Disciple-Teachers
Mr. Pixabay (Not his real name) was a retired Army Major with gray hair and a thin mustache and he was teaching tenth grade math. I do not remember much of the math class except he assigned class seating by alphabetical order based on your last name. Being a “Wallace”, I sat in the last row in the rear of the class and tried to listen to Mr. Pixabay teach math. He always seemed to wear an army green suit and tie and he faced the chalkboard most of the time. Eye contact was rare as his style of teaching was to stand at the chalkboard, write on the chalkboard and mumble to the chalkboard the formula for solving the math equation. I was already poor at math but sitting in the back row, out of eye contact, looking at his back and trying to hear him as he mumbled to the chalkboard did not seem to help my math skills. Mr. Pixabay was a very nice individual but his teaching skills were limited.
We are the disciples of Jesus. We are to follow the lead of Jesus our master. We, as the disciples of Jesus are to learn, follow, teach and go forth to create more disciples. The preceding is a nice step by step method of what a disciple is and does. After we learn and begin to follow Jesus, we must teach about Jesus. This is step three of becoming a dedicated disciple of our master, Jesus.
The Bible has much to say about teaching and spreading the gospel of Jesus and His coming Kingdom. Solomon the wise tells us, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Pro. 1:7 [NKJV]). We would be a fool to not study and learn and teach about Jesus and His coming kingdom.
We need to be a walking talking example of Jesus and His way of life. Our example is in itself a method of teaching. Consequently, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Tim. 2:15). When we teach, we need to “rightly divide the word of truth” to properly represent His kingdom.
The process of becoming His disciples is accomplished in steps. We learn, follow, teach and go forth to preach His gospel. We must progress in our understanding and continue to learn. The author of Hebrews states, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.” (Heb. 5:12). Ouch! Are we in need of gospel milk or have we studied and improved our knowledge of God to the point where we can stomach the meat of the gospel? The point is we “ought to be teachers.”
After over 30 years of his apostleship, Peter wrote and gave advice to the churches of God. Older and nearing his impending execution from Caesar Nero for preaching the gospel, Peter reached out to the Church of God and summarized his part in preaching and teaching the gospel. “But sanctify the LORD God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (I Pet.3:15). Peter wanted every Christian be able to preach and teach Jesus in a humble yet knowledgeable way. Paul tells us to study and show ourselves approved of God (II Tim.3:15).
As mature Christian disciples we are to learn to teach others of the glory of Jesus and His coming kingdom. Solomon tells us to, “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.” (Pro. 23:12). We must apply ourselves to learning and then apply what we have learned to teaching about Jesus and the kingdom of God. We must move forward from the milk of the word to the meat of the Word and teach it to others.
As His disciples, we are all to be teachers. Mr. Pixabay might have inspired me more in math than I realized back in the tenth grade. Sitting in the last row, looking at his back as he wrote equations on the chalkboard, in his army green suit and trying to hear his mumbling was a hard way to learn math. Maybe he inspired me more than I realized as I became a financial planner and insurance agent and use math every day. Our Christian example does not have to be perfect; our heart needs to be with God. Mr. Pixabay, the imperfect teacher still inspires me to this day.
