What are they thinking?

At the beginning of the church year, it is always good to find out where your group members are in their minds.  What are they thinking?  To help assess this mystery, spiritual checkups are just as valuable as getting a physical checkup from the doctor.  Checkups are important because they can reveal to us if our small group members have been growing spiritually, if their concepts about the small group or even the church have changed in the last year, or other valuable information.  Also, checkups help us determine if our methods in teaching are effective, to what degree our students are maturing in their faith, and what specific subjects the teacher needs to address in the future.  

To help solve the mystery of what our students are really thinking, hand out a “what are you thinking?” response sheet before you plan next year’s teaching goals.  As you read the returned responses, the guide can be helpful to you and the pupils as they contemplate what they are thinking. 

Here are some specific areas in which the students can fill in the blank or complete the thought:

1.  I wish the Bible gave more specific information about...

2.  If Jesus lived in my circumstances, the first thing He would do is...

3.  One specific result of salvation taking place in a person’s life is...

4.  One thing the Holy Spirit revealed to me this past year was...

5.  I enjoy my small group because...

6.  I minister to others by...

7.  When the church, as a whole, brings up the subject of...I get excited. 

8.  One thing I believe God has told me is...

9.  People seem to notice I am used of God when I (do what?) ...

10. When I get to heaven, God might say, “you sacrificed for Me by...”

11.  When I think of my small group, the first thing I think about is...

12.  My group is important to me because... 

I have written twelve statements to which students can respond.  However, you may choose more or fewer statements for your students.  Because these are probing in nature, having fewer statements to respond to can give more time for thoroughness.      

Sometimes teachers tend to believe their students have not changed during the last year.  They have.  Over time, both teachers and students tend to soften or harden in their belief systems.  The question is not have we changed, but how much or in what way?  A challenge of every teacher is to initiate thinking in the group so both the teacher and pupils will know where they are and where they need to go. 

D.H. Lawrence opens up thinking in his poem on ‘Thought’:

• Thought is the welling up of unknown life into consciousness,
• Thought is the testing of statements on the touchstone of the conscience.
• Thought is gazing onto the face of life, and reading what can be read,
• Thought is pondering over experience, and coming to a conclusion.
• Thought is not a trick, or an exercise, or a set of dodges,
• Thought is a man in his wholeness wholly attending.

Sunday School and Small Groups are not only a place to fellowship and pray but to “think” and be continually reintroduced to ourselves.  In the Old Testament, the Psalmist had a new moment of self-realization when he wrote, “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love” (Psalm 48:9, NIV).   In the New Testament, Jesus asked a probing question, “What do you think about the Christ?” (Matthew 22:42, NIV).

In your small group, what probing statements or questions will initiate thinking?  The Holy Spirit will help us as we solve the mystery -- “what are they thinking?”