Teaching Changes the World!!!
How do we change the world, and is it even possible to make actual significant changes that impact the world around us? It seems the obvious answer is yes based on what we see in history, but maybe the first thing that pops into our heads is that it’s possible for someone else and not us. It can be so hard to believe that we can actually make significant change but the reality is that we can and teaching is a great catalyst to bring about change. Wether your dealing in the secular or religious world, teaching is one of the greatest necessities. Education overall is priceless. But, I want to key in on the specific importance of teaching, and, the social impact that it has. Teaching can help economically, politically, socially and more. It educates people, helping them vocationally, and can help them even to know how to deal with every day struggles.
This isn’t to say that teaching does everything. We do have to still hand a huge load of credit to experience. Much of what we learn is through experience and failure but, even in light of this, we find that we might be able to avoid some failures through teaching. It’s said, “History repeats itself”. Well, this would include negative events and this saying, seems to be very true. Yet, if we take time to learn and be educated, we can make the necessary changes so that the cycle doesn’t continue and, we have done this as a nation. So, this shows the importance of history but history can’t be all we need.
We also need basic teachings. Imagine a baby that grew up and wasn’t taught ANYTHING! Just imagine the psychological impact. Let’s just venture into this scenario and say this baby was only fed, and had it’s needs taken care of it (Which still would be teaching the baby SOMETHING). It was never taught an actual word to speak. Never told what anything was. Never given instructions, morals, restrictions or anything that could be helpful. What if it wasn’t even taught what was harmful? Now imagine this baby is no longer a baby but, an 8 year old? How well off will this child be and could the child even make it to 8 without being taught anything? Sure, we could go back to experience and talk about how much could have been learned there but at the end of the day, we would all seemingly pity this child because we know that it would be lacking without having been taught even the basics of survival. We need basic teaching as much as we need higher educational teachings. But, still teaching has more effect than just learning to not fail and being taught the basics of survival.
Teaching can change our society by people sharing learned information (which is the basics of what teaching is). It’s the way we got roads, buildings and automobiles, and more. People used there brains, figured things out, thought critically and then shared there ideas. Eventually these ideas where taught to mechanics and teams of people that could make things happen. Then the projects were put into action. This would lead to books being written to teach others and people teaching how to build. Teaching doesn’t just inform, but, it can create! It’s the same in churches where we are teaching others how we have learned to impact others. Wether it is to help bring someone to the knowledge saving truth that Jesus Christ died to save them and wants a relationship with them, or if it is teaching them the importance of caring for the needs of others which in return can impact the economy and social structure around them. Yet, no matter what it can be helping them to see things in new ways and think differently which can be just as important. This brings up a whole new point.
How important should teaching actually be for Christians and the church? Could teaching be more important than evangelism? I don’t think so but, I also don’t think evangelism is more important than teaching, though, it seems that we as Christians can treat it that way. We get very concerned with bringing in souls and wanting to see people convert, forgetting the emphasis that Jesus Himself put on teaching and discipleship. Jesus did go and evangelize and teach people about the kingdom of God, for the purpose of saving them but it wasn’t stopping there. He had and has so much more for all of us to learn and grow. He wants to continue to teach us and help us to learn more about Him and His nature which changes our actions to be more like His and in return helps us and the people around us that we have the ability to reach. But, this avenue is done in part through teaching. It can’t just be about saying the “sinners prayer” with someone. There is so much more in store for a Christian than just heaven, and even heaven is all about Christ. He is the one that makes heaven, heaven and so if we don’t know Him than there is no point of wanting to go to heaven because we are missing the one person that makes heaven so great! It reminds me of a talk i had with a pastor just the other day.
His name is William Carrol and He pastors at Times Square Church, but He also teaches at Summit, and he was talking with me and a group of other guys but he said something that really got me thinking. I’m not quoting word for word but he basically talked about how important it is not to just get a person to agree with you but to actually get them thinking so that they can come to be convinced, if what your saying is true. Because, it is easy to want someone to agree with us immediately but, he stated the person that agrees right away can be the, or like the person that Jesus talked about in the parable of the sower who, hears what is said and recieves it gladly but is later choked out by the thorns. Someone who agrees easily could also just as easily change there mind later. Yet, someone who takes what you say and challenges it, will wrestle with it and if they find that it is true, when they adopt it, they will normally hold on to it. It’s important for us to not be scared of people like this that may challenge and ask questions about teaching. Though, this is a side note, it still teaches us, that teaching itself impacts many in different ways. Nevertheless, it is impacting and not lightly but changing people, which people make up the world we live in and by changing them, we are truly changing the world. This draws me to the last point i want to bring up and that is the impact teaching has had on me.
I myself, bear witness to this truth that teaching can change the world, people, and so much more. When I first went to the last college I studied at, Summit International School of Ministry, I felt that I was able to learn how to think. This was something so valuable to me because, it was something i felt and started to see was pushed away by so many in education. It wasn’t just about learning to adopt new ideas, it was about learning to devleop new ideas and to form your own opinion by challenging it with others. Collectively putting together ideas and discussing them with others, especially more wiser people that can really shed some light. Through this learning and process I saw myself becoming more ambitious and eager to learn. It made the truths of the Gospel come alive even more as I saw the depths and vastness behind them. Education became bigger than the ocean and it made me feel that my possibilities of impact where endless. Since, I have kept up my studies and am more eager to learn and teach than ever before. Yet, more than this i see the impact it can produce of making people more eager to learn truth and give it out to others. The life and world changing truth about God and who He is. It brings joy and community that one longs for with the realization of one reality, that God is all there is and He has given us everything, so we bend our knee and worship Him. Through this we fulfill our purpose of creation to fellowship with God and there is no greater joy than this. All this is information that is taught and is impactful to us and the people around us for fulfilling our purpose and living the best life we possibly can. This won’t mean a perfect life, but it will mean the best life which is something we have to offer people by teaching them about who God is and what He has done for them.
