It is a natural thing to aspire to be a teacher. There are those gifted in the Church by the Lord to teach His people. It is wonderful to be able to open the Scriptures and bring understanding to the congregation. I have enjoyed this role most of my life. The older I get the more I realize the weightiness of teaching. The hearers and especially the younger or newer believers listen as if the teacher was saying words from the very lips of God! Certainly that is often the case and the preacher/teacher should be heard. But in hearing, we are encouraged to weigh the words being taught by the Bible itself. You must have at least a working knowledge of the Scripture in order to use it to test and discern the message being heard.
This brings us to the verse above and to address the teacher. The greatest responsibility of discerning the message of teaching must be the teachers themselves. Here are a few suggestions to teachers:
1. Make sure you are teaching Truth. As I speak to groups of ministers today I like to say,
"Stay Close to the Book!" The Bible has a lot to say about false teachers and prophets in the last days. Deception will be one of the greases enemies just prior to the return of Jesus.
(By the way, false prophets should be dealt with by other leaders. We have many "prophecies" given in the last few years, even with dates attached, that just didn't happen. Accountability should be brought to bear.)
2. Give more fact and less opinion. It might be exciting but is it true? Does the Scripture validate it?
3. Build to last. When you teach remember that you are building foundations in lives. Make sure it will stand the test of time. As years have gone by I have been disappointed that some of what was put into me as a young believer was more hype and dated than true and eternal.
4. Don't let pride motivate your teaching. We preachers love to hear, "that was the greatest sermon I ever heard!" First of all, don't believe it! (LOL) Secondly, that kind of compliment can bait you to let your motivation come from trying to top your last teaching. Be contented to let the Word do the Work. Pride can motivate you to teach more from the fringes than the richness of the Book.
James tells us that teaching comes with a greater strictness. May we who teach weigh our words before teaching so that Truth does the eternal redemptive work it is supposed to do.
