Questions for Bible teachers:<\/p>\n
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- What limits do you have?<\/a> – If as Bible teachers, we’re not seeing clearly, we run the risk of misleading our students.<\/li>\n
- What kind of influence are you?<\/a> – We will not be able to take our students further than we have come in our own walk with God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If you felt a bit hypocritical by the way you had to answer those questions, don’t despair. You aren’t alone. Jesus followed the above mentioned parable with another play on words:<\/p>\n
![\"Teachers](\"https:\/\/trainbibleteachers.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/first-take-plank-out.jpg\")
<\/a>Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Lk. 9:41-42)<\/em><\/p>\nTeachers’ Starting Point to Not be Hypocritical is to See Themselves for Who They Truly Are<\/h2>\n
1) Start by loving them just as you would want others to extend mercy and forgiveness to you.<\/p>\n
Leading up to these parables, Jesus had just told the disciples to love even the unlovable (Lk. 6:26-36). He made two comparisons that should provide the standard we apply in those situations. First, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Lk. 6:31) Second, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Lk. 6:36) Then He continued, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Lk. 6:37)<\/p>\n
2) Start by realizing that you are no better than your students.<\/p>\n
Comparing a speck of sawdust with a plank provides an exaggerated word picture obviously meant to drive the point home that no matter who we are, even if a Bible teacher, we too have issues. To God, sin is sin, and so even if others do something that seems morally reprehensible next to our sin, we’re still no better than them. To deal with our issues takes God’s grace. To deal with their issues takes God’s grace.<\/p>\n
3) Start by working on your own issues before confronting your students.<\/p>\n
So, if our students need to change, we need to work on our own limitations first — “first take the plank out of your eye.” If we don’t, we’re hypocrites. We need to work on being a better influence before we blame them for not growing spiritually. When we start with ourselves, we become more authentic teachers who will in turn make a greater impact, being in a better position to “see clearly to remove the speck” from their eye.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Bible teachers, we can potentially get to thinking we\u2019re the ones who are supposed to have it all together spiritually. We might think we\u2019re there to tell our students what they\u2019re doing wrong and how they need to change. Sometimes we might look at our students\u2019 lives and wonder why they can\u2019t seem to get it together.<\/p>\n
Yet, if we\u2019re honest, we too have limitations. We\u2019re not always the best influence. And so, Jesus told this parable . . . Continue reading Teachers’ Starting Point<\/span>
- What kind of influence are you?<\/a> – We will not be able to take our students further than we have come in our own walk with God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n