Christ As Our Example
One of the most excellent and underrated examples of teaching we have from our Savior comes at the end of Luke's gospel account. In Luke 24:13-34 we see Jesus meeting up with some of his disciples as they travel away from Jerusalem. These men are downtrodden. They are saddened. Things did not work out how they wanted. The savior they followed was put to death by the chief priest. What is interesting about this event is that it takes place after these men heard from the others that the tomb was empty. And yet, they are still headed away from Jerusalem. What is really amazing about this account is how Jesus walks them through "all the scripture" (Luke 24:27, ESV). Christ himself gives us an example of expositional teaching. He shows that the main point of all the scripture is that the savior must come and suffer and then enter his glory. What does this have to do with being an elder? Christ is our example. As elders or pastors, our responsibility is to be examples of Christ for the people that he has placed under us.
The Great Commission
The first thing that elders and pastors need to understand is that we are disciples first. If we are not Christ's disciples, then we have no business whatsoever leading God's people. If we have not been born again, if we have not been born of the Spirit, then we need to repent and believe the gospel. With that out of the way, we need to look at the command that is given to all disciples. Matthew 28:16-20 commands disciples to go and make other disciples. There are a couple of essential elements of this. First, it is that all this happens because of and in the authority of Christ. All authority is his, and he has given disciples the authority to go and make disciples. The means of making disciples is also given in the passage. Verse 20 tells us, "Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." The primary responsibility of elders and pastors is to teach disciples how to disciple.
Be Encouraged
This work is hard. It is filled with setbacks and disappointments. As you go through the work of raising up teachers within your church, you will pour into someone who you think is going to be a great benefit to the church, and then they fall away. This can be one of the most discouraging things. Someone you have prayed for and spent hours with ends up rejecting everything. It is at this point we need to remember why we do this and who we are doing it for. I think Job is helpful here. In Job one, he loses everything he has worked for and has been blessed with. He loses his wealth and even his children, and yet, at the end of chapter one, he praises the Lord. Verse 21 says, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." It is not likely that anyone reading this will have to go through quite that much, but we all will go through hard things. The Lord is good in all these things. Be encourage that the Lord does not fail in his promises.
The Wolves are Coming
We need to get our perspective right before we start the work of training others. The Bible is clear throughout that false teachers will be a thing. There will be people who seek to twist the truth of the gospel, the truth of Scripture, for their own purposes. Acts 20 tells that some of those wolves will come from within. This lies at the heart of training teachers within the church. It is about accountability to one another. As an elder and pastor, I need people in the church who are ready and equipped to hold me accountable to the Word. I need fellow elders. I need Sunday school teachers who are faithfully in God's Word and can catch me when I misstep in handling God's Word.
Be Faithful
As this post comes to a close, I want to encourage you to be faithful in your work. Be faithful to teach the Word of God, in season and out of season. Trust that the Lord will do what he has said he will do. Train the saints. Raise up faithful teachers who know how to handle God's word rightly. Do not leave this work to others. No one else has been given authority over your flock. Christ has given it to you. He has not given it to universities or seminaries. Do not let someone teach in your churches who has not been trained in sound doctrine. Make time to train your people in how to exposit the word. To teach with sound doctrine. This is necessary at every level. Your children's ministry needs faithful doctrinal and expositional teaching. They do not need a watered-down gospel. They need the real thing. Brothers, be faithful so that on that final day, we can hear together, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Soli Deo Gloria
Resources
Strauch, Alexander. Acts 20: Fierce Wolves Are Coming, Guard the Flock, a Study of Paul’s Final Charge to the Ephesian Elders. Colorado Springs, CO: Lewis & Roth Publishers, 2021.
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