How to develop the spiritual gift of teaching
“Pastor” is not used in the modern sense of the word. (Our pastors come closer to the New Testament elder-presbyter-bishop, the administrative officer of the local church, who was also to be “able to teach”; 1 Timothy 3:2.)
“Pastor” is, in fact, translated “shepherd” everywhere else in the New Testament. The same Greek word is used of Jesus as the great Shepherd of the sheep (Hebrews 13:20), our Good Shepherd (John 10:2, 11, 14, 16; 1 Peter 2:25). The eastern shepherd led his flock to find food and water (Psalm 23:2). The word shepherd in Hebrew means a feeder. The primary concern of the pastor, as the term is used here, is thus not to direct the affairs of the church, but to teach them. The good food, of course, is the Word of God. And the pastor-teacher’s task is to explain it and make it easier for the people to understand, assimilate, and apply it. We live in a changing world where new problems, new questions, new circumstances surely need the help of a teacher to point out the principles of the Word and show how they relate to our daily living. This is still the work of the teacher who is gifted by the Spirit and dedicated to Christ.20
Jesus is also the Great Teacher. (Master used in the King James Version is the British word for teacher, the same word that is translated “teacher” in Ephesians 4:11.) The Holy Spirit is just as prominently the Teacher-Spirit as He is the Spirit of Power and the Spirit of Prophecy, if not more so (John 14:17, 26). It is true that the Holy Spirit teaches us all directly (2 Corinthians 3:3; John 6:45; 1 John 2:20, 27; Jeremiah 31:34). We do not need human authority to obtain assurance of our salvation, nor do we need some person to teach us to know the Lord in a better, more personal way. The Spirit and the Word are enough for that.21 But teachers gifted by the Spirit and given by Christ to the Church can bring out neglected truth, and help train and inspire others to become teachers. God wants all to become teachers in the sense of being able to explain the Word to others. But teachers who can feed us with the milk and meat of the Word are needed before this can be a reality (Hebrews 5:12–14).
Apollos may be an example of a teacher who “watered” what Paul had planted in Corinth, and who helped the people to grow spiritually by his refreshing teaching (1 Corinthians 3:6; Acts 18:27). Truly, his teaching must have come with the rivers of living water, the mighty overflowing of the Holy Spirit (John 7:38).22 Remember, too, that Apollos had a teachable spirit (Acts 18:26).
Unfortunately, there are those who are “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7), blind leaders of the blind (Matthew 15:14), false teachers who deny the Lord who bought them (2 Peter 2:1). These people God will not spare. Christians who love and honor Jesus can enjoy a unity of the Spirit and of the faith, even if they do disagree on some points or even in some of their methods of interpreting the Bible. We do have a love for sinners, even for those who deny the Lord, as we desire to draw them back to Him. But that is different from the fellowship in the Spirit we enjoy with believers, a fellowship that grows best as we maintain a teachable spirit.
Horton, S. M. (2005). What the Bible Says about the Holy Spirit (pp. 269–271). Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House.
