The Sunday School Answer

We have a funny story in our family about one of my son’s friends when they were five or six. I was teaching the Sunday School class at a small church, and I asked a question. I don’t remember the question, but the little boy, who was a junior Viking, gave an answer. I said, “Well, no” (something I wouldn’t do now; it’s a trap, and the children figure that out quickly).

His response. “Oh, damn.”

I tried not to laugh. The other teacher and I looked at each other. I had to tell the child’s mother, and she cried. (I wouldn’t have. Kids hear stuff and experiment with new words, even if it is embarrassing.) She said he’d been playing with some older neighborhood kids.

That’s a Sunday School answer we didn’t expect. Anyone who has worked in Sunday School or VBS or AWANA knows the drill—“What’s furry and small and has a big tale?” The children have learned that Jesus is the answer to Sunday School questions, so even if logic tells them “a squirrel,” the teacher must want the approved answer.

Jesus is not the answer to every question, only to the most important ones.