“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
(Hebrews 5:12)
Though there is a sense in which only a few possess the talents and skills of teaching (see James 3:1), there is a basic level in which all Christians must accept the responsibility to teach. After all, we cannot be “prepared to give a reason for the hope within us” (1 Pet. 3:15) unless we have gained the necessary skills to reasonably be prepared to share said hope.
Christians are in the people business, and we are in the teaching business. Coercion, violence, or bribery cannot be induced to lead people to Jesus. We are only left with the tools of teaching and persuasion to bring the good news to our friends and neighbors. After all, there is no draft – the ranks of Jesus’ army are filled solely by volunteers.
It is not expected that every Christian know everything, but every Christian should know some things. We must be prepared to answer the basic questions about the tenets of our belief in Jesus. Why should I trust the Bible? What does the Bible teach about how one is saved? Why are we lost without Jesus? What is the church? Why should I care?
Make no mistake, we must be able to articulate what we believe… maybe not at first, but eventually “you ought to be teachers.”
Matthew 4:4 #Biblebites