Teaching is an interesting phenomenon. As a profession it is one of the most important and at the same time least appreciated of the career paths that require higher education.
What we often forget is that teaching is happening all of the time, regardless of intention. We learn from the people around us, it is the nature of life. The human experience is community-based and we are all custodians of the knowledge, the values and the experiences that will become the future.
A well-known basketball player once said, famously, that it was neither his job nor his responsibility to be a role model. As if he could wear a label that prevented young kids who idolized him from being influenced by his behavior!
It’s like the “Christian” who says that evangelism is not his or her thing. “Witnessing is not my spiritual gift.” If we are alive we are communicating. We necessarily bear witness to Jesus by virtue of the fact that we exist. People don’t come to church to find out what Christianity is, they learn directly from “Christians” every day – then they often make their decision about church on that basis.
We are, as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, Living Letters. “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ…”
This is, so far as I am concerned, the exact reason the Tuesday morning men’s Bible study is such a powerful experience. Not because we have such a firm grasp on the do’s and don’ts, or the most compelling exposition of doctrine, or the most knowledgeable or eloquent teacher… but because we encourage one another to live.
This is mutual encouragement among people who are beginning to understand, more and more, that God’s purpose and plan for this world runs directly through them. Sure we are looking forward to the time that HMPC secures its next pastor to lead us into the future – but what is most important is how we live out our commitment to follow Jesus now, in the day-to-day. Every day. Today.
– DEREK
Encouraging one another to live – acknowledging that God’s purpose and plan for this world runs directly through us.