After graduating from College, I moved back home for
a semester to save money before leaving for Seminary. One way I decided to make money that semester
was by substitute teaching.
On my first day, I was called to sub in a kindergarten
classroom and the teacher that I subbed for had a student teacher who had been
assisting her for the spring semester. Because
her student teacher was also sick on that day, I had to use notes left by the
teacher for the student teacher and those notes were written in code. They might as well have been written in
Spanish because I had no idea what was being said.
So, here I am my first day of teaching using notes
left for another teacher trying to teach this class. And after forgetting the pledge and unknowingly
skipping their review of the alphabet, the kids began to act like any kid does
when you throw a wrench in their routine.
It wasn’t ten minutes into the day, and I had already lost control of the
classroom. As a result, the class was
anything but orderly.
What I needed, more than anything on that day was a
clear and comprehensible set of instructions written in a way I could
understand. Because I was clueless on
the way the day was supposed to flow and on what was to be taught, and the way
things were to be organized, the classroom was chaotic which resulted in each
kid leaving that day having learned little to nothing from me. Because of the chaos and disorder in the
classroom, the time I spent with them was unfruitful and futile.
The same is true of a disorderly worship
service. If when the church gathers
together, there is little to no structure, and this “go with the flow” “whoever
feels led” attitude, those attending will benefit little to nothing from the
service—believers will not be built up.
