It is amazing the impact, good or bad, that a teacher can have on a student. I heard just yesterday of a teacher that more than 35 years ago had told a family member they wouldn't amount to anything. I think this family member used it as a drive to become successful in their field and even own their own business. I can't help but think of the other students that may have heeded this teacher's words of discouragement and never realized their full potential. I think of the teachers in my own life who were encouraging and worked to draw the best out of me. I am grateful for the impact they had in my life.
In recent years both of my boys have had some of the same teachers. Being a year apart in age they swap war stories about what they liked and disliked about their teachers. I think the impact of a teacher has never been so clear to me as it was on Sunday night talking to one of my sons about his upcoming first day of school. One of the teachers that he and his brother both had in recent years, for lack of a better term, left a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to school. He dreaded going to school for the first day because he was convinced it would be as horrible an experience as he had with this particular teacher. One of the things I pointed out to him was the positive experience he'd had with another teacher and how well things seemed to go with this other teacher. Here I was trying to override the negative experience he had with one teacher with positive and reaffirming experiences with another. (To the teacher who gave him & my wife, albeit many years ago, a positive experience, we are eternally grateful!) I think we sometimes underestimate the impact of a teacher.
When it comes to our spiritual development, we must find a biblical teacher who will make a positive impact on us. In a recent study in Colossians that I am teaching in our church, I mentioned how, as part of Paul's ministry to the early church, he had to teach those things that were easy to accept and those things that are hard to hear. When we seek out a pastor, preacher, bible study leader, Sunday School teacher, or small group leader, we need to make sure they are willing to be like Paul. We need them to teach us the easy to accept parts of biblical truths. We want them to tell us about God's love and forgiveness. We want them to teach us about His grace and mercy. But we also need them to tell us about the things that are hard to hear. We want them to tell us about our sinfulness and God's judgment against sin. We want them to teach us about hell and repentance. When it comes to finding a biblical teacher to help you grow in your faith, you need a teacher who will be honest with you about the truths of the Bible. This means a teacher that will teach the whole counsel of the Bible, not just the parts that make you feel good.
There are images that you can find on social media from time to time that tell you what kind of biblical teacher you need teaching you. The quote is often credited to A.W. Tozer and although it references preachers I think the same is true of all bible teachers, whether they're on the stage on Sunday mornings or in the Sunday School classroom. It says, "We need preachers who preach that hell is still hot, that heaven is still real, that sin is still wrong, that the Bible is God's Word, and that Jesus is the only way to salvation." This is the type of bible teacher you can trust!
I'll close with this bit of counsel. If the bible teacher that you sit under only teaches you the feel good portions of Scripture, then it is time for you to find a new bible teacher. If your bible teacher doesn't talk about or teach about sin, judgment, hell, or any other unpleasant part of the Bible, then you need a new bible teacher. Because you can't understand your need for a Savior unless you have a firm grasp of your own sinfulness, your need for repentance, and your eternal destination if you don't repent. If you're a bible teacher of any sort and you aren't teaching the whole counsel of the bible, then you need to get your act together. The Bible is real clear on our responsibility as teachers (James 3:1). Your impact on the spiritual development of other believers is determined by your willingness to teach all the truths of God's Word, not just the popular ones. Never underestimate your impact as a teacher.
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One thing I think all parents are guilty of from time to time is throwing the towel in. Giving in. Giving up. Folding. Caving. Relenting. However you package the action, the end result is still the same. Your kid has pushed you to the limit. You know you can't take it anymore, you fold, and you give in to their demands like a rookie negotiator. Blame it on stress, being tired, a long day, the tenacity of your strong-willed child, or any of the other countless reasons we use. You give in to a piece off candy before bed time or, like I did the other day when I caved, banana pudding for breakfast. It may be for a toy or a few more minutes of video game time. It may be to play in a mud puddle or to let them go out of the house dressed as a cross between a ballerina, a cowgirl, and Wonder Woman. Sometimes we pass it off as being the cool parent or not wanting them to make a scene. Whatever our reason our action is the same. Rather than standing our ground on something we know is for the best interest of our child, we give in. I don't know a parent who hasn't occasionally relented to the demands of a child. I have watched though as some have never shown restraint and gave in to every demand, which does no good for the child and the society that will eventually have to deal with them. Our relenting shows flexibility on our part as parents but should we ever be unrelenting?
The simple answer is "Yes." When it comes to sin in the life of our child, spouse, siblings, parents, friends, co-workers, and fellow believers, yes we should be unrelenting when it comes to our honesty about sin. Does this mean we constantly nag at others about how they need to quit sinning? No it doesn't. It does mean we need to speak plainly about sin and the impact it has on them and others. It means "calling a spade, a spade" without whitewashing it, but doing so in a tactful and grace-filled way. For example, when we have children reaching adulthood and they mention living with their significant other before marriage, we need to speak plainly to them about what Scripture says and how we feel about it. Ultimately the decision is theirs to make, but we cannot gloss over sin and relent just to appease someone. There are countless other examples you can fill in here, but the end result should be the same, us speaking in love to those we care about on how their sin will or is impacting their lives.
