The Teacher vs. One who Teaches

Feb 24

Many Bible teachers are making their voices heard. Some stand on stages and some sit in children’s classrooms. Some flood social media while others teach quietly in their home. These are all viable places to teach and teaching is happening but is learning?

Sometimes the teaching is so corrupted that the lack of learning is a good thing. Other times, the message is clear but the delivery falls short.

God can and will use any situation to make His message known but it’s time we partnered with Him rather than hoping He covers our shortcomings without any effort from us.

To be the most effective partners, we need to realize that there’s a difference between someone who teaches and a teacher.

The Tale of Two Teachers

I recently observed a group of teachers. I paid special attention to two of women of the group. Both women volunteered to teach once a month and did so faithfully but after that, they couldn’t have been more different.

Woman One was energetic and positive. She was quick to encourage and eager to connect with the students. She asked lots of questions and presented the information with confidence and knowledge.

Woman Two was less enthusiastic and quick to correct. She didn’t ask a lot of questions but she expected lengthy answers to the questions she did ask. She taught cautiously and quietly. She often doubted her knowledge and sometimes hesitated when answering questions.

Only one of these teachers was truly a Teacher. But which one?

A Key Distinction

One of these women was defined by the event and one was defined by the outcome.

The one defined by the event prepared the lesson, showed up, delivered the lesson, and finished the task. It was a task to complete. A box to be checked.

The one defined by outcome was interested in whether or not the students actually got it. She was concerned with whether or not the truth connected with a student and it resulted in someone looking more like Jesus. The students weren’t just students but people to be stewarded.

Each teacher showed up. Each teacher communicated information. But only one asked, “What do I want my students to become?” That person was the Teacher.

Where Most Churches Get Stuck

For better or worse, most Bible teaching happens within the parameters of a program. This means that many people are trained only to be people who teach. A curriculum, a class space, and a time slot. Somehow we’ve made this the magic formula for discipleship.

Unfortunately, with the curriculum, class space, and time slot formula we’ve quit asking what transformation looks like for people sitting in these class spaces.

Teachers default to information delivery. They preach mini-sermons, remain focused on the lesson outline, and answer their own questions.

Learning may happen because God is good but not because the communicator actually taught. The box was check. The lesson delivered. Yet, year after year, leadership complains because people aren’t showing signs of growth.

There’s no one to blame. No one was lazy or careless. We’re just functioning with a faulty formula. So what’s the right formula?

A Shift in Formula

Jesus didn’t use our faulty, modern formula. Jesus taught the Father’s heart in houses, in boats, and on mountainsides. He usually taught briefly but His teaching generated transformation. And that was the goal. He wanted people to connect with the Father and to be transformed by the Father.

He didn’t invite the disciples to attend a lecture series or even a conference with all the latest and greatest speakers. Instead, he called them into a place of relationship. He called them follow and to become fishers of men.

Jesus didn’t give them information until they could get all the right answers. He challenged them, sent them out, brought them back, corrected errors, and continued to journey with them until He went to the Father.

He wasn’t focused on the information they collected. He was focused on what they were becoming. He didn’t leave the planting of the Church to the latest, greatest, and smartest. Rather, he left it to the ones who had become a reflection of Himself.

This is our goal. We don’t want to become cogs in a content delivery system but we want to be disciple-makers. Our formula should be Jesus’ formula: relationship, challenge, and Father connection equals transformation.

A Return to the Teachers

Of the two teachers I told you about earlier in this post, only one was a Teacher. Have you guessed which one yet?

Was it the one with all the questions and energy? Or was it the quiet one who was quick to correct?

We have a tendency to think that energy, positivity, and lots of participation equals a good Teacher but that’s isn’t always the case.

In this situation, the true Teacher was the one who taught cautiously, quietly, and demanded more. Her hesitation was actually deliberation. She was deliberate because she wanted her students to think more deeply. She forced them to consider things more deeply so she asked fewer but tougher questions. Her energy wasn’t the highest but the students respected her and wanted to reach the bar that she raised before them.

The Difference

The students responded differently to each teacher. The energetic teacher had more interaction but less engagement. Students wanted to be called on but the responses were shallow, quick, and often thoughtless. When I would talk to the students after class, the students rarely recalled the point of the lesson.

On the other side, they engaged more with the second teacher. Students were slower to interact and often the teacher had to select someone to give an answer but the answers were always more considered. However, students weren’t afraid to respond because she praised their effort, even while she corrected. Wrong answers were acceptable but shallow answers weren’t. When I talked to these students after class, they knew the passage, the characters, and the Big Idea. They were more sure of what they knew and how it impacted their lives.

What Formula Are You Using?

It’s easy to think that because we got through all the material we were expect to that the students get it.

But take an honest look at your teaching:

Are you connected to your students? Do they know that you genuinely care for them?
Are you looking for growth or just the right answers? If you said growth, what does growth look like for your students?
What signs are you seeing that your students are looking more and more like Jesus?
Are you communicating the Father’s heart towards your students in your teaching and your interactions?

Teacher vs. One Who Teaches

Many people call themselves “teacher” but they are defined by the event and want their gold star for serving in church. They teach but they are not truly a Teacher.

But you, just by the fact that you’ve searched for a place to grow as Bible teacher tells me that you’re different. You were willing to step up when the church needed you or when your students needed you but you wanted to do something more than repeat information. You view yourself as a Teacher, as you should, and you take that responsibility seriously.

You’re not a Teacher because you have a teaching degree or a seminary background. You are a Teacher because you want to create an outcome where your students look more like Jesus.

It can be a challenge to keep that focus. It is easier to just read the curriculum and become a content deliverer. But I believe we as the Church can do better. And I think you do too.