Why You Should Be Teaching
Why You Should Be Teaching
Why You Should Be Teaching
Why You Should Be Teaching
We all teach something at work everyday. Followers of Jesus have a distinct advantage — a purpose and a calling — to teach something meaningful and life-changing to those we’ve been given to love and lead.
Everybody’s teaching something. Someone who loves the Memphis Grizzlies teaches about the Grizzlies — because the Grizzlies are what they talk about, and the Grizzlies are what they do. If you’ve been around someone who teaches about the Grizzlies, you’ve learned facts about players' lives, statistics about the best and worst performances, and what it takes to win it all. You’ve also learned what it’s like to be a committed Grizzlies fan — when you have to buy tickets, how many games you need to go to, and where to sit. If you are really learning from them, you now know the upside and the downside of being a Memphis Grizzlies fan.
Someone else might love grizzlies, but the ones found in nature. If you’ve been around someone who teaches about grizzly bears, you’ve learned statistics about how big they are and how many people they attack. You’ve heard stories about close encounters with these marvelous animals and where, when, and what time to see them out west. You’ve heard about what it takes to get as close as possible to them. You will learn from their life and experience about what it takes to be a true grizzly bear enthusiast.
You see, everyone is teaching about something. Mostly we’re teaching about what we love. Grandparents constantly show and tell of the latest exploits of their fabulous grandchildren. Pro-shoppers explain exactly where to find the best deals. They are teachers — influencers — for every subject under the sun.
This is true at work also. We are happy to explain to our colleagues what we know and demonstrate how to master concepts necessary in our field of work. Business people are trained to teach their clients the benefits of what they offer. And of course, we learn about every other subject at work also — Grizzlies and grizzly bears, grandchildren and grand deals — everyone is teaching about something. They are teaching about what they love.
We all teach something at work everyday. Followers of Jesus have a distinct advantage — a purpose and a calling — to teach something meaningful and life-changing to those we’ve been given to love and lead.
Teach What You Love
C.S. Lewis loved to teach. He is one of the greatest examples of teaching his deepest loves. He learned that praise completes the joy of loving something and that led him to teach others exactly how that works.
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.” - C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms
You see, C.S. Lewis was a great observer of joy in everyday life. He knew the highest joy was praising and teaching about the One who is the greatest — The Triune God. Lewis learned that this is what he was made to do and this is what he was called to do.
Teach Like Lewis?
Yes. We have the very same Maker as C.S Lewis and as followers of Jesus we have the very same call on our lives. You might say, "I sure don’t have the speaking or writing ability of Lewis, not to mention imaginative talents!”
And while your assessment might be right in comparing your talents to Lewis’, you still will find the highest purpose and best joy teaching others about the great love of Jesus.
3 Reasons To Teach Others About Jesus
1. Teach for Your Own Growth- The best way to learn anything is to master the subject in a way that you can teach it. True learning goes way past head knowledge. You have to apply it to your life — your heart, mind, and soul to be able to teach others.
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. - [.no-reftag]Hebrews 5:12-14[.no-reftag]
Jesus wants us to teach and in doing so, we grow — from the basics of our faith to the solid food of becoming an example of what we teach.
2. You are Commanded to Teach - Teaching is a basic part of being a follower of Jesus. Jesus is so good to us. He gives so many ways to fulfill this command, being a witness (Acts 1:8), becoming salt and light (Matthew 15:13-16), loving as we’ve been loved, (John 13:34), loving each other (John 15:17), becoming living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 28:18-20[.no-reftag]
3. Teach to Complete the Joy - This is true for the brand new believer who is learning how to follow as it is for the pastor with two doctorate degrees. The story of the Woman at the Well demonstrates this perfectly. She just met Jesus and understood what it means to accept Living Water (Luke 4:14-15). Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” - [.no-reftag]John 4:28-29[.no-reftag]. She might not have known everything. She had never been in a Bible study. She hadn’t even taken the time to clean up her life, but she had to start telling — teaching about Jesus.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. - [.no-reftag]Romans 15:13-14[.no-reftag]
So, let’s assess what we love, let’s consider where we find our deepest hope, and let's follow the command we’ve been given to teach everything that Jesus has taught us.
