A Brief Thought On Sword Drills
Following Up on Biblical Literacy
In response to my post on biblical literacy, a number of you in the comments recalled fond childhood memories of so-called “sword drills” in church.
A “sword drill,” for those of you who might not know, was a tried and true biblical literacy technique in childrens’ church a generation ago. It wasn’t primarily a tool to teach kids how to read the Bible, but how to navigate it. The Sunday school teacher or kids’ pastor would require kids to sit, Bibles closed, and hands to the side. A random, but predetermined Bible passage, was shouted, and the kids would race to see who could find the passage first. The winner was the first child to stand to their feet and begin reading the passage out loud.
It had the marks of a competition, but in my experience it wasn’t. I have memories of older kids and teachers helping others find the passage even after there was a winner.
What strikes me about this simple exercise, and what I think ought to be true of all our attempts at countering the surge of biblical illiteracy, is that it had layers of intention. It was called a “sword drill” because Ephesians 6:17 calls the word of God “the sword of the Spirit.” They used biblical terminology for the activity, and so were teaching biblical literacy as they were teaching biblical literacy.
They were also teaching them how to read it, to read it out loud, and boldly so.
Finally, they were reminding kids that they held a weapon in their hands. It is the same sword that comes out of the mouth of the returning King in Rev 19:15. As such, it was both dangerous and useful. Double-edged, if you will. As often as kids found themselves waging war—which was always and emphatically not against flesh and blood—they knew what to fight with. Just like Jesus those 40 days in the desert.
May our churches return to these multilayered liturgical activities.
May every child know that they hold a sharp object in their hands when they hold a Bible.
And may every child be an Ehud, thrusting it into Eglon’s belly (see Judges 3).
Thanks Joesph. Loved the "sword drills" Still good for today! Know the word!!
Brilliant. I remember sword drills well. Mostly in the now defunct PAOC Midweek children's ministry called "Crusaders". I guess it was not politically correct. I remember them exactly as you described the whole experience. I grew up in Northern Manitoba, a small town called Thompson. I then served 15 years as a student ministries pastor with the PAOC before moving to Kenya permanently in 2010.