Patty R. Newton
Jul 23, 2017 · 4 min read

This thing about teachers…..

I’ve always known that I had an inner teacher in me….I love to very simply explain things and help people….to give practical instruction that helps them move forward. Heck, I even like to draw pictures to help people understand things. I’ll explain it over and over, one hundred different ways, until the student grasps the concept, and I can see the light bulbs go off. I then go to the “nth” degree to make sure the student can walk those concepts out.

I was having a conversation with someone today, about what makes a good teacher, as well as what exactly is the definition of a teacher. I’m sure all my teacher friends have their own idea of what makes a good teacher. I too have some ideas. But let’s focus simply on teaching the Word of God, the scriptures, the ways of God, Truth…..whatever terminology you use, I’m speaking of teaching spiritual truths….. I’ll get to this in a minute.

If you look the word teacher up in the dictionary, you will find definitions that talk about instructing on a subject, training, inspiring, and the list goes on and on. But think about your own life for a moment and of all the things over your life time that you have been taught. You were taught (not necessarily in this order) to brush your teeth, to read, ride a bike, how to eat properly, how to walk, to say thank you and please. You were taught to dress yourself, do chores, and fix your hair by yourself. We girls were taught how to put on makeup and how to behave as a young lady on a date. We all were taught manners and how to behave in public, and how to dress appropriately for an occasion. Then list goes on and on, and will continue to go on and on until we die.

What do all those things that we were taught have in common? They all require action on our part. If you’re just told the history of dressing for various occasions, yet you never actually go through the steps of picking out an outfit for a given occasion, then you were simply given information. Now we all have an endless storehouse of meaningless trivia in our heads that we will never use in any way. We’ve been “informed” about many things. We were not taught anything to do with that trivia (a practical “how to”). We were simply given some meaningless head knowledge. It may be interesting information, but we’ll never use it to “do” anything.

Back to the topic of being taught spiritual things…..

We have many instructors in the Body of Christ. There are many out there who give us information. We know the history a lot of things, but the one thing I see lacking is the practical how to. If I tell you the genealogy of Christ and the so-and-so’s who begat other so-and-so’s, but I don’t give you anything practical that you can walk out and be successful at, then I’ve simply given you a history lesson and informed you…

Matthew 28:20 says “and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” What a wonderful thought that Jesus didn’t just say obey me, he taught his disciples how to obey.

Proverbs 22:6 says “start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not return from it.” Again, the how to……

Psalm 132:12 “If your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons will sit on your throne for ever and ever. What’s the action here? Keeping the statutes…..

Exodus 18:20 “Teach them his decrees and instructions, and show them the way they are to live and how they are to behave…..Again, another example of how head knowledge is not enough. Teachers show. It’s the very heart of a teacher. If I am teaching you to write, I will write the letter for you and then say, here do it like this.

Lastly, Ephesians 4:11–16 says, “so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service….”

This is not a lengthy article, but I have been pondering about teachers, and wanted to put a few thoughts out there. There’s a time for head knowledge; it’s not all bad. It has its place. But we cannot be trained to DO anything if we are not first taught. This is just as true to the spiritual life as it is everyday tasks. If you have head knowledge only, then you are lacking the skills that you need to be successful at the Christian life. The Christian life is full of works of service. It’s not sitting in a pew shouting amen at the sermon, and leaving and having no idea how to live successfully. It’s not knowing a bunch of facts about where to find and quote a certain scripture. It’s not being able to critique others’ lives and give advice about what they should or shouldn’t do in their situation.

Just as sure as there are steps to learning to ride a bike, there are also steps to walk out in obedience to Christ. If we call ourselves Teacher, let us be diligent to demonstrate and show others out to walk in obedience.

    Patty R. Newton

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