Over the next week or so I’m going to be away, visiting family. So during that time, I’m reposting one of my more popular series.
Do you see yourself as a teacher in the body of Christ? Did you know that Scripture has a special warning for teachers?
In this post, my last in the series about the teaching ministry, I have to share a hard message. I don’t like talking about it, but I feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to write about it.
In the last couple of posts, I talked about teachers being the eyes of the body of Christ. According to Scripture, they bring light to the path ahead. With that comes a warning that I already talked about.
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
James 3:1
In the church, teaching is not an unimportant thing. We should not lightly say, “I’m a teacher.” You’re inviting a stricter judgment.
But is that really the case, or was James trying to intimidate those wanted to teach out of wrong motives? I believe that Jesus gave the same warning to His disciples. The problem is that the Lord used an allegory that few believers understand.
In Mark, chapter 9, it all starts when the disciples tell Jesus that they saw someone driving out demons in the Lord’s name. But, because he wasn’t one of the twelve, they told him to stop.
Jesus told the disciples that they were wrong in telling the man to stop driving out demons. In His explanation, He said…
“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”
Mark 9:42
The phrase, causes…to sin, in this verse, literally means to trip up or entrap. Sin always means to miss the mark of God’s perfect will. Telling them something that trips them up in their Christian walk does cause them to sin.
Teaching something that was not directed by the Holy Spirit can trip people up in their walk with God. This has to be an important part of the teacher’s mindset. However, the Lord didn’t stop there.
Immediately after this, He says…
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell…
Mark 9:47
First of all, no one’s eyes have ever caused them to sin. I have definitely used my eyes to sin. But they weren’t the cause. I believe that Jesus knows this.
Secondly, according to this verse, only one eye is causing sin. How could your left eye cause you to sin, and not your right eye? They both operate together.
I believe that Jesus wasn’t talking about our physical bodies. He was explaining His attitude toward the members of His spiritual body; the church.
No members, especially teachers, can trip up one another without consequence. This is why teachers must be especially careful to be led by the Holy Spirit in what they teach.
Question: How seriously should teachers be warned before entering this ministry?
© 2020 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 