"The world has had its great teachers, men of giant intellect and wonderful research. Inca whose utterances have stimulated thought, and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race. But there is One who stands higher than they. . . .
"As the moon and the stars of the solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world's great thinkers reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gem of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world."—"The Desire of Ages," pp.464, 465.
A great Bible teacher is a great Bible student. The world takes knowledge of some men that they have been with Jesus. Listen for five minutes to a minister or a Bible teacher, and you need not the power of divination to tell which path his feet have trod. As some men talk you feel the presence of the Master Teacher, you sense the reflection of the power that has only one Source. They have been with Jesus; they have sounded the depths of divine wisdom. As others talk, you catch the witticism of the world, the reflected thought of the editor of some popular magazine, the vacant though pompous wordiness of the philosophical theologian, or even the cheapness of the daily journal.
As teachers and preachers, we are reflectors. Whatever we read, whatever we see, whatever we hear, is reflected to others. We may think to conceal that which we have heard, and to reveal that which we know not, but our effort at concealing and revealing is transparent and often tragic. Whatever we read or hear or see is indelibly impressed upon the sensitive record of our brains, and someday in church, - or classroom, or home, that record will begin to play.
As teachers of the word of God we are admonished to follow the pattern Man, the greatest Teacher this world has ever known. The Word of the living God was His lesson book. "It is written," "Thus saith the Scriptures," was His repeated message. Men marveled as they listened to wonderful words of life from the lips of the Master Teacher. From the rabbis, the teachers of Israel, had come confusion of thought. Human tradition, human theories and speculations, were woven into all that they said. They were teachers of Scripture, the Bible teachers of their day; yet in the place of the Scripture itself they repeated that which men had taught and written about the Scriptures. Their words were clouded with human interpretations and speculations. Jesus swept away their cobwebs of tradition and taught the Word in all its beauty, simplicity, and power.
As Bible teachers we "must study Christ's lessons and the character of His teaching. . . . [We] must see its freedom from formalism and tradition, and appreciate the originality, the authority, the spirituality, the tenderness, the benevolence, and the practicability of His teaching."—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. VI, p. J60.
We are told: "The most complete illustration of Christ's methods as a teacher is found in His training of the twelve first disciples." —"Education," p. 84. In this university of the long ago, twelve unlettered men sat for three years of intensive training at the feet of the greatest Bible teacher this world has ever known. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega of all teaching. When these men had finished their course, they were no longer unlettered, uncultured, unconverted, untrained men. They were now the world's teachers. "No longer were they a collection of independent units or of discordant and conflicting elernents."—Id., p. 95. In them "was there such a revelation of the glory of Christ as had never before been witnessed by mortal man."
Three years with the Master Teacher, and these men were ready for the titanic task of bringing the message of a crucified, risen, living, interceding, coming Christ to all the world in a single generation.
A greater task than theirs confronts the church in these last days. A world is to be warned; multitudes must be saved. This is no ordinary task. Human wisdom and human plans will never accomplish it. But remember : "The same Spirit that in His stead was sent to be the instructor of His first coworkers, Christ has commissioned to be the instructor of His coworkers today. . . The presence of the same Guide in educational work today will produce the same results as of old."—Id., p. 96.
In this, the twilight hour of the world's history, the earth is to be lightened with the glory of the Lord. This glory is the divine character revealed in the character of the remnant church. The teachers of truth, and especially those who are teaching others to be teachers and preachers, ought to shine forth as stars in perfected character. This character requirement for the Bible teacher is the all-essential to success. He may have many deficiencies; he may lack training, evangelistic experience, speaking talent, and still be an exemplary Bible teacher. But a deficiency in character is fatal. Sin is a destroyer. Sin in the Bible teacher leaves its trail of destruction in the lives of students. Condemnation will be multiplied upon the man who dares to deal in sacred things while living a double life. Only saved men can bring salvation into the classroom, and into the lives of students.
The Bible teacher must have power to move men to deeds of greatness. The work of true education is to impart vitalizing energy. We must stir the very souls of our students. The young men of these last days will see visions—visions that will stir them to action, visions that will take them to the ends of the earth in sacrificial service. It is the work of the Bible teacher to impart this vision. God gives the vision, but God works through the preacher and teacher to bring the vision to the youth of the remnant church. How can we be apathetic and indifferent when dealing with the mighty truths of the Word of God? How can we squander the precious classtime moments by teaching trivialities? How can we be mechanical in our methods of teaching?
Only teachers with evangelistic vision should be found in our colleges. The man who prays people through to the kingdom, either in groups or as individuals, will teach his students the value of effectual, fervent prayer and loving, sacrificial service. The Bible teacher, then, must be a leader and a molder of men. He must have a dynamic personality. He must draw men unto himself, and thus to Christ. This is a heavenly gift.
Unproved and perfected in the school of Christ, but a gift nevertheless. No man should ever be called to the chair of Bible who has not this gift of influencing and winning men.
What shall be the type of our teaching ? First, last, and all the time, it should be evangelistic. We impart that our students may impart to others. Unless we inspire every student in the classroom to go forth in response to the divine commission, we have failed signally in our teaching. Evangelism is the supreme objective of our teaching ministry. It matters not what profession the student may choose to follow, he must be trained to be a soul winner. Ours is a work of preparing men to give the message. They may choose medicine or journalism or mechanics for their vocation, but these are only secondary. The all-absorbing passion of their life must be the salvation of the lost. It is our task, Bible teachers,, to bring this evangelistic vision into the life of every student.
What makes the theological seminaries of our land just so many theological cemeteries ? Why has evangelistic fire and fervor been so largely lost? Their Bible teachers are at fault. They know their Greek; they know their homiletics; hut they have no true understanding of the times. Like the rabbis of old, in the very presence of the Light, they grope in the night. There is danger that some of us may be rabbinical in our ways. We dare not take our spiritual and mental food from a philosophical garbage can. We dare-not drink from some Babylonian cesspool.
This is no idle remark. When a man who has been ordained to teach the third angel's message, to warn against the beast and his mark, suddenly dons a robe and a crucifix to become a priest of paganism, surely we who are left should seek out the reason for his defection. To speak plainly, too many of us are too careless of the food we eat. With washed hands, we mill around a platter, lest some morsel of flesh food should enter our mouths, or especially the mouths of our brethren, while, at the same time, we feed our minds with foolish and empty books and magazines filled with the false philosophies and worldly wisdom of our age.
"Human mines are easily charmed by Satan's lies." We have been warned over and over again against the mingling of the common with the sacred. "The Great Teacher who came down from heaven has not directed teachers to study any of the reputedly great authors."—"Testimonies," Vol. VI.
________ To be concluded in February
