SUNDAY-SCHOOL SECTION.
LESSON VI.—THE TEACHER’S MISTAKES.
That they are possible is assumed. That they are probable is likewise assumed. That they are real is a fact of personal experience. Mistakes anywhere are mischievous. In Sunday-school they are often ruinous. Let us classify them. They are first, mistakes of manner and method; second, mistakes of purpose and expectation; third, mistakes of thought and action. Let us examine our classification:
I. Manner and Method.
It is a mistake (a) to recognize differences in social position or station between members of a class. In the Sunday-school all meet on a common level. There is no rank in the Christian kingdom. All are peers of the realm, and Jesus Christ is the only Lord.
(b) To be in any degree partial to any scholar. All should be favorite scholars in this school.
(c) To seem uninterested in anything pertaining to the general interest of the school. If the teacher is devoid of interest the scholar will be.
(d) To scold or threaten in the class, even under provocations such as do occur in Sunday-school. Scolding always exercises an ill effect, and a threat is but a challenge.
(e) To pretend to be wiser or better versed in Bible lore than one really is. In Bible teaching, real knowledge is real power—but a manner that assumes to know what it does not is only the lion’s skin on the ass’ head.