The Bible Teacher

Baptists are a “people of the Book” and believe God is honored and glorified in the preaching, reading, and teaching of the Word of God. Preaching and teaching are a priority in the church. In 1 Timothy 3:2, Paul says a pastor must be "apt to teach", meaning a he should be one who can teach, who does teach, and is ready to teach. Everyone can't be a teacher (1 Corinthians 12:29) and everyone shouldn't want to be a teacher (James 3:1). Just because someone wants to teach, doesn’t mean they ought to teach (1 Timothy 1:7). But, the church needs teachers (Ephesians 4:11), and there are probably people who could teach, having the knowledge and natural gifts, but don’t (Hebrews 5:12).

Are you a Bible teacher? Teach the Bible (1 Timothy 4:11). This may seem obvious, but too many teach everything BUT the Bible. A pastor was absent from his church and asked an itinerant preacher to come and fill in for him. When the pastor came back the next week, he asked one of the boys at the church what the guest preacher’s sermon was about. “Electricity,” the boy said. Now, whether the boy listened or whether the man really taught the Bible, it’s hard to say, but the big impression the man left on the boy was his stories about electricity. Their can’t be a greater or loftier desire than to know God through Jesus Christ. Entertaining people will make you popular, but it’s a sad substitute to teaching others about Jesus Christ the Lord.

Lewis Carroll had some good horse-sense in his book Alice in Wonderland we can apply to teaching. “Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” If you want to be a better teacher, listen to the king. To know where the beginning and end of a subject is, you need to know the subject. Then, have a plan for getting where you want your lesson to go. Those traveling with you may not know where you are going, but if they are confident you have some idea, they’ll trust your navigation. I just came back from a Bible conference in Florida and Google Maps gave me the directions, but I had to enter a starting point and a destination before I could get the plan. Start at the beginning, and keep going until you get to the end, then stop your lesson. Someone said their preacher lied every Sunday because he would say, “in conclusion” and then have no intention of concluding. Know your subject. Know what you want to say. Have a point and stick to it. Start at the beginning, go to the end, then stop. Try to winnow your information down to fit in the time allotted and save the rest for another time.

In conclusion… Oh – I’m out of space.