The first step to guard your heart, as a teacher/leader or even giving a teaching, is realizing that the people don’t need your explanation.
Some people may have bristled that I said that.
We must begin with the heart of truth, I think, and the truth is “the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth” and “you do not need anyone to teach you because you have an anointing that resides within.”
We must realize at the outset that we cannot speak a truth from the Spirit within us that doesn’t already exist in the Spirit in another believer. (you can read that twice if you need to …) So, if God uses me to teach, I must realize that it is the Spirit within them that needs stirring, needs addressing, needs empowering, and that happens most ideally when I follow the Spirit as I teach.
Now this assumes you have the Spirit. If you don’t have the Spirit, you’ve got bigger problems than whether or not you believe or hear what I say.
Any wonder why Paul felt it so necessary that those who had only been baptized in John’s preaching be baptized and anointed in the Holy Ghost … like, immediately? This is quite mystical, I agree, or can seem so if you don’t realize that Truth is spiritual, not logical. Spiritual wisdom is different from logic. And you have to have the Spirit to understand the Spirit.
And we also must realize there is ONE Spirit total, not many little Holy Spirits running around individually, that the same Spirit in me is the same Spirit in you. Then we can see how true teaching is “deep calling unto deep.”
This perspective is very practical for our spirituality. It places the responsibility for revelation where it belongs, on the Spirit of God and not on my ability to use wise words.
Haven’t we all, in some way or another, seen how God can use any teaching to speak anything He wants to others? I have the perfect argument and someone walks away confused. I teach one thing, and yet someone repeats back to me a different message, as if I spoke it, thanking me. I am not as in control as I’d like to think I am sometimes.
Some could point to a deficiency in my teaching or their listening, but most of the time I said exactly what I needed to say and they heard exactly what they needed to hear. The Word of God is living, alive, breathing. He’s a wild man who has never liked any box we seem to want to put Him in. You can either be frustrated or thankful. I choose the latter.
The next principle is on a related note. Why are you teaching? Is it out of obedience to God or to hear yourself talk? Are you teaching for the edification of others? 1 Corinthians 14 states clearly the main lack in their meetings, “doing more harm than good,” and that was they were not operating in the gifts for edification. They were using spiritual gifts and open worship to show off or draw attention to themselves or be rude or disrespectful to their husbands, but not for the edification of them all.
Even rebukes should be done to build another up. All teaching should inspire more commitment to Christ alone, love for the brethren, and righteous holy living … none of which can be separated from the others.
I’ve been a guest speaker from time to time in very neo-traditional settings. While He has the complete right to do so, the Spirit has never led me to take up a large portion of their time with the validity of an organic church paradigm over their bad neo-traditional structures. If He wanted me to, I would, but He hasn’t really … yet.
(The closest I got was a short – like, 5 minute – biblical teaching on open, spontaneous worship related to a larger teaching on corporate worship I was doing … at a Baptist church. But the Lord did put it on my heart to say, so I did. We had a great and marvelous time of Spirit-led worship that evening. And then I got in trouble with the pastors … which I kind of expected.)
The next principle I will discuss is “not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought.” Be honest and real enough with God and ask Him what your responsibilities are, what He has purposed for you to do. For some this can be a humbling realization, and He has you wait more than you like. For others, the Lord shows you areas where you need to do more and step up.
Most of the time, the Lord has to remind us to step up and pay more attention to relationship than message. People are often better taught by your example than your words. They might remember what you said. They will always remember how you lived. This takes a willingness for people to really live life together and stop being so isolated, though, and it can be difficult in a neo-traditional setting with professional leaders and laity. But if you’re willing and patient, God will open doors.
In the end, God is way more concerned about your character than anything else.
One last note. If you area teacher/leader, raise up other teachers. Get out of the way and let them teach, let them lead. You’ll know who they are, and you might need to step aside in some areas and give some responsibilities up so that you can guide someone else into leadership. Don’t get a guest speaker (like me!) to come in when you go out of town, let those already in the fellowship with gifts and authority step up.
And don’t be upset if it is an amazing meeting when you’re gone. If you are a true leader, that just means you’ve been doing your job.
Peace.