I had a very interesting "juxtaposition" of ideas a few days ago. I am doing quite a bit of study and reflection on/about the Bible. Part of this is in preparation for some of the sessions I'll be teaching when the Ancient-Future Faith community starts back up in January. And I am doing this reflection launched out of 2 Timothy 3:10-17.
Something intriguing in that passage is the connection between the "teacher" and the Scriptures that are taught. Not only does Paul speak very highly about the Bible, but he makes it clear that the one who "teaches the Bible" is part of the "package."
So in verses 10-11 Paul describes himself, the teacher of the Scripture, and basically reminds Timothy why Paul is trustworthy as a teacher of the Scriptures. If you have your Bible close by, take a minute to read those two verses. Pretty powerful words.
In verse 13 he goes on to remind Timothy that there is such a thing as bad teaching and bad teachers. And the essence of bad teaching is that it is deceptive and the ones giving it are deceivers. (You can find a lot more by Paul on false teachers throughout First and Second Timothy.)
Okay, I won't say anything else about that, but I began to think about the one who teaches Scripture. And I was doing some self-assessment in this.
Here is a question for you. It's a little exercise that you can take a few minutes to do right now.
What do you look for in a teacher of the Scriptures? If you are going to listen to a teacher of the Bible, what do you expect, need, require in that teacher? What "profile" of a Scripture teacher do you have?
Now, here is the juxtaposition. I am working through a little devotional on Advent and it uses thoughts of G.K. Chesterton every day. The introduction had this delightful description of Chesterton. I read it several times. Chesterton was described as:
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energetic,
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a contagious laughter
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full of wit and repartee
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possessing a childlike innocence,
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having a wonderful love of life,
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humility,
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joyous humor,
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a towering intellect,
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a Christian cultural critic,
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a "man of letters" (in other words, widely learned, a Renaissance kind of individual),
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a genius with an open mind (I love that description),
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a grateful person with a deep devotion to God,
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and a gracious person who contended for Christian truth but never arrogantly.
Then it hit me. That is a pretty accurate description of what I am looking for in a teacher of Scripture. And if I could become "ballpark" close to that kind of person, then I might turn out to be a teacher of Scripture worth listening to.
For those of you who have responsibilities that involve teaching the Scriptures, take some time and come up with a profile that describes the kind of teacher you would like to be.
Blessings,
Brian Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
