I had the best small group ever. Andrew Snell and I were leading our rowdy 6th grade boys. They came in as usual, spinning the seats, laying across 3 chairs, putting their feet up on the tables, then switching chairs and threatening to beat the crap out of each other at the littlest of comments, telling off the topic stories and starting off color jokes, and then doing it all over again for our entire small group time. This week, we were unpacking what Clinton Battles had talked about… to look with love to others… the way God looks with love to us. I asked the first question, “What is your definition of love?” They gave a stab at it. Mostly their definitions had to do with feelings or the opposite of hate and wanting to punch someone which one of the kids began to illustrated before we stopped him! Whew! It is like herding cats! After giving our definition of love (Doing what is best for someone, and I had to add… even for someone you don’t like), one of the kids, Alex, piped up with the picture of Jesus standing outside the door. Playing dumb the whole time, I asked, “What picture?” Then he and Kyle began fighting about who was going to tell about this picture. Alex explained that Jesus was knocking on a door that didn’t have a handle on it. “What? No handle?,” I asked. That only fueled him even farther. He was now the expert schooling the teacher!!! It was great. Kyle piped in and said, “You got that marker we use? I can draw it.” We didn’t have our dry erase marker, so Andrew ran and got one. While he was gone to fetch a marker, the boys were then trying to explain this picture. Other kids were asking questions too. I was saying stuff like, “That is stupid to have a door with no handle on the outside,” etc. The marker arrived and Kyle grabbed it and went into teacher mode. I sat down in the back of the room, as the student. He drew Jesus… we all laughed. Jesus had a gotee. The kids were all attentive and “in to it” as best they could be. Kyle drew the door and then went into presentation mode explaining all the details of the picture… Alex helped. The door leads to our heart and we have to let him in. One kid still not getting the whole analogy spoke up, “The door handle is on the wrong side of the door!” Kyle quickly replied, “No, its not.” We have to let Jesus to come in. I asked, Why would Jesus want to come into our live when we are so wild and crazy and out of control people? Kyle schooled me. He does it because he loves us like our lesson is tonight. He sees what we could be or the real us. We need to obey him.
It was hilariously wonderful. I used this teachable moment to call Kyle back after the kids left and said, “Kyle, I was completely impressed. That was fantastic. I didn’t know you knew so much about God. You did a great job” He cockily said, “I know,” witch a smerk on his face that you could tell was like water to a dry sponge. He was being affirmed for his smarts. He said that he is smart when he wants to be; it’s just more fun being rowdy. I caught him being smart, wise, and beneficial. He blessed me.
One of the kids yelled out during the mayhem, “Kyle, you do a great job preaching!” Another kid agreed! And I thought so too!
(Now they all want to teach. They were fighting on who was going to teach next week! I guarantee that they will listen a little better… at least Kyle will. It was harder to keep those boys’ attention than he thought! I was priceless!)
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