The Teacher
Notes
Transcript
As we continue studying the Motivational gifts we come to the third gift, the Teacher.
Romans 12:7
7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Romans 12:11 gives us a guideline for the teacher.
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
This verse emphasizes diligent research, not being slothful.
Fervent Spirit
And serving the Lord.
Luke serves as our example of the Teacher.
The teacher may not be the one standing up in Sunday School teaching, but more likely the one who teaches a much deeper lesson in Sunday School.
I. Characteristics of the Teacher
I. Characteristics of the Teacher
A. Need to Validate Information
A. Need to Validate Information
When a teacher hears important statements, whether given privately or publicly, he will desire to verify them.
the motivation is to confirm that the statements are true and accurate and therefore would bring have the authority to bring spiritual freedom.
Teachers help keep the Church focused on truth. They are alert to false doctrine and do not honor experience over the authority of Scripture.
Luke wrote his Gospel to Theophilus
Luke 1:4
4 That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
B. Scrutinizes Teachers
B. Scrutinizes Teachers
A person with the gift of teaching will be very alert to false teachers.
He will find out their background before listening to them.
He will also assume that others want to know his qualifications; so he will tend to give these before speaking.
Luke began his Gospel by affirming that he was an eyewitness and that he had perfect understanding of all things from the very first.
Luke 1:3
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
C. Rely on Established Resources
C. Rely on Established Resources
A teacher has a need to go to primary sources to validate truth.
It has been said that no new information comes from the person with the gift of teaching.
He will also use accepted works of recognized authorities to further confirm statements which others make.
Luke praised the Bereans for daily checking out Paul’s statements against Old Testament Scriptures.
Acts 17:11
11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
Luke also related his writings to the other Gospel accounts and the Old Testament.
D. Present Truth Systematically
D. Present Truth Systematically
Teachers tend to feel more comfortable when material is laid out in an orderly sequence.
The teacher wants to know the event sin the order in which they occured.
Luke emphasized the chronological structure of his Gospel when he explained that his approach was
3 It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
E. Gather Many Facts
E. Gather Many Facts
Those with they gift of teaching often have a greater delight in researching facts than they do in teaching them.
When they do speak or write, they feel constrained to give as many facts as possible.
Luke’s Gospel is the longest of the four; he includes information left out by other writers and he emphasizes the completeness of his account.
Acts 1:1
1 The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
F. Require Thoroughness
F. Require Thoroughness
A teacher enjoys giving details which are not noticed or mentioned by others.
Luke gives precise descriptions of events, conversations, circumstances and physical conditions.
He detailed more names, titles, cities, dates, and events than any other Gospel writer.
G. Uneasy with Subjective Truth
G. Uneasy with Subjective Truth
A teacher is concerned that truth be presented in balance.
He recognizes the danger of using personal experience as a foundation of truth.
He wants to go from Scripture to experience, rather than from experience to a proof text in Scripture.
A Teacher tends to remain silent until the information has been heard, observed, and verified.
Luke’s silence is conspicuous in the New Testament, none of his own statements are recorded.
H. Persevere with Accepted Teachers
H. Persevere with Accepted Teachers
A teacher tends to remain loyal to a mentor or a school as long as any truth remains and does what he can to promote the truth.
Usually, an individual with this motivational gift is not hesitant to challenge statements made or ideas presented by other teachers. This is an example of “iron sharpening iron” (see Proverbs 27:17), which is a positive outcome of the teacher’s passion for verifying information.
Luke demonstrated amazing loyalty to Paul and his message in prison, even after others left him.
11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
I. Clarify Misunderstandings
I. Clarify Misunderstandings
A teacher instinctively questions anything that seems inaccurate, and usually that doubt motivates him to search out the answers needed to establish truth.
If a teacher learns that his facts are wrong, he will not simply accept the conclusion but will want to retrace his own investigation to determine at what point he got off the track.
He will desire to use the same procedure in helping others who have strayed form the truth.
II. Misuses of the Gift of Teaching
II. Misuses of the Gift of Teaching
A. Becoming Proud of Knowledge
A. Becoming Proud of Knowledge
With the teacher’s thoroughness in checkign out facts , he will acquire much knowledge.
Since Knowledge puffeth up
1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
So, it is very easy for him to become proud.
He may also appear prideful by giving far more information than is needed to prove a point.
Further pride can be communicated by attitude.
“It’s not right until I check it out and say it is right.”
Teachers tend to be exclusive, preferring to limit their interaction and support to individuals or groups who share their doctrinal beliefs.
Their concentration on facts rather than people sometimes makes them appear to be cold or insensitive.
B. Despising Lack of Credentials
B. Despising Lack of Credentials
Many teachers attempt to control misinformation by requiring approved courses of instruction.
By depending only on these courses, credentials can be overemphasized, and the practical wisdom of those whom teachers consider uneducated can be despised or minimized.
In such cases, teachers make the mistake of concentrating on intellectual knowledge rather than spiritual perception.
C. Depending on Human Reasoning
C. Depending on Human Reasoning
Since he is able to use scholarly resources, a teacher can easily give the impression that he is the only source of truth and that his gift is more important than the other gifts.
The teacher may also react to the need to bring his intellect under the control of the Holy Spirit, thus putting his scholarship ahead of the spiritual insight that comes through meditating on Scripture.
D. Criticizing Practical Applications
D. Criticizing Practical Applications
A teacher’s motivation to verify all statements by the authroity of Scripture may hinder him in making wider Scriptural applications.
As he focuses on textual studies, he may miss the underlying principles that tie all Scripture together.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
E. Showing off Research Skills
E. Showing off Research Skills
When a Christian with the gift of teaching shares a conclusion, he feels obligated to explain how he arrived at it.
He often assumes, wrongly, that because he enjoyed the research so much, others will also.
Concentration on research may also cause a teacher to live in an unreal world which he has created by his exclusion of other people.
F. Rejecting Scriptural Presuppositions
F. Rejecting Scriptural Presuppositions
A presupposition is a statement or truth that is assumed before hand to be the truth.
for example if I say Sara’s brother Tom ate three chocolate bars.
the presuppositions of this statement are
a girl named Sara exists
Sara has a brother
Sara’s brother likes sweets.
a teacher would like concrete proof of those presuppositions.
If a teacher fails to subject his intellect to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, he will need to examine the foundational truth’s of Scripture.
These are to be understood by faith.
His theology will become the reorganization of Scripture around a philosophical base.
G. Putting Mind above the Holy Spirit
G. Putting Mind above the Holy Spirit
The most effective way for anyone to keep his intellect under the control of the Holy Spirit is to meditate upon God’s Word day and night.
Neither the inspiration or the true meaning of Scripture will be understood intellectually.
But will be discerned spiritually.
If a teacher fails to be come mighty in Spirit, he will tend to be come trusting of his own intellect.
H. Taking Teachings to Extremes
H. Taking Teachings to Extremes
Truth out of balance leads to heresy
Imbalance begins by studying a doctrine out of the moral setting.
Arguments an division result.
Imbalance also occurs by separating related truths
Mercy without justice
grace without law.
I. Arguing over Minor Points
I. Arguing over Minor Points
If a teacher leans on his own understanding, it is easy for him to reject an important spiritual truth because he detects a minor flaw in the presentation of it.
He may further reject this truth because he is being asked to intellectually accept a conclusion without knowing how the other person arrived at it.