"Teaching"

Have you ever been in one of those Bible study classes that was very difficult to listen to? I don't mean the word of the Lord but the one speaking, teaching made the class so difficult and very 'non-understandable'! I feel for the brethren and yet many of them keep a good attitude and endure the hardship of the one teaching. What is even worse that the one teaching is completely clueless they are making things difficult. I guess it is one of the things that really gets under my skin as I speak about this a lot.

Why do those who are in teaching positions not realize what they are dealing with? When you have a study, they don't seem to deal with the study at hand or they try to intellectualize and be scholarly. They think that's what makes a study good. In the process, at times they loose complete sight of the study and the purpose at hand and before you know it, we are on rabbit chases. I recently sat in one study where we never got back to the context and spent 30 minutes of our time talking about things that aren't being taught. Every time I go through something like this it makes me think of Paul telling Timothy, "For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions." (I Tim. 1:6-7)

Teachers are suppose to be speaking for the Lord. They are taking the hearts and faith of the hearers and suppose to help them in purity and building trust. Instead, we get a lot of non-sense applications, fleshly approaches, intellectual lectures and who knows what else. There is so little understanding on how to take a topic or context in a book from the Lord's word and make it a faith building class. There is difficulty it seems on presenting the Lord God before the eyes of the hearers to develop convictions. I am not trying to stomp teachers here. No, I just wished some of our teachers knew how to teach!! It seems to be everywhere you go.

First, a teacher needs to understand themselves about the study! They need to glean from God's word what God is trying to say so the faith they gain is shared with the hearers. Secondly, don't go off on hunting sprees! Just because a word is used in a verse doesn't mean that's what the verse it speaking about so we run off on other verses that has that word in it! Keep with the subject, the context at hand. Thirdly, spend time in prayer. Pray for understanding and insight. Allow the Lord to open your mind and heart to receive so you can give. Finally, keep everything simple and don't lecture! Teach! A teacher is to teach!! Know what you are speaking about in the verses and let them flow.

Remember this above all, "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (Jam. 3:1) That should bring soberness to our thinking in our approach to teaching!