I Am a Preacher Teacher!

I Am a ~~Preacher~~ Teacher!

By Chris Anderson

“I am not a preacher. I am a teacher.”

As a teacher, this confession took time to realize. Once I did, the results liberated my ministry. Suddenly I was free to do what God gifted me to do, which was not to preach, but rather to teach.

In the Beginning . . .

When I first started teaching, I heard incredible testimonies about the altar calls of talented youth evangelists. Scores of young people being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost. My ministry paled in comparison. As these stories were told, I could feel the expectations of my students' parents mounting. I needed powerful altar calls. I needed kids receiving the Holy Ghost.

These needs drove me away from teaching towards a format that mimicked regular church service (but with second-hand equipment and less experienced worship leaders). I searched the Bible for messages that sounded “Apostolic,” hoping they would result in mighty moves of the Spirit. Curriculum was abandoned. I wanted anointing!

At the end of lessons that resembled sermons, I pushed the class to react, feed my ego, and touch God. Young people felt pressure to squeak a tear out of their eyes, dynamically raise their hands, and exuberantly sing a chorus. Never did the altar calls of lore occur.

Eventually I came away discouraged, asking God for the missing element. “Why was my teaching not reaching these kids?”

His response, painful though it was, rang clear--“Because you are not teaching, you are preaching--and you are not a very good preacher. I gifted you to be a teacher. You are a great teacher.” At this point, I sought to discover the differences between preaching and teaching so that I could better understand my gifting.

Jesus on Preaching

I am a teacher. Teaching was a major focus of the Old Testament. Recollection was teaching's goal. Starting in Exodus, Israel was exhorted to teach their children the laws and statutes handed down through Moses. From these teachings, lifestyle should be affected. As future events occurred, lesson recall should guide a child of God along a pleasing path of righteousness and holiness.

Preaching on the other hand is barely mentioned in the Old Testament. Outside of the “Preacher” in Ecclesiastes, it occurs only three other times! Jesus mentions one of “preachings” rare OT appearances in Isaiah, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ²To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Within this passage lies the very essence of preaching. Preaching results in acts of instant restoration, comfort, and correction, wherein God is glorified.

When preaching became commonplace among New Testament believers, it was emphatically linked to “the gospel,” or good news. One did not just “preach,” rather, they always “preached the gospel.” The word does not appear without being attached to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Spiritual Synergy

Both teaching and preaching are included as part of the five-fold ministry. In Ephesians 4:11-13, evangelism, pastoring, and teaching are all listed separately as pieces of a symbiotic whole. They are expected to work in tandem to progress the church towards perfect ministerial unity.

It's a natural synthesis. The teacher lays foundational bricks. By defining relevant vocabulary, explaining Bible stories and their characters, and discussing critical Biblical themes, the teacher provides students with the tools necessary to understand God and walk with Him. The student should not need the Holy Spirit to understand the basics of any Sunday school lesson. Teaching appeals to knowledge and reason. Shared effectively, application naturally occurs. If the student cannot later recall these nuggets of knowledge, the teacher has failed.

The effective preacher will access these nuggets during a sermon. With the help of the Holy Spirit, the preacher grasps the Biblical pieces laid out by good teaching, and then supernaturally assembles them. A preacher can only build upon foundations that have been established by the teacher. For example, a preacher cannot refer to Balaam if the congregation does not know who Balaam is. If the preacher must start a Bible story from scratch, then they must enter a teaching mode, not a preaching mode. A teacher lays out the puzzle pieces. The preacher, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, puts the puzzle together. Sometimes the preacher and teacher are different people, and sometimes it is the same person.

Jesus: Master, Rabbi, Treacher

Not surprisingly, Jesus provided the best example of how teaching and preaching work together. Matthew 4:23 reported that “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (emphasis added). Notice the three phases to Jesus' ministry: (1) teaching, (2) preaching, and (3) healing.

Jesus started by teaching. Through this, Jesus was able to define the springboard by which He was approaching God. As a teacher, Jesus looked for the common elements He shared with His audiences, while still understanding their limitations. When He was with fishermen, He taught using fishing terminology. When He was in a farming community, He taught using farming parables. When He was with religious men, He challenged them with Scripture. Jesus accepted His students at their current level of understanding, and then challenged them to take one step closer to God--the sign of a great teacher.

From His foundation laid through teaching, Jesus could then preach the gospel. In essence, He would say, “Now that we understand who God is, what does this mean for us?” The answer is simple--the kingdom of God is at hand! His lessons and parables had spiritual applications, which, when understood, ushered in the presence of God. Teaching brings understanding. Preaching brings God's presence. Without a teaching foundation, preaching is forced to rely on fear and emotions for response. With teaching as its backbone, preaching can be based on solid Biblical principles that appeal to both body and soul. Jesus taught first, then He preached.

