Our daughter, Sheila is a gem of a child. She willingly helps me at
home and takes good care of her little brother. She is remarkable in sharing
with others and doesn’t picks up any quarrels. She is regular in reading the
scriptures and says beautiful prayers. But she is not very smart in her
studies. My husband and I do not mind that. But her class teacher has branded
her as a “dull-head” and had nudged her to the last bench. Sheila was in tears
one day when she told us that Mary, the daughter of a doctor, who gets the
first mark in the class is the “teacher’s pet”. I pacified her saying, “You
don’t have to worry about that; you are a darling child of Jesus.”
Do you
know what happened last week? They had the Sunday school Examinations and
naturally that smart child, Mary got the first prize. Poor Sheila broke down when
she told me, “The darling child of Jesus is Mary, mummy, not me. Everybody in
the church appreciated only her.”
Please tell me: Speaking about children, did not Jesus say, “Your Father
in heaven does not want any of these little ones be lost.” (Mt. 18:14)? Why
would this Sunday school then hold exams, give marks, give prizes to the smart
ones and break the hearts of other kids like my little girl? The church should
make every little child feel he or she is precious to Jesus. How can you in the
church appreciate only the smart ones and leave the others out? Haven’t they suffered
enough rejection in the day school?
I may sound idiotic but let me tell you, if the church seeks to develop
Christian character and promote spiritual growth in children and make every one
of them feel “I am a precious child of God”, please do away with exams and
prize-giving in Sunday schools.
