How to Do and Teach

There are two problems in Christian education. The first is that there are many believers who think they cannot teach and the second is that there are believers who think they can teach. The issue is not whether a believer thinks he or she can or cannot teach; the issue is who does the teaching.

In John 14:26, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be the Teacher. In Matthew 10:20, Jesus said it would be the Spirit who speaks in us. And in Luke 12:12, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say. When Moses tried to disqualify himself from being used by God, God told Moses in Exodus 4:12, “I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

As believers, our role in Christian education is to let the Holy Spirit both teach us and teach through us. True Christian education happens with the Holy Spirit is doing the teaching, Click To Tweet when we are Spirit taught and when we are walking in the Spirit, being willing vessels for the Spirit’s teaching ministry.

Spirit-filled mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers manifesting the life of Christ in their homes are Christian educators. By the same token, an employer can be a Christian educator in the workplace and so can an employee. On the athletic field, coaches can be Christian educators and so can their players. Teachers can be Christian educators in the classroom and so can their students.

In Acts 1:1, Luke refers to the gospel that bears his name as “the former account I made…of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” We may not see ourselves as teachers, we may believe we can teach or that we cannot teach in the usual sense, but that doesn’t matter. What is true is that each of us can be Christian educators by being available to the Holy Spirit. He will reveal the character and nature of Jesus Christ through our daily lives, in word and in deed.

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