Nehemiah Was a Cupbearer. And You're Worried You're Not Qualified?
Have you ever considered what Nehemiah felt like when he had to go stand before the king weighed down by his grief? Maybe his relationship with the king was open but what about when he had to lead people to rebuild a wall. Was a cupbearer equipped for building? Was he trained to be a governor?
And what of Paul? He was trained to know the Scriptures but I doubt “Church Planting 101” was part of his curriculum. He knew the Prophets but was he equipped to raise up young leader to lead an infant Church?
Today, many Bible teachers are stepping into teaching positions but they’re feeling unprepared and unqualified.
This isn’t their fault. This is the predictable outcome of church culture that has been focused on program building rather than on disciple making.
What’s the difference?
There’s a big difference between Program Directors and Disciple Makers but we’ve blended the two so well that Program Directors often think they are making disciples just by running the programs.
It takes no inspiration of the Holy Spirit to run a program. You check all the boxes. Do all the tasks. Give up your time and say the right things. The task is finished.
Most of us who were raised in church were brought up in programs. Someone followed the curriculum and we recited the Bible verse until we advanced to youth. In those years, we played the games, attended the conferences, cried the holy tears, and made the promise. But that didn’t equip us for studying the Scriptures on our own. It didn’t prepare us to communicate why we believe what we believe. We were never trained for the years when we would become the leaders.
That’s not to say that we didn’t meet the Holy Spirit in those years. The Holy Spirit will use all avenues, even broken ones, to call people unto Himself.
And let’s not downplay the prayers and efforts put in by many of the leaders during those years. Those people sacrificed and loved. The Holy Spirit moved through them and brought transformation to countless young people.
We were told that those programs were making disciples but we forgot something important.
Programs don’t make disciples. People make disciples.
Disciple Makers have a plan to teach. They may utilize a curriculum but they realize that they, not the curriculum, are what brings transformation. But the transformation doesn’t happen just because they show up.
The difference between a teacher who shows up and a Disciple Maker isn't talent or training. It's connectionTransformation of the student from consumer to disciple is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Disciple Maker brought into the classroom partnered with healthy teaching (maybe even a program).
This means that the Disciple Maker has to be connected to the Holy Spirit through regular Bible study, focused prayer, and include the Holy Spirit in during lesson preparation and delivery.
Learning science is important because it helps us to teach in a way that people actually understand. It works with the way God designed the brain to learn. Since disciples are students, we need to treat them as such.
However, all the learning science in the world would miss the point if we don’t teach like Jesus.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. John 5: 19
Jesus relied on the Father and we must do the same. It is only when rely on the Holy Spirit that we move from Program Directors, passing on information, to Disciple Makers.
But if the programs don’t make disciples, why do churches keep building programs. This raises a fair question.
Why so many programs?
Programs are simply activities with a structure or plan. Programs run our lives. There are bus schedules, open and close times, timers on traffic lights, program orders, dining procedures, and even a pattern in which you get ready for the day.
Programs look different all over the world. The public transit schedule is less definite in the United States where fewer people use public transit than it is in Germany, where many people use public transportation. In Italy, we greeted people with a double kiss. Americans prefer a handshake.
Programs for our churches are many and varied because they try to meet a specific need or purpose. Some are very elaborate and some are very simple. But, at the end of their creation, they are nothing more than a tool.
The problems begin when we hand a tool to someone who hasn’t been trained or equipped. It would be like handing a hammer to someone on the street and asking them to build your house. You might get lucky and they might be a builder but the chances aren’t great.
Church leaders have often been equipped and trained to write and deliver a three-point sermon, counsel people, perform the sacraments, and care for their people. With all the duties and tasks that come with church leadership, even if they were trained to teach rather than preach, they simply don’t have the time to walk with teachers week after week in the classroom.
Leaders often find a program and put it in place because they want to help their teachers.
Unfortunately, the trust in people and the selected program doesn’t make equipped teachers. It hands them the tool and asks them to build a house.
Don’t throw out the Program yet
If you’re feeling a little like tossing the program or if you’re busy trying to hold onto it, stay with me.
Programs are not the problem. A pattern is woven through the book of Acts but it’s summed up best in Acts 2: 42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Put that in a church bulletin and you have a program.
So, was the early church wrong?
No!
The early church had repeated practices and rhythms that look very similar to our programs today.
Many of today’s programs are good. They were developed with good intentions and a lot of prayer. But when they are just handed off without helping people understand how to connect the program to the people, it serves the institution of the church rather than the people of the church.
The institutional service creates easy patterns to follow. It’s a plug-and-play formula. It’s focused on getting everyone plugged in and doing something.
The people focused serves is often messy. It’s helping people learn to wrestle with the tough questions. It’s guiding them through Scripture. Not as the know-it-all but the person who has the heart to see lives transformed.
The early church couldn’t download the perfect program. Instead, they all learned together. The churches that Paul established weren’t lead by the Apostles. They were led by people who loved Jesus and had enough understanding to help guide other people.
So where does that leave you?
Whether you were handed a program or just trust, it’s not surprising that you might feel unprepared or unqualified. You can follow the program but you’re left with questions. Did it actually connect? Do the students get it? How can I know if they’re getting it? Am I doing this right? Did I answer that question correctly?
You might have studied the Bible cover to cover but for many Bible teachers, you might still feel like you don’t know enough of the Bible. The programs you were raised in covered a lot but how do you explain the difficult bits? You might feel like you don’t understand them and so you follow the same pattern that we set for you. Instead of leaning into the unknowing, you simply avoid teaching that part.
But you don’t have to.
You’re more prepared than you think
Nehemiah didn’t have construction training but he had a heart for God’s purpose. He didn’t walk into the kings presence with his own plan. He spent four months praying and fasting so when he walked into the kings presence, God was already working on the king’s heart. The favor of the King of Kings was present.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he didn’t immediately lay out his 3-part plan for rebuilding the wall. In fact, he told no one what God put into his heart. Instead, he waited three days and then he snuck out and inspected the wall at night. No one knew what he was doing.
Paul had three days in darkness after encountering the God. He spent time with those in Damascus who could help him understand Jesus but his encounter was enough to have out proclaiming, “[Jesus] is the Son of God” in Acts 9: 20.
Nehemiah and Paul might have felt unprepared or unqualified but that didn’t stop them. They knew that they were appointed by God to do what they were doing.
They spent the time in prayer. They learned what they could. But, in the end, they moved before the conditions were perfect.
You are more like Nehemiah and Paul than you realize. You have a heart for God's purpose. You're learning what you can. And you're here, which means something in you already knows it's time to move.
We can’t wait.
Disciples are being made every day.
People are learning to be students of social media, entertainment, and self-focused thinking. But they are still looking for Truth.
We have the Truth and we need to step into the Disciple Making process. Even if we don’t feel completely ready yet.
If you’re ready to stop waiting and start becoming the teacher God designed you to be, check out the Recommended Resources that were created for an exactly this moment.
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