first asking questions to find out where people are spiritually. This is not really a new tactic to me, but he makes his point very well.

I remember one teenage girl (I’ll call her Kim) I met in a youth shelter where my church group did outreach. Kim jumped in and helped us explain to another girl why God allows suffering. Kim was calm, collected, and did a pretty good job of defending the sovereignty of God.

Later, when I commented about her Christian faith, Kim said, “Oh, I’m actually a Muslim.”

Asking a few questions would have been a good thing that time.

One time a woman I had never seen before walked up to me in a grocery store (in Ireland), implied that I was unsaved, and launched into a lecture on grace. “My Jesus saved me purely by his blood. There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.”

When I tried to explain that I was a Christian, too, and also believe that salvation is a free gift from God, she obviously didn’t believe me. I went from thinking about grocery shopping to defending my beliefs about the relationship between faith and works to very hostile audience of one.

“I just know, I don’t to have work for my salvation. I am saved by grace, not works,” she went on for some time, unsmiling, and occasionally closing her eyes as she spoke.

I knew she was referring to my conservative clothing, which I’ve never relied on for salvation. But I couldn’t get the concept across that a Christian may choose to wear different clothing for reasons other than earning salvation. The conversation ended when she said, “I have to leave, I have a Bible study at my house tonight,” turned around, and left.

So Koukl’s first point, asking questions, is an excellent one. I’m also learning about the burden of proof concept— I realize now sometimes I’ve been called upon to defend points I didn’t actually make.

In a way, my experiences with teaching the children last Thursday is a picture of how sharing our faith sometimes goes. Some kids don’t pay attention. Politics come up. People misunderstand why you’re stuffing the dollar bill away. Some encounters don’t go so great.

I’m still listening to Tactics. While I don’t think one book will magically give me all the answers, I know I have a lot to learn about being thoughtful, logical, and kind— in many areas of life, not just when talking about God with strangers. (I’d like to add that the author of Tactics states that the Holy Spirit has the primary role in bringing people to Christ. Our character and reasoning abilities is our part, and Tactics focuses on developing the latter.)

1 Peter 3:15 “… Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”