Counting Widgets
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Straight to the Cross
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Yesterday, Mr. Editor forgot to mention Barbara's
latest installment, and best one yet, on her India
diary: "Bangalore." Go straight there:
forthright.antville.org/stories/553876/
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COLUMN: Fidelity
Counting Widgets
by Mike Benson
It's difficult not to get discouraged at times
about teaching a Bible class, isn't it? Teaching
is one of those spiritual tasks that rarely
provides tangible results.
Years ago I had a close friend in Georgia who was
a carpenter by trade. On occasion, when the two of
us went out driving together, he would slow his
truck down, point to some nice two-story house
over in an open field and say, "I built that." He
wasn't trying to brag on himself -- that wasn't
his nature; he was simply proud of what he had
done and wanted to share that with me because I
was his friend. I never said it, but I couldn't
help but feel a certain sense of envy during those
tours around Bartow County. After three or four
months of labor, my friend could back away and
identify what he had accomplished.
Like carpentry, other endeavors produce similar
quantifiable results. Those who teach in a secular
environment can give quizzes and tests to gauge
the progress of their pupils. People who commit
themselves to a fitness program are eventually
able to see measurable changes in their body and
weight. But not so with those of us who are Bible
class teachers -- we don't have an apparatus to
mark the growth of those entrusted to our care and
tutelage.
I appreciate one author's observations in this
realm. He notes:
"We usually try to measure success based on
the wrong things. Normally, our natural
tendency is to measure our effectiveness on
things that we can count or see. We delight
in trying to count church membership,
converts, or the number of contacts we are
able to accumulate. We want to be able to see
how many people are now coming to the church
as a result of our [efforts]. But, 'God sees
not as man sees, for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart'
(1 Cor. 16:7). We have our focus on the
external things rather than on the internal
things. ... That is what I refer to as the
widget mentality. Typically in business we
measure our output by the number of widgets
that we are able to produce. We put raw
materials into a big machine, and out the
other side come widgets. We are able to count
the widgets and therefore we are able to
measure our effectiveness. But that does not
always work in the spiritual realm" (Douglas
M. Cecil, "Being Fruitful," The 7 Principles
of an Evangelistic Life, Moody Publishers,
2003, p. 106).
Those of us who teach a Bible class rarely, if
ever, are granted the opportunity to see the
actual fruits of our labor. We can't follow our
students at home, in school, or on the job and put
a yardstick to their maturation in the faith.
• If a youngster resolves to be more obedient,
to cooperate with his or her parents, or to have
a better disposition, we may not be able to
witness this evolution in character.
• If a teenager decides not to cheat on an
algebra exam because of a lesson we taught on
honesty, we may never know (this side of
eternity) of the silent victory that was won on
the battlefield of temptation.
• If a husband and wife determine to work harder
on their relationship because of a study we
delivered on God's will for marriage, we may
never be made privy to the wondrous
transformations taking place in their hearts and
house.
Growth (2 Pet. 2:2; 3:18), from our vantage point, is
slow and imperceptible.
I've come to the realization that Bible teaching is, by
its very nature, a long-term investment (1 Cor. 3:9).
It's not just what the kids in our class did or didn't
do last week, but where they will be twenty years from
now. And it's not just where they will be twenty years
from now, but where they will be in eternity, and who
they will have influenced for the Lord (2 Tim. 2:2)
before the Last Day.
God's Word produces results. We have that guarantee.
"For as the rain comes down, and the snow
from heaven, and do not return there, but
water the earth, and make it bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the
sower and bread to the eater, so shall My
word be that goes froth from My mouth; it
shall not return to Me void, but it shall
accomplish what I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing for which I sent it"
(Isa. 55:10-11 NKJV).
Perhaps those of us who teach a Bible class should
focus less on counting widgets and concentrate more on
planting seed (Luke 8:11).
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