The Equipping Ministry, Student Workbook, SW15

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T H E E Q U I P P I N G M I N I S T R Y

Jesus Christ and his Kingdom), the teacher as a master builder (one who builds on the teaching of Jesus, the apostles and prophets to make their meaning clear for others to teach others), the teacher as a master craftsman (one who equips apprentices who will be able to train others also), and the teacher as seer (in modern terms, a color commentator on the game of the Lord, one explaining the working of God in the world, and our response to it). The call to the teaching ministry is synonymous with a call to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (cf. Eph. 4.12). Like preaching, the ministry of the teacher is a divine calling, not a matter of study and scholarship alone, but of spiritual gifting and enablement from Christ. The teacher must learn to feed and lead others to discover the truth through dialogue and study, and above all else, must learn to rely upon the anointing and enablement of the Holy Spirit as they lead others to apply the truth. The “principle of character” in the teaching ministry suggests that who a teacher is in his or her character will sooner or later impact what they as a teacher say and do. The cardinal virtue of the teaching ministry is clarity , and its corresponding cardinal vice being pride and hypocrisy . The heart of the content of the teaching ministry which includes the teaching clause of the Great Commission, i.e., to instruct disciples of Jesus to obey everything that he commanded , is for the purpose of Christlikeness in character and life, and to understand and defend the apostolic tradition, i.e., the historic orthodox faith and how it relates to their life and witness. If you are interested in pursuing some of the ideas of The Ministry of Teaching: Didache, you might want to give these books a try: Gangel, Kenneth O., and Howard G. Hendricks, eds. The Christian Educator’s Handbook on Teaching . Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Books, 1998. Richard, Larry, and J. Bredfeldt. Creative Bible Teaching. Revised and expanded ed. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1998. Wilhoit, Jim, and Leland Ryken. Effective Bible Teaching . Grand Rapids: Baker Academic Books, 1988.

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Resources and Bibliographies