The Gift of Teaching
“The Holy Spirit gives certain people the spiritual gift of teaching so that they would help the church fulfill her ministry as “a pillar and buttress of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15). Without this gift, the church would quickly fall into error and sin. Teachers are there to make sure that doesn’t happen. They hate when scripture is abused and used out of context or with ill intent. They love the truth and speak the truth in love. They will never hide or withhold it. On the contrary, they desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus who taught in the synagogues and in the Temple as well as anywhere the people were gathered. They are called to demonstrate God’s love while revealing God’s truth to the world without fear.”
This is a spiritual gift that we assume everyone who teaches has and yet as we sit in our Sunday school class or attend a continuing education classe (or wherever we experience learning) we know that this is not true. If you remember back to your early years as a learner either in school or in Christian education, usually those teachers that we remember are the ones who probably had this spiritual gift⎯the gift of being able to connect with their students and convey knowledge through storytelling and bringing a lesson alive.
This may be a great spiritual gift for you to have as far as your church is concerned because your Christian discipleship ministry team is always looking for teachers, and if they are not simply filling slots, they want a person who teaches to not only have the skills to teach but also the passion and innate gift. This is also a gift that is important for you to help others discern in themselves. Below are four ideas to experiment with this gift to see if it is yours:
1. Spiritual Subbing
Test out your teaching skills and passion by volunteering as a substitute teacher for Sunday school. Or you can volunteer to be the assistant teacher for the class you attend. This will give you the opportunity to do a little teaching without too much commitment to see if it is indeed a spiritual gift.
2. Look!
Ask permission to be an observer in a classroom setting. It may be at the local elementary or high school or even a community college. If this is not possible, audit a class that you would enjoy anyway and pay close attention to the subject and teaching at the same time. Focus on the qualities of the teacher that cause the students to be either very engaged or not.
3. Have a Cuppa
Invite a teacher that you know has a great reputation as a teacher for a cup of coffee or dessert. Then interview them with questions that can help you learn how a good teacher thinks and prepares. You might ask about ways they prepare, how they got into teaching, if they feel like it is their spiritual gift and other things of which you are curious.
4. WDJS (What Does Jesus Say?)
Do some research with a website such as Bible Gateway. Put in key words like teach, teacher, etc. and gather scripture verses that have to do with teaching. As you read the scripture, jot down characteristics or qualities of a good teacher.