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/