“When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave.” This is a line from an old TV show in which the master is training a young student the art of Kung Fu. In the story there is a clear delineation between the master and the student. In this system, the master is always the master and the student is always the student, until one day he is not (i.e., the pebble snatching scene). It is at that moment that the student has earned the right to leave the confines of the training hall and to put the years of instruction to work in the world and, perhaps, to become a master one day himself.
Our educational system is designed in a similar fashion. The path to becoming a teacher involves remaining as a student until all the requisite degree programs have been completed. The student functions almost exclusively as a student until she has graduated, at which time she may seek employment as a teacher. They are clearly defined roles.
This is not the pattern found in the Bible. Yes, the office of elder has specific preaching and teaching qualifications, but that is in the context of “ruling” within the local church. The life of the Christian takes place beyond the walls of the church and in that regard, there are no minimum qualifications to teach others biblical truths. The idea that a Christian attends church to hear the Word of God read, to sing theologically rich hymns, to submit to the preaching of Scripture—in short, to be taught as a Christian student—with no expectation of teaching others is unbiblical.
In a letter to his faithful student, Paul writes, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:1–2). Christians are taught so that they, in turn, may teach others. God’s design is to train-the-trainer. The great commission was not written exclusively to paid church staff. Regardless of one’s tenure in the faith, each believer is called to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Each believer is instructed to “teach them all that I have commanded you.”
God’s people are instructed to improve one another as “iron sharpens iron” (Prov. 27:17). Parents are told to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Prov. 22:6). A Christian cannot “age out” of his responsibilities. Psalm 71:18 reads, “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”
The King has given a mandate specifically to godly women as well:
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Tit. 2:3–5)
It is appropriate to enter God’s house on His day with humility and a heart prepared to be taught. However, the teaching that you learn should be shared with others. You need not be ordained as a minister or have a theological degree hanging on the wall to teach, train up or disciple others in the faith.
Here are two questions to ask yourself. 1) Am I consistently acting as a faithful student of God’s Word. In other words, am I a devoted biblical learner? 2) How am I using that learning to the benefit of others? In other words, who am I discipling?
If your answer to either of the questions is unclear, then you have work to do. It is likely you have a definitive answer to number one. You can probably point to ways in which you are being taught. If your answer to the second question, however, does not involve the naming of names, then you need to ask God to open your eyes to the people around you that need to hear gospel truths from you. The Scripture you are learning is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Use what you have learned for the benefit of other believers so they may be complete, equipped for every good work.