There is an important teaching gift that is described in the New Testament – for example, in Matthew 28:20, Acts 13:1, Ephesians 4:11 and 2 Timothy 2:2. None of the disciple-makers in Asia and Africa are seeking to deny this. They are simply seeking to remind us of two things:

First, that we need to look to Jesus as our model for how we are to exercise the gift of teaching. When we think about it, this is fairly obvious. People wear What Would Jesus Do? bracelets because they understand that they need to exercise their gifts of helpfulness, generosity and mercy in the same way that Jesus did during his three years of public ministry. Since the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus, he is unlikely to partner with us very effectively if we seek to minister the gifts he gives us in a manner unlike Jesus!

Nobody in history has ever had more answers to give than Jesus, yet nobody ever asked more questions. Jesus asks 307 questions in the four gospels. Don’t just skirt over that number, because it is essential. When Mary and Joseph first witnessed Jesus exercising his gift of teaching, they were amazed to find him sitting with people, “listening to them and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). It was only because he listened to their struggles and asked them questions that those people were eventually “amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:47). That is so different from the way most of us exercise our gift of teaching! It is not meant to be a gift of lecturing, but a gift of facilitating people’s own discovery. Having the gift of teaching is less about being a know-it-all and more about being a really great tour guide for people.

Second, that we need to remember that the true Teacher is the Holy Spirit. If we are doing all of the talking then we aren’t actually exercising the New Testament gift of teaching. We are getting in the way of God’s Spirit as he seeks to teach people. Take a moment to meditate on the following verses:

“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26)

“As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.” (1 John 2:27)

What do you sense God’s Spirit saying to you as you read these verses about his ability and strong desire to teach people directly through the Scriptures?

The teaching gift is essential for the church, but the New Testament describes it as being about facilitating learning from the Scriptures, rather than information impartation and control. Mature disciple-making movements value theological maturity, but they define it as obeying everything we know from Scripture. We want to learn as much as possible, but we don’t want our knowledge to run ahead of our obedience. That’s why we need Bible teachers who have developed the skills that Jesus models for us in the gospels – knowing the right passages of Scripture to share with people, knowing the right questions to ask them and having the courage to offer them accountability for how much they obey what they discover.  This is how we can best facilitate the teaching work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.

If you are still struggling with the idea that Bible teachers ought not to be lecturers, then be encouraged that this may not merely be due to an unhealthy attachment to your church tradition. The translators of the Bible into English have deliberately translated many neutral words to support the idea of a half-hour Sunday sermon. In many places where the Greek text tells us that the apostles “said” something, our English Bibles translate it that they “preached” it. Where the Greek text tells us that the early Christians “evangelized”, our English Bibles often translate it that they “preached the Gospel”. These aren’t exactly mistranslations, but they are definitely interpretations, and they can make it difficult for us to discover how Jesus actually wants us to exercise the gift of teaching in his church today.

You might want to turn to pages 237 to 240 of The Growing Gathering of Jesus. There, at the very end of the Appendix to the book, you will find a list of all of the Greek words that are used for people teaching in the book of Acts, along with a literal translation of those words, so that you can compare it with how the English translators of the Bible embellish the text in order to justify the lecture-based preaching that characterizes most modern churches. The Greek word studies on those pages are decidedly geeky and not for everyone – but, hey, if you are a Bible teacher then you probably love all that!