Teaching

I passed by a church a few weeks ago and on the sign out front it said something like “Bishop John Doe Apostle and Pastor Defender of the Apostolic faith”. I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit at the pretentious title this man gave himself. I’m sure he is probably a nice and sincere fellow and he means well….. maybe. That started me thinking about those that hold themselves up as authorities and sit in judgement of others beliefs. The passage from James chapter 3 came to my mind as I was pondering these things.

 1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well. 

 I struggle with this one from time to time because I know that I am not a perfect follower of YHWH. I am not an Apostle, Rabbi, pastor or teacher. I don’t want to be any of those things. I also know that I am subject to errors in my understanding. It terrifies me to have to think about all of my frailties and shortcomings yet I feel compelled to share with you the things that I feel YHWH has put on my heart to share with you, even though I know I will be judged more strictly because of it. It’s a tough passage of scripture.

Nevertheless, I will offer you this. sometimes It is good to consider one passage of scripture against another. occasionally, they can seem contradictory to each other. But when compared with each other they can give us a clearer understanding. I want to do a comparison of a few passages now in hope that it will clarify some things that appear to have been lost to most christian ministers and teachers. Let’s look at Luke 10.

1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Obviously here, He is sending disciples out to preach and teach. Also at the great commission he orders the Apostles and those followers assembled to go out and teach “whatsoever I have commanded you”. So, we are to teach and preach the commandments of YHWH and the teachings of Yeshua. 

Now let’s. Look at another passage. This one is is very enlightening as it comes directly from the lips of Yeshua himself.

Matthew chapter 23.

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, ( here I believe he is referring to the oral law which he calls “the doctrine of men”) but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. 6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Here is what I glean from these passages.

We are compelled to preach and teach the commandments of YHWH and the words of Yeshua. We should do so out of love for YHWH and love for our brothers and sisters. We should not accept any title or honors for doing so. (I believe this prohibits us from taking money or gifts for the work we do for YHWH). Yeshua is our sole teacher. We must be like a servant to the people we are trying to help. Whatever we do we must do it with humility. Lastly, we must be sure that we are teaching the truth because we will be held accountable.

I hope this helps my fellow workers in the harvest to know how to conduct the work that we have been commanded to do. I also hope that the Bishop, Apostle, and “defender of the Apostolic faith” will somehow come to realize that titles and honors are not what it’s all about.