The Minister as a Teacher

The servant of the Lord must . . . be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meek­ness instructing those that op­pose themselves" (2 Tim. 2:24, 25). These words are part of a chapter that contains Paul's portrait of the minister-teacher. They were written just before his martyrdom and contain his final admonitions to his pupil, Timothy, and to the young church. Here Paul pictures the personal qualities that a good teacher must possess. He is courteous and for­bearing and unresentful. He is not impatient, harsh, or intolerant before ignorance or slow comprehension or even antagonism. He does not nag or scold or lash his hearers with sar­casm or scorn. He is infinitely patient even with those who reject the light, and continues to instruct them with persistence and gentleness.

Paul reveals his rare insight into the quali­ties that distinguish the Christian teacher from others. The spirit of Christ is persuasive. It al­lows no pride of position, no patronizing con­descension toward the learner, no assumption of omniscience, no argumentative attempt to prove others in the wrong. It makes a teacher less a pedagogue and more a channel, which carries the stream of knowledge and wisdom.

Christ was the Master Teacher—the greatest educator the world has ever known. His con­temporaries, both friends and opponents, called Him Teacher, and His followers were known as disciples. When Nicodemus came to Him by night he called Him "Rabbi," which was a term of respect for teachers, and he went on to say, "We know that thou art a teacher come from God." It was His acceptance as a teacher that Christ seemed to encourage most. Although He spent much of His time in healing, it was the personal instruction that accompanied His work which He depended upon to impress His les­sons of truth on the minds of that generation.

There are some obvious differences between the techniques of teaching and preaching.

Preaching employs formal address to reach a larger group. The congregation does not ask questions or engage in discussion at the church service. The minister, in addressing a congre­gation, aims to inspire his hearers and stimu­late them to worthy action. The minister, when he acts as teacher, speaks more intimately and personally to a smaller number of persons. He invites their comments and questions. His im­pact is on their minds and his aim is to impart knowledge and truth.

Judged by these criteria, there are few times when Christ played the part of formal preacher. The Sermon on the Mount is His great and conclusive religious discourse. Most of the Gos­pel accounts picture Him as teaching small, in­timate groups, asking them questions and point­ing out to them by way of apt illustrations the truths it was important for them to learn. We have been counseled that in our own ministry "there must be less sermonizing and more tact to educate the people in practical religion."—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 88.

Christ's parting commission to His disciples was the command to go and teach all nations the things He had commanded them. They are to heal, and minister to the needy, and do many other things, but they must never forget or neglect the great command to teach. "The Christian Church has been best in those periods when it took its mission of teaching most seri­ously."—GILBERT HIGHET, The Art of Teach­ing, p. 270.

If we are to teach as Christ taught, we may well spend some time studying His methods. The Gospels tell us He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes and Phari­sees. These men were steeped in tradition and seemed to do little original thinking. Christ, on the other hand, had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, and applied their principles to the puzzling situations He encountered. He did not hesitate to do His own thinking, and His background of knowledge far surpassed that of the erudite churchmen who so often opposed and challenged Him.

Christ's knowledge was experimental. When He spoke of God as a father He spoke from the inwardness of His relationship as God's Son. He gave His disciples a model prayer taken from the wealth of His own communication with His Father. His admonition not to be un­duly concerned with the material things of this life was reinforced by His own trust in God's providence which provided Him with food and raiment and a place to lay His head. When He said, "It is more blessed to give than to re­ceive," it was from the experience of one who continually gave without expecting or receiv­ing returns for His benefactions.

Christ had definite objectives in His teach­ing. He aimed first to impart spiritual knowl­edge, then to incite His hearers and students to appropriate action. When He showed them the compassion and generosity of the Samari­tan and won their identification of the neigh­bor, He expected them to become good neigh­bors also where they saw a need. When His parables pointed out the precious qualities of truth, His hearers were invited to search for it as for hid treasure or lost silver or precious pearls. The love of the father for the prodigal son invited them to return to their heavenly Fa­ther, no matter how far they had strayed. His course of lessons for His own disciples prepared them to go forth into the world to live and die for Him—a striking example of the effective­ness of His teaching.

Christ demonstrated the power of enthusiasm in a teacher. The origin of the word enthusi­asm comes from the Greek, and it literally meant "possessed by God." From this it has broadened to include passionate devotion to other causes as well. But the original enthusi­ast was a man possessed by zeal for God. Christ possessed an all-consuming passion for His work. Those around Him were lighted by the flame He possessed, and at Pentecost and later, that divine enthusiasm drove His disciples to spread the gospel across the face of the ancient world.

This is the sort of teaching the minister is called upon to do. In spite of the necessity for his acting as administrator, counselor, educa­tionalist, public-relations expert, preacher, and family man, he Must give to the work of teach­ing the emphasis which his great Example placed there. The qualities of teaching that Christ demonstrated will be the ideal toward which he must strive.

Whatever else a minister-teacher must be to be effective, it is imperative that he be a stu­dent himself. This principle is an obvious one, almost platitudinous, but too often it is honored in the breach. It is supported by these two quotations, selected from a vast number, from the writings of inspiration:

Every teacher must be a learner, that his eyes may be anointed to see the evidences of the advanc­ing truth of God.—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 23.

Many who are teachers of the truth cease to be students, digging, ever digging for the truth as for hidden treasures. Their minds reach a common, low standard; but they do not seek to become men of influence,---not for the sake of selfish ambi­tion, but for Christ's sake, that they may reveal the power of the truth upon the intellect—Fun­damentals of Christian Education, p. 120.

A magazine article entitled "The Theolo­gian and the Preacher," contains the follow­ing comments on this point of the teacher as a scholar:

You see, we are confronted by the antithetical perils of an overemphasis and an underemphasis on scholarship in the ministry. And the peril of un­deremphasis is by far the more prevalent and men­acing. In OUT evangelical circles today we have suc­cumbed to a disease which seems to be afflicting the whole of American life: that disease is anti-intellec­tualism, the contaminating dread of the egghead. ... That is why our sermons lack depth and power. That is why our evangelism is frothy, sloganistic, and shallow. That is why we are failing to make any significant impact upon the entrenched forces of liberalism. . . . That is why we are frustrated and bewildered as we confront our world with its con­flicting ideologies. . . . And that is why evangeli­calism has been dismissed by many intelligent peo­ple and by huge masses in the Orient and Africa as a dead option.... The pastor must correlate divine revelation with human predicament, —VERNON GROUNDS in Christianity Today, June 9, 1958.

The development of scholarly attitudes and a wide background of knowledge involves two problems—the best use of the minister's time, and the expending of effort. Since the minister must speak over and over again to the same group of parishioners, he must build tremen­dous resources of ideas and material or his vital­ity will soon be drained away. It is his duty to provide spiritual meat for the better-educated portion of his congregation as well as milk for spiritual and intellectual babes. The diligent and most productive use of time will replenish his spiritual and mental stores and help him to become the inspirational teacher he aspires to be.