The Sabbath School by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 17, 1880

The Sabbath School.

By Editor

LEARN YOUR LESSON.

1. EVERY scholar should have a good understanding of the lesson before he comes into the class. The school or the class is no place to learn a lesson. It is for recitation, for illustration, etc. But the teacher can do a class but little good in the way of improvement, or of enforcing a lesson which the members do not understand.

2. The teacher should have a thorough knowledge of the lesson. A school session may be made profitable if part of the class have not learned the lesson, or even if all the class have but a limited knowledge of the lesson. But no school can be profitable to a class where the teacher does not know the lesson. In such case the pupils lose confidence in the teacher and become listless and careless. In a short time they lose their interest, and the school becomes to them an injury instead of a benefit, because they learn to slight sacred things. It begets irreverence. There will be no encouragement for the scholars to learn the lesson if they find that the teacher has neglected it.

3. But, most important of all, the superintendent should learn the lesson. The failure of one scholar in this respect may possibly affect only himself. The failure of a teacher affects the whole class. But the failure of a superintendent affects the whole school. The pupils and the teachers may do their part well, but they cannot hinder a school running down if the superintendent neglects to inform himself of the lesson and duty of the day.

An army is demoralized just as soon as it loses confidence in the commanding officer. He must understand military tactics, and keep up a complete knowledge of the doings of his inferior officers, and be ever ready to correct them if they err, or instruct them how to improve their methods. Just so with a superintendent. All should be able to look to him with confidence to help them out if difficulties arise. He should study most, and pray most over his lesson and his duties, feeling that a greater responsibility rests upon him than upon any other.

Sometimes a school elects one as a superintendent who has never taken an active part in the school, hoping thereby to enlist him in the service. This should never be done. It is ruinous to the prosperity of the school. A superintendent should be selected from among those who have shown the greatest interest in the school, and have proved their efficiency by painstaking in becoming thoroughly acquainted with their duties.

Ed. Signs.