Thursday, July 30, 2015

A Memorable Teacher


Romans 12:7”…if you are a teacher, teach well.”(NLT) The Greek word for “teacher” is: didasko, which means, "to teach one, to impart instruction, to explain or expound on a subject.” (Greek Lexicon)

The gift of teaching is the ability to communicate in a way that the student can understand and make life applications.  The gift of teaching isn’t so much the quality of teaching, but rather, the ability to teach so that the student is able to learn life lessons.  While some possess the spiritual gift of teaching, all of us have a responsibility to teach godly values of right and wrong, morality, ethical standards and honesty.  It does not take the special spirit-gift to teach virtues that will lead a person to godly living. 

Jesus the Teacher
The word “Rabbi” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “great one, my honorable sir.”  In the Greek language, “Rabbi” (Rhabbi) was a title used by the Jews to address their teachers.  Jesus was referred to as a “teacher” at least 45 times (depending on translation) within the gospels. 

Jesus used a variety of teaching methods to get his message across: 

He told stories (Parables) that had spiritual meaning, such as, the Lost Sheep in Matthew 18:12-14 or the story about how to invest your money wisely in Matthew 25:14-30. 

Jesus taught through discourse (Sermons) by sitting on a mountainside in Matthew 5,6,&7 and instructing the people about the importance of right living.

Jesus taught through one-on-one discussions.  In Luke 10:25, Jesus and a lawyer are discussing how one obtains eternal life and who is my neighbor.   Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council called Jesus, Rabbi. They both proceeded to have a discussion about being born again in John 3:1-21. 

Jesus taught by example.  Not only did he call his Twelve to go out and preach, He lead by doing it first in Mark 6:7-13

Pastor-Teacher
1 Corinthians 12:28
The gift of teaching is a vitally important part of the spiritual health of the church.  And, the gift of teaching is the third most important work within the life of the church according to Paul.

According to 1 Timothy 3:2, those who hold the leadership of pastor, must have the gift of teaching.  The phrase, “able to teach” is not the physical ability to teach, but rather, the Spirit gift ability to teach.  Also, the pastor must hold firm to what he has been taught so that he can teach others in the truth according to Titus 1:7.

In Ephesians 4:11 the gift of teaching comes with the role of pastor.  Pastor comes from the Latin word for Shepherd.  A Shepherd is one who takes care of the spiritual needs of the church by serving the flock and by being an example of living out the spiritual teachings of Scripture as found in 1 Peter 5:1-4

Remember, Be God Controlled!

Brian McCutchen

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your premise, but find it entirely disheartening to hold that pastors are to have Spirit-Gifted Teaching ability, yet virtually none of the pastors, elders, presbyters, I know have the gift, or, if they have it they are hoarding it. Many of the church leaders I have known are the most ignorant among us.

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