I recently had the pleasure of visiting with David, Nicole and adorable Ruby Love Hannah in beautiful Bologna, Italy.  For the past 3 years, DBC has been partnering with the Hannahs to bring the light of Christ and God's kingdom to the students of the University of Bologna.

 Known among other things for its covered sidewalks, Bologna is a lively college town.  The Hannahs have settled in and are making adjustments to life in a different culture.




The Hannahs are blessed to live in a wonderful apartment near the University.  This is a shot looking out one of their windows toward downtown.


I didn't go to see the Hannah's dog, "Preacher," but no doubt he is a key player in their outreach strategy.  Here, he and I discussed ideas for walking spots that would lead to spiritual conversations.

'Knowledge puffs up while love builds up.  Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.  I Corinthians 8:2

There is a temptation that we face the longer we are Christians.  We may come to think that our knowledge of the faith is somehow a measure of our maturity. 

I face this big time as a pastor - a professional Christian as some have called me.  You might face it too.  We have seminary degrees, books, endless Bible studies under our belts.  We can quote verses and answer tough doctrinal questions.  We read the Bible and know how things "ought" to be. 

And all for what?  Greater knowledge?  That's good.  But, we must be careful for as Paul says, "knowledge puffs up."

Knowledge can make us appear bigger than we really are to others.  We can crave knowledge more than transformation.  Knowledge gives us a sense of control over our world.  It sets us apart.  It makes us think we're right and everyone wrong.  We're just "telling it like it is."  We're more "mature", more "evolved", more "enlightened."  We may be more concerned about being right than being loving.  We're building ourselves up rather than building up others. We often think people should understand like we do, not necessarily that they should love like we do.

But we know there is something beyond knowledge.  We can be right in what we know and wrong in how we live.  There is knowing...then there is knowing as you ought to know.

To be sure, knowledge and love need each other.  Knowledge without love can lead to tyranny.  But, love without knowledge is juvenile.

Loving is our real struggle, isn't it?  Knowledge is not our problem these days.  We have access to greater knowledge than any generation in history.  Yet, we struggle to love.  The Church has access to more books and Bible studies than ever, yet we are not known as Christ said we would be by "our love for one another."

Perhaps our knowledge is puffing us up. And all this puffing up really benefits no one.  Not even the person being puffed up, really.  They are puffed up, inflated, full of hot air if you will, concerned often with their "rights' more than their responsibilities.

We may be right, but let's be sure we're not also wrong.  We may claim our rights, but let's not forget our responsibilities.  We may be well educated, well trained, able to discern God's will and explain the Bible, but let's not forget our challenge to build up others around us.

What would change in the church if we sought to grow in knowledge but never forgot our higher calling to build each other up along the way?  What would happen if we were as concerned about BEING Christian as we were about learning more about Christianity?

There is knowing.  Then there is knowing as you ought to know.

Before we can become the "me" we want to be we have to admit the "me" that we are.

We don't talk too much about self knowledge in Christian circles.  We would rather look at God and talk about the Bible than deal with ourselves perhaps.  But, true transformation of the self means that we are at least aware of the self that is being transformed.

Some might say that we are meant to lose our selves in Christ, that we are to die to self and be caught up in our knowledge of God.  This is true.   But, the same Paul who said that "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" also said "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."  Paul's deep awareness of Christ also brought deep awareness of self which made him even more grateful for Christ.

There are many that can talk about God but lack deep knowledge of their own self.  They can quote verses but lack awareness of their own character.  Others see what they refuse to see.  

We can feel righteous in our knowledge of the Bible or boldness in our witness, yet be totally unaware of how unloving and rigid we are in our relationships.  We can be faithful in our attendance to church activities yet never be willing to admit personal failures or faults.  But, if we truly know the God we can talk so much about, surely we would also know more about ourselves.

David Benner in his excellent little book titled "The Gift of Being Yourself"says, "Deep knowing of God and deep knowing of self always develop interactively.  The result is the authentic transformation of the self that is at the core of Christian spirituality."

Benner asks "What have you learned about yourself as a result of your experience with God? And what do you know about God as a result of a genuine encounter with your self?"

"While many of us have followed Jesus [for a while], too often we have not allowed the initial introduction to deepen into a deep, intimate knowing.  Though we glifbly talk about a personal relationship with God, many of us know God less well than we know our casual acquaintances.  Too easily we have settled for knowing about God."

Benner then goes on to suggest ways of knowing both God and self more deeply, to invite God's Spirit to "search me and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts."  And, in knowing God we know ourselves and can become the people we "want to" be - or were made to be.  After all, it is God who gives us the "want to" anyway...

Note:  Benner takes a very psychological approach to Christian spirituality.  Some Christians may not be comfortable with this.  He does use many Biblical examples.  But, reserve judgement on particulars and don't miss the power of the overall message of the book to know God more deeply and in turn to know yourself more honestly.

As we consider how we will plant churches, let's be sure we avoid this guy's advice...

There are an abundance of Christian teachers, but a decreasing influence on society.  There are plenty of people speaking, but who is doing?

