Springs of Living Water

Note to the Teacher

The key phrase in this scripture for this lesson is “Jesus knows his sheep.” The icebreaker invites youth to see and feel the judgment of being an insider or outsider. The discussion encourages students to discuss the kind of judging they see and do in their own lives. The activity helps youth understand how different groups of people are or are not represented in the media. Times are based on a fifty-five-minute lesson period but may be adjusted.

Icebreaker (15 minutes)

Make sure to have plenty of space, then create a line of tape on the floor. Have the youth separate themselves on one side or the other of the tape with each category. Use the following prompts or consider questions that would potentially create even splits, avoiding anything that might single out any of the youth.

• Who has brown eyes?
• Who is wearing blue?
• Who likes Taylor Swift?
• Who can fold their tongue?
• Who has something unique about them?
• Who is loved by God?

(Hopefully they all end up on the “yes” side with the last one - from there, the lesson can start.)

READ SCRIPTURE (5 minutes)

Today’s scripture reading involves the idea of “judging inclusion.” Read John 10:22-30 (CEB preferred, but multiple translations welcome).

Discussion (15 minutes)

Were all of the categories from the icebreaker something that other people would know about us just by looking?

Do you feel that you have ever decided who does and doesn’t belong in a situation?

Do you feel that you have been decided against by others just because of your skin color or some other factor of how you look on the outside?

In this scripture, Jesus says that his sheep know him, and he knows them. what do you think that relationship was like? Why would Jesus have chosen to use the metaphor of sheep for those that were listening to him in this passage?Does he mean this divide should be obvious to everyone, or is that between Jesus and his sheep? Do we get to decide who Jesus’ sheep are?

With any extra time, perhaps dive into this:

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “the black sheep of the family” If not, check out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sheep

For a long time, color has been unfairly used to discriminate. Even though the phrase originally literally had to do with sheep, do you think this phrase could be used in a racist way?

Activity and Discussion (20 minutes)

Take this lesson to the next level by looking through magazines or other print media for ads and for general representation. Have the youth go through magazines and take the inventory below. It may be printed for them to write on, or it could be re-created larger on a wall or whiteboard for them to jump up and add tally marks.

Points for discussion:

• Racism is clearly still an issue that this country has not solved. Do you think you learn enough about multiple cultures in your school, or do you think things need updating? Do you feel that the media has caught up to our multicultural nation?
• Do you feel that you are represented in the images we’re looking at? When was this magazine published?
• Do you think racism or other “isms” are at play in how these images are created/chosen?
• What would it look like to make these images more inclusive? How would you change the ads so that anyone who might be one of Jesus’ sheep might see themselves in it?
• Is visible media the only way people are discriminated against? What other issues intersect with racial diversity? Check out this article that includes Environmental Racism.

TOTAL TIME: 55 min.

NEEDED RESOURCES:

• Magazines - old, new; ask church members for donations of magazines of any age
• Some form of the chart below to help take inventory