The Teacher and His Ministry.
The Teacher and His Ministry.
REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: Ephesians 4:11-13.
- WHO IS A TEACHER?
A teacher conventionally is the one who teaches. However, in the matters of the Kingdom, it’s beyond just teaching. A teacher is the one who knows the way, teach the way and follows the way. A teacher is also someone who is able to impart truth and wisdom for life. He/she is someone you learn from.
The Way is a personality according to the account of Saul of Tarsus on how he attacked those that belong to the Way. See Acts 9. The Way is also what the early Christians called their belief system. It refers to Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6
- WHAT IS MINISTRY?
In the Greek language used in the New Testament, the term “Ministry” always centers on acts of service to others. It implies a sense of being duty bound to work under God’s authority as His loyal servant.
It is the work of a spiritual nature; it is not just doing something registered with a corporate affairs commission. It is a great work. The term ministry has the verb minister, in the sense that a minister is a servant. Therefore it is a call to serve.
- ATTRIBUTES OF A TEACHER
- A teacher must be knowledgeable about God’s word and a lot of things. See Daniel 11:32
- A teacher must be humble. It takes a humble heart to impart into others by not making them feel less of themselves for not being as knowledgeable as you.
- A teacher must be able to rightly divide the word of truth. Other gifts or office can operate the way they were given instructions from God but the teacher must be able to rightly explain and breakdown the word for everyone to understand.
- HOW DO I KNOW MY TEACHING GIFT? Colossians 3:16, 2 Timothy 2:15.
- From the above scriptures, the first thing to note is that it is a gift from God.
- Knowing your gift is dependent on your relationship with God. There are no two ways about it. As we keep fellowshipping with God, He reveals those gifts and you will realize that teaching is one of them.
- ARE THERE FALSE TEACHERS?
Yes, there are false teachers. The bible confirms this in Matthew 24:24 “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and they will provide great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (God’s chosen ones). [AMP]
In the bible we see that Christ is usually called Rabbi. Rabbi means teacher; so a false Christ can be called a false teacher or Rabbi.
To everything that has an original, there’s always a counterfeit.
- HOW DO I IDENTIFY A TRUE OR FALSE TEACHER?
1 John 2:18-27, Revelation 2:14-16.
Isaiah 8:20: “To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” [KJV]
If they speak not according to the scripture, we can identify whether they are true or not.
False teachers were once true teachers who became confused and continued to teach that confusion to their followers or listeners without retracing their steps. Scriptures confirm that they went out from us. This means they were once a part of the truth but deviated from the source of the truth, Christ Jesus.
The false teachers deny Christ out rightly. They gradually remove Christ from their teaching and conventionally make others believe their lies with backings from other sources like traditions, science and technology.
The doctrines of Balaam, the doctrine of Nicolaitans were examples of the false teaching the Spirit of God kicked against.
- WAYS OF IDENTIFYING FALSE TEACHERS.
Romans 16:18 “For they that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” [KJV]
Their teaching will be against the truth of the gospel and the scripture.
Their message is inconsistent with the scriptures, usually self-glorying and self-centered.
They rely solely on their own knowledge and refuse to accept corrections when they are wrong.
- WHAT DO TEACHERS TEACH?
Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
From the above bible passage, we can confirm what false teachers teach.
In philosophy, when you hear words or statements beginning or ending with “according to Plato or Aristotle. You should know that the teacher has deviated from true way.
Vain deceit means a deliberate message to make the hearer relax and feel comfortable in the teachings, not realizing that they are being prepared for eternal damnation.
Now, let us examine what a true teacher should teach:
A teacher teaches the sound word. Acts 1:1 “In the former account [which I prepared], O Theophilus, I made [a continuous report] dealing with all the things which Jesus began to do and to teach.”
The definition in Acts tells us that if it hasn’t become a doing in your life, you cannot teach it. Hence, true teachers do the word as they teach it.
A true teacher will always have Christ as his message. He/she does not speak or teach anything outside Christ.
- MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE TEACHING MINISTRY
Ephesians 4:13- Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
Below are some of the misconceptions often experienced in the teaching ministry; let us examine them carefully:
- Being a teacher does not mean that other gifts are greater or you are better off than others. We need to understand that we are meant complement one another in the body of Christ.
- The fact that you are teacher does not mean you will automatically grow to become a Pastor; this notion is wrong.
- Teachers must take Sunday school classes to certify them. Teaching in Sunday school is fine but doesn’t qualify you to be a teacher. Teaching the sound doctrine is what qualifies you to be a teacher.
- JUDGEMENT OF TEACHERS
“Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]” James 3:1 [AMP]
The teaching ministry is peculiar. Christ was addressing his disciples after they argued on who was the greatest. He brought out a child explained to them that it is better for a milestone to be tied on the neck of the person who makes the little ones to stumble and thrown into the water. This means that it is better to have never taught at all than to teach and lead others astray with false doctrines and heresies; the judgment that awaits false teachers is unimaginable.
- LISTENING TO THE GREAT TEACHER [JESUS CHRIST]
Jesus Christ is the great teacher. Everything about the teaching ministry can be found in Him. Therefore we must have intimacy with Him so that we can have the accurate guideline when it comes to teaching. His ministry was more off teaching even after His resurrection, He kept teaching the disciples; this is to make understand that there is so much more to teaching than we know. There is power and authority in teaching because it brings the heart of men under the light of God’s word and cleanses them from unrighteousness. “When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.” Matthew 7:28-29 [HCSB]
In conclusion, the teaching ministry is very important in the church; therefore let us be careful whose teaching we are listening to.
Prayer: Father we bless your name for today’s teaching, we pray you help us to know and do your word as we live acceptably for you. Bless our teachers and give them more grace in Jesus name, Amen.
