Growing up in Sunday school where attendance was sketchy at best, it was not uncommon to hear the teacher say, “Where is everybody?” with a half-hidden tone of disappointment. He or she would then proceed to ask more questions about why certain people were absent than they would about us who were present. If you wanted the teacher to talk about you, it was almost better to skip Sunday school than to be present.

I learned a valuable lesson from those experiences: Always be excited about the students who are present rather than focus on those who are absent.

Always be excited about the students who are present rather than focus on those who are absent.

Don’t enter a room and ask, “Where is everyone?” The kids present are thinking, “What about me? I’m here!” Rather, enter a room and focus on every student who is there and is interested in the Word you have to bring. Even if you put 30 hours into your Bible study lesson for the week, don’t skip it or slim it down because only a handful of students showed up. Feed those who came and make them feel as welcomed as you possibly can.

Don’t worry about those who are absent. After word spreads around about how accepted and welcomed the minority feels, everyone else will be back.

Posted on March 15, 2007