Nor must the thought of loyalty be presented to the child only in the abstract. Concrete examples are worth much general explanation and laudation. The loyalties of the great characters of biblical and other times can be made the source of great inspiration; the supreme loyalty of Jesus to his mission will exert a powerful appeal. But loyalty must be made immediate, definite and concrete to the child in his own life; he must not simply admire it afar off. Loyalty must be to him not something to learn about and praise in others, but something he can make use of himself each day without waiting to grow up or become famous. So we will teach the child the loyalties due parents and the home; loyalties to friends and comrades; loyalties to school, community, and country; loyalties to Sunday school, church, and the cause of religion; loyalties to self; loyalties to duty wherever found; and, above all, _loyalties to the Christ and his ideals_. 1. Do your pupils enjoy the church school, and like to come? Do they enjoy the lesson hour? By what means do you tell? Is the spirit of the class good toward the school and toward the class? How do you judge this? 2. Do your pupils come to the lesson hour full of expectancy? Or is there an indifference and lack of interest with which you have to contend? If the class fails in some degree to manifest expectancy and interest, where do you judge the trouble to lie? What is the remedy? 3. To what degree do you think your pupils are comprehending and mastering what you are teaching them? How does their mastery compare with that secured in the public schools? Have you plans for making their mastery more complete? 4. Do you judge that your pupils are developing such an attitude toward the Bible that their interest will carry on beyond the time they are in your class? Do you think they have an increasing interest in religion? Are you making these questions one of the problems of your teaching? 5. Are your pupils developing through the work you are doing a growing consciousness of God in their lives? Do they count themselves as children of God? Just what do you believe is the status of your children spiritually? Do they need conservation or conversion? What difference will your answer make in your teaching? 6. To what degree are your pupils loyal to the church school? To their particular class? To the church? What are the tests of loyalty? Do they come regularly? Do they seek to promote the interests of the class and the school? Do they do their part? What can be done to increase loyalty? FOR FURTHER READING Wilber, A Child's Religion. Bushnell, Christian Nurture (Revised Ed.). Betts, The Mind and Its Education, chapter on "Interest." Fisk, Boy Life and Self-Government. CHAPTER VI CONNECTING RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION WITH LIFE AND CONDUCT