The crowd's faithful response to this message resulted in the third aspect of His ministry, healing. First teaching, then preaching, which allowed the crowd to receive the good news, which resulted in supernatural miracles.

Me: Not a Master, Not a Rabbi, Not a Treacher

But alas, I am only a teacher. I say this not to belittle the teacher. I am thankful to be a teacher. It just took some time to accept my limitations so that I could thrive in my giftings. I am only a teacher. Now, even when I try to preach, I still usually find myself teaching. Teaching comes natural, and I have found that, as long as I stick to my gift mix, God rewards my efforts faithfully.

For example, I may discuss a Bible topic in-depth with my class on Wednesday night. On Sunday, when Pastor preaches, he refers specifically to key elements of my lesson, almost as if he were in my class. My students, because they learned the lesson, now grasp it with their spiritual ears. Everything snaps into place. The presence of God meets them and the power of God manifests. Just like Jesus, teaching led to preaching, which led to miracles.

If I had preached instead of taught, the students would not have received the same depth from my pastor's sermon. My pastor is a great preacher!

The Good, The Bad, and the Preacher

While preaching fishes with a net, teaching uses a pole. Read over these descriptions and see where your giftings and habits lay.

A good teacher builds brick by brick, lesson by lesson. They remember everything that has been taught and then build systematically upon it. A bad teacher teaches the same lesson twice, then gets irritated when students lose interest. A preacher's sermon is usually self-contained and does not rely upon previous sermons. A preacher may have to do a limited amount of teaching for their sermon to be fully grasped. The preacher may or may not have knowledge of what has previously been taught.

A good teacher should expect their students to answer review questions about previous lessons. Students should at least be able to recall basic applications. A bad teacher does not hold their class accountable for previous material. A preacher cannot rely upon retention of a previous sermon. If review is necessary, it is usually stated rather than asked.

A good teacher hates to miss a regularly scheduled class, even with a substitute, because their teaching momentum gets interrupted. Likewise, students hate to miss a good teacher's class, and will go out of their way to attend faithfully, yes, even in high school! A bad teacher looks forward to a week off because teaching is duty and not a privilege. A preacher usually does not count on momentum, but will preach whenever opportunity arises.
A good teacher is irritated by altar calls if the students are not applying the lessons beyond church premises. Because of this, good teachers never boast that “This many received the Holy Ghost” because a good teacher expects to have a positive impact on 100 percent of their students. A bad teacher feels pressure to boast about numbers, and casts this pressure onto their students. A preacher is motivated by the altar call, and simply hopes that the repentant heart will somehow be changed for the better.
A good teacher desires to know and reach every student that enters their classroom, and will vary their teaching method to accomplish the task. No child is left behind. If a good teacher senses they have not reached a student, they will spend extra time after class to better understand and teach them. A bad teacher dotes on pet students, hoping that the other students will see the positive attention and strive to become a pet as well. A preacher casts a message upon a congregation, but does not focus on the individual per se. Often a preacher does not know to whom he is speaking. He speaks in faith.
A good teacher will listen to a new student before they teach them. A good teacher wants to understand the level of the new student's understanding, and also their background. The good teacher will incorporate their background into the lesson so that it has more relevance. A bad teacher fails to get to know their students, expecting them to grasp the lesson as it is taught out of the book. A preacher may or may not have an understanding of a congregation's needs before he preaches.
A good teacher understands the value of a good curriculum. Good curriculum makes a good teacher's job easier and more rewarding. The teacher's job is to relay Scripture to the student in a way that will be unforgettable. Curriculum is the solid foundation they will modify and enhance for their class. A bad teacher does not know how to relate the material from a good curriculum in a relevant manner, so often makes up their own lessons that don't fill the allotted class time. A preacher does not like any curriculum because they believe it quenches their freedom to hear from the Holy Spirit.

Understanding My Calling

It took me some time to accept that I was not a failure when my classes did not result in awesome altar calls. As a teacher I have a different responsibility, one that paves the road on which the preacher will drive. God gifted me as a teacher, and because of this I expect to impact every student who enters my classroom, not just the ones who respond at the altar. When teachers perform their duties faithfully and thankfully, God is a faithful rewarder.

Agree with these definitions? Disagree with this these? Share your thoughts now!

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Since graduating from the Urshan Graduate School of Theology, Chris Anderson teaches throughout the Midwest.