September 29 - Teachers of the Word

September 29 - Teachers of the Word

You know, there are several different types of Biblical teachers out there. I'm not terribly sure where I fit in that. There are those who teach with great authority and are confident that they have spent enough time with God and in scripture. They are humble, yet quite knowledgeable. I can appreciate that teacher. Then, there are those who have had a lot of education and are rather arrogant about the fact that they can talk most people to death regarding their knowledge. Then, those that have read the Bible over and over, yet have never had deeper education or read a commentary, all they have is their own understanding. Those teachers can be amazing because they completely rely on the Holy Spirit to teach through them ... OR they can be incredibly awful because they think they have enough wisdom on their own to understand the mysteries of God.

I've studied under all of them and more. I'm sure that you have been exposed to as many different types of Bible teachers as there are people.

Jesus tells us as part of the Great Commission that we are all to be teachers of the Word in Matthew 28:19-20. "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and or the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you."

So, if you decide to try to duck out on this because Paul makes the requirements for a teacher too stringent, you'd best decide who to obey - Jesus or your fears!

In Paul's first letter to Timothy, he says, "Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach..." (1 Timothy 3:12)

We have a responsibility to the world. The project I just finished for my World religions course taught me that Buddhism has become the 3rd strongest religion in the United States. People in America are drawn to it because it teaches compassion, tolerance and rationality and because it offers an alternative to what they perceive to be rigidity among Christians.

We are failing in our mission. We would rather be 'right' and prove it over and over than we would be compassionate and caring. We would rather fight for our viewpoint, than simply teach the love of Christ. I would bet that many of us have no idea what the Bible actually says about many different issues. How can we be expected to teach something that we don't fully understand?

We have a responsibility to the world. Jesus gave us a commission. It's not a suggestion, He doesn't hope that we'll do something about it. We are to take His message into the world. We are to share His gospel with everyone we see.