In our culture today, spiritual accountability is all but extinct. You can't try to follow the commands of Scripture (Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20) and help someone stuck in their sin without being considered hypocritical or judgmental. But the last time I checked, the responsibility of a Christian is not to fit into the world but to minister to the world. When it comes to our responsibility to speak the truth in love about sin, we must be as unrelenting as God is on the subject. The Bible is clear in many places that God is unrelenting of His view of sin and the judgment that comes with it. Just as God is unrelenting about His view of sin, we ought to have the same dogged determination to stand our ground when it comes to sin. If we don't, then we are no different than the parent who showed no restraint, raised a spoiled child, and left society to deal with their own lack of tenacity.
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After our calves were out of the pasture for about the 10th time in 10 days, I had to rebuild a section of fence they had broken. As I worked on the fence this morning before coming into the office I couldn't help but think about this blog post from a few years ago. We need to make sure our spiritual fence is in good working order. Check out the post below.
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*This post was originally published 3.7.2016.
This past weekend I spent about 8 hours fixing the fence around the perimeter of our farm. I learned some valuable spiritual lessons from my time spent bending, wrapping, and pulling barbed wire. Here are just a few of them.
Don't let your neighbor build your fence.
We had a neighbor do some maintenance to their property and in the process they tore down a large section of our fence. The neighbor never told us about it and our cows got out because of it. These are the same neighbors who, in a different section of the property line, put up a convoluted mess of 10 strands of barbed wire in what seemed to be a basket weaving style. Needless to say, both of these fencing issues came about because our neighbor had been allowed to mess with our fence.
If you want a good spiritual fence to protect you, then you cannot expect anyone else to build it for you. No one else can properly maintain your spiritual fence. Not your parents, your siblings, your children, your spouse, your friends, or your pastor. In the book of Nehemiah we read about the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah had each person build the section of wall that would protect their home and family. Why did he do that? Because if you build your wall (fence) you'll make sure it's done right.
Build your fences strong.
The old farmer's saying is that "Your fences need to be pig-tight, horse-high, and bull-strong." There is definitely some truth in that statement. But after we put some newly weaned calves into a field separate from their mothers, I'd amend that to "Your fences need to be strong enough to keep a calf from it's momma." Two of our calves broke through our divider fence and went back to their mothers. Needless to say the fence should have been tighter, higher, and stronger than I originally built it.
A weak fence is a useless fence. If you don't have a strong spiritual fence then you leave yourself open to all sorts of spiritual issues. Fences are used for two things. To keep things in or to keep things out. If you want to protect yourself spiritually from the attacks of Satan (1 Peter 5:8-9), then you need to do the work to build up a strong spiritual fence. The five spiritual disciplines that will help build a strong spiritual fence include: Prayer, Bible Study, Worship, Fellowship, & Service. As you practice these disciplines your fence will become stronger and stronger.
Talk to the One who knows how to build your fence.
Nearly 20 years ago I started helping my dad farm. In those 20 years he's taught me many valuable lessons about farming. Last week while I was fixing a section of fence, he came to check on me and see what I was doing. Even after all these years, I found myself asking his advice on how to do something. While working on the fence, he kindly advised me to do something differently than the way I was trying to do it. Both times his counsel was spot on.
When it comes to building your spiritual fence, no one knows better what needs to go into building your spiritual fence than God. That even includes you. Most times we think we know exactly what we need to do spiritually, but we are simply fooling ourselves. God knows us more intimately than we even know ourselves (Jeremiah 1:5; Matthew 10:30). That means we should seek His counsel for building our spiritual fence. As we ask Him for guidance, He will tell us how we ought to build our fence. When we start to build our fence our own way, He'll loving guide us to build it a better way. But the key is we have to spend time in prayer seeking His help.
I hope these three simple lessons from hours of fencing will help you develop a strong spiritual fence.
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In recent years both of my boys have had some of the same teachers. Being a year apart in age they swap war stories about what they liked and disliked about their teachers. I think the impact of a teacher has never been so clear to me as it was on Sunday night talking to one of my sons about his upcoming first day of school. One of the teachers that he and his brother both had in recent years, for lack of a better term, left a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to school. He dreaded going to school for the first day because he was convinced it would be as horrible an experience as he had with this particular teacher. One of the things I pointed out to him was the positive experience he'd had with another teacher and how well things seemed to go with this other teacher. Here I was trying to override the negative experience he had with one teacher with positive and reaffirming experiences with another. (To the teacher who gave him & my wife, albeit many years ago, a positive experience, we are eternally grateful!) I think we sometimes underestimate the impact of a teacher.