I have taught the Bible for years. Teaching is a vital ministry.  But for a while now I've had this nagging sense that the way we think of teaching in the church and how we practice it is really broken.

Usually when we think of teaching it involves a monologue or at least a controlled discussion.  One person leads while others sit in rows or a circles.  A pastor speaks from a stage while the audience sits passively receiving the words. A small group gathers in front of the TV to watch a DVD.  

Here are some problems I see with the traditional approach to Christian teaching...

We go to mediators of the written word instead of directly to the word ourselves.  Maybe its because the Bible can seem complex and difficult to understand.  But, the long term effect of constantly relying on teachers to tell us what the text means is that we doubt our own capability to understand it.

The danger here from a teacher's perspective is that we as teachers begin to believe our own interpretations.  We value our "series" and "insights" that we bring to the groups we teach.  We look for approval from those we teach.  Teaching feeds our ego.  We define ourselves as "TEACHER."

But, what if Christian teaching was different?  What if instead of one person, the expert, telling us what the text means, we went directly to the text ourselves? What if all Christians were able to teach, at least on some level, and not just rely on a few (often the same few) teachers?

Teaching is not reproducible.  Every church lacks enough teachers.  We're always looking for new teachers from babies to students to the elderly.  Or, we rely on the same teachers for the same classes year after year while their class members sit and soak for decades without ever becoming "teachers" themselves.
But, what if there are actually many more teachers than we realize?  Perhaps we have this unreproducible problem because what we've defined as Christian teaching (in front of a group) is only appealing to a few people. 


Teaching usually means passing along information.   We may get all sorts of background, context, the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew, a long list of points to remember, applications to make, and then wonder what it all means.  This makes Christianity seem more of an intellectual pursuit rather than incarnational one.

But, what if teaching was less about passing along information (though info is valuable) and more about teaching a way of life?   What if teaching is about equipping and not just educating?


We have the wrong measures for good teaching.   We look for charistmatic presenters of information.  We'll give someone a chance to teach a group and then consider "did they hold the group's attention," "did they make good points," did the group like them."

From a teacher's perspective, we don't have the right measures either.  We just like to teach...whether or not the students are actually living out what we share each week is beside the point.  Our role is to dispense information, our witty insights, or other data.

But, when do we consider the example of the teacher?  Could they say "follow me as I follow Christ?"  Perhaps we should ask if the group trusts the teacher rather than if they like them. When does the teacher consider whether or not the students are actually living out what is taught?  After all, the goal of teaching is to "present everyone mature in Christ!"

As someone who has taught a lot in front of small and large groups, who has taught individuals and crowds, I am concerned that we have misunderstood the true nature of teaching. 


What we usually know as Christian teaching would have seemed quite unusual in new testament times.  Fortunately, we can look into Scripture and see what it has to say...

Christ is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.  Colossians 1: 28

 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  Colossians 3: 16

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Hebrews 5:12

Don't misunderstand.  There are times for large and small group teaching, for monologue and guided discussion.  And when those occur, it's best to hear from someone who is good at communicating and who has the right goal.  But, this is not the only way the faith is taught.

I was challenged on this topic in July during a visit with Ed Waken who leads a house church network in Phoenix Arizona.  Each Sunday night the network gathers for worship, fellowship and to hear from the Lord.  This particular week, Ed had a teaching prepared but never got to it because the Lord wanted the group to confess sins, pray, worship, and encourage one another.  The Lord had His own agenda.

As someone from a traditional church where teaching is expected whenever Christians gather for church, I was left with many questions.  But, what I saw was not a lack of teaching, but instead a different approach to teaching and a different value placed on what we've always relied upon as teaching.

The person up front teaching a passive audience is not highly valued in a network like the one I saw in Phoenix.  Instead, teaching might occur as an elder talks to a young person about an important choice in their life.  It might occur in a house church where a Scripture comes to mind to encourage a brother or sister to keep pressing on in their walk.  This is "Christ dwelling in you richly as you teach and admonish one another."

Teaching like this does not create celebrities.  It is not glamorous.  It might never get published on a DVD.  It is more organic, more relational, more genuine.  Scripture is not so much something we come to in order to study and dissect.  But, it is weaved into conversations where the Spirit brings to mind verses to connect with what someone needs in the moment.

The fact is that most Christians listen to more teaching than they ever intend to obey.  We are educated beyond our obedience.  We have an abundance of teachers but increasingly lack significant influence on our society.  Why is this?

We have an image of teachers as those who stand up front.  But, what we need are teachers who can teach us how to follow Jesus.  We need teachers who teach from their own life experiences, who are practicioners, who leverage their gift to equip others for the work of ministry.  And those who have become dependent on teachers should begin to teach others.

I saw this in Phoenix.  I saw a gifted teacher in Ed Waken yield his right to teach for what the Spirit was doing in the body, trusting that whatever word he had been given would apply at some other gathering in the future.  It takes humility for a gifted teacher to yield this way.  In so doing, he teaches by example and not just words.

And that's the kind of teaching we need.

Check out Ed's blog at http://www.edwaken.blogspot.com/