Resources:
Book: Reflections on the Psalms | C.S. Lewis
Article: By This Time You Ought to Be Teaching | John Piper
Video: Called to Teach – You Ought to Teach | Howard Graham
Everybody’s teaching something. Someone who loves the Memphis Grizzlies teaches about the Grizzlies — because the Grizzlies are what they talk about, and the Grizzlies are what they do. If you’ve been around someone who teaches about the Grizzlies, you’ve learned facts about players' lives, statistics about the best and worst performances, and what it takes to win it all. You’ve also learned what it’s like to be a committed Grizzlies fan — when you have to buy tickets, how many games you need to go to, and where to sit. If you are really learning from them, you now know the upside and the downside of being a Memphis Grizzlies fan.
Someone else might love grizzlies, but the ones found in nature. If you’ve been around someone who teaches about grizzly bears, you’ve learned statistics about how big they are and how many people they attack. You’ve heard stories about close encounters with these marvelous animals and where, when, and what time to see them out west. You’ve heard about what it takes to get as close as possible to them. You will learn from their life and experience about what it takes to be a true grizzly bear enthusiast.
You see, everyone is teaching about something. Mostly we’re teaching about what we love. Grandparents constantly show and tell of the latest exploits of their fabulous grandchildren. Pro-shoppers explain exactly where to find the best deals. They are teachers — influencers — for every subject under the sun.
This is true at work also. We are happy to explain to our colleagues what we know and demonstrate how to master concepts necessary in our field of work. Business people are trained to teach their clients the benefits of what they offer. And of course, we learn about every other subject at work also — Grizzlies and grizzly bears, grandchildren and grand deals — everyone is teaching about something. They are teaching about what they love.
We all teach something at work everyday. Followers of Jesus have a distinct advantage — a purpose and a calling — to teach something meaningful and life-changing to those we’ve been given to love and lead.
Teach What You Love
C.S. Lewis loved to teach. He is one of the greatest examples of teaching his deepest loves. He learned that praise completes the joy of loving something and that led him to teach others exactly how that works.
“I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete till it is expressed. It is frustrating to have discovered a new author and not to be able to tell anyone how good he is; to come suddenly, at the turn of the road, upon some mountain valley of unexpected grandeur and then to have to keep silent because the people with you care for it no more than for a tin can in the ditch; to hear a good joke and find no one to share it with. . . . The Scotch catechism says that man’s chief end is ‘to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.” - C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms
You see, C.S. Lewis was a great observer of joy in everyday life. He knew the highest joy was praising and teaching about the One who is the greatest — The Triune God. Lewis learned that this is what he was made to do and this is what he was called to do.
Teach Like Lewis?
Yes. We have the very same Maker as C.S Lewis and as followers of Jesus we have the very same call on our lives. You might say, "I sure don’t have the speaking or writing ability of Lewis, not to mention imaginative talents!”
And while your assessment might be right in comparing your talents to Lewis’, you still will find the highest purpose and best joy teaching others about the great love of Jesus.
3 Reasons To Teach Others About Jesus
1. Teach for Your Own Growth- The best way to learn anything is to master the subject in a way that you can teach it. True learning goes way past head knowledge. You have to apply it to your life — your heart, mind, and soul to be able to teach others.
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. - [.no-reftag]Hebrews 5:12-14[.no-reftag]
Jesus wants us to teach and in doing so, we grow — from the basics of our faith to the solid food of becoming an example of what we teach.
2. You are Commanded to Teach - Teaching is a basic part of being a follower of Jesus. Jesus is so good to us. He gives so many ways to fulfill this command, being a witness (Acts 1:8), becoming salt and light (Matthew 15:13-16), loving as we’ve been loved, (John 13:34), loving each other (John 15:17), becoming living sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - [.no-reftag]Matthew 28:18-20[.no-reftag]
3. Teach to Complete the Joy - This is true for the brand new believer who is learning how to follow as it is for the pastor with two doctorate degrees. The story of the Woman at the Well demonstrates this perfectly. She just met Jesus and understood what it means to accept Living Water (Luke 4:14-15). Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” - [.no-reftag]John 4:28-29[.no-reftag]. She might not have known everything. She had never been in a Bible study. She hadn’t even taken the time to clean up her life, but she had to start telling — teaching about Jesus.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. - [.no-reftag]Romans 15:13-14[.no-reftag]
So, let’s assess what we love, let’s consider where we find our deepest hope, and let's follow the command we’ve been given to teach everything that Jesus has taught us.
Resources:
Book: Reflections on the Psalms | C.S. Lewis
Article: By This Time You Ought to Be Teaching | John Piper
Video: Called to Teach – You Ought to Teach | Howard Graham