TEACHING ACCOUNTABILITY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.”

James 3:1-2

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I have had the special privilege of being a Bible teacher for well over 25 years now. As with any craft, I have worked hard to develop the gift that the Lord has given me, allowing the Lord to mold and shape me to be who He wants me to be and teach what He wants me to teach.

As a part of this journey, I started The Christian Walk ministry in 2007. I was doing my daily Bible reading and was in 1^st Peter when I first felt the Lord’s call to begin writing from His word. Some fourteen years later, I have journeyed with Him through more than 2,900 devotions (today makes number 2,922 if you want to be exact) and all of them are free for anyone to read through at http://The-Christian-Walk.blogspot.com.

Through these 2,900-plus devotions, I have used the scriptures to teach people how to live as the Lord expects, how to live as Jesus, our Savior lived. For God’s word not only instructs us but it convicts us of our sins and demands that we repent, turn away from our transgressions, and change course toward the righteous living that the Lord desires. In other words, you could say that a majority of my writing has been teaching accountability to every reader the Lord brings to read what He has given me to say.

Like you, this very moment.

But as we look at the opening two verses of James, chapter 3, we see where teachers are also accountable to the Lord. In fact, they are held to an even higher standard of responsibility.

Why?

Because most people coming to be taught are impressionable, often lacking a solid understanding of the scriptures. Like the lumps of clay in the hands of a potter, the learners are hoping to be shaped and formed into something of use by the Lord. They want to be the person the Lord wants them to be, living in ways that please Him. And so they can hang on every word of their teacher and take what they hear as absolute truth.

This can be a dangerous place if the person seeking knowledge gets connected with the wrong Bible teacher. Jesus warned His listeners over and over again to be on the lookout for scriptural instructors who produced false teaching. He knew that people could easily be led astray and into sin by the wrong Bible educator.

So this is why there is an elevated level of teaching accountability for anyone who chooses to take on the task of providing Bible education to others. It’s not for just anyone and so not many actually become teachers. It requires a special level of dedication and commitment but it’s something I revel in. There’s just nothing better for me than to be in collaboration and corroboration with the Lord over writing as devotion or preparing a lesson plan from the scriptures. It’s when I am in my element and I find no greater joy than when I am sharing the Word of the Lord with others, like I am right now.

I’m not perfect in any way, shape, or form but I serve a Lord who is and as you continue to follow this ministry work, I assure you that I am never going to write or say anything that I haven’t validated by the scriptures, and even more so through the Lord, before I put in down on paper or type it into a document. That’s my part of the deal.

But you have a part as well and I encourage you to adopt this practice, no matter who is teaching you from the Bible. Here’s what you need to do:

Check out what is being taught for yourself.

In other words, validate everything through the Word of God, consulting the Lord Himself to make sure that what you have read or heard is truth. You should do this with any devotion you read, Bible lesson you sit in on, or sermon you hear preached. Don’t take anything at face value without making sure it is absolute truth first.

This is how you will avoid being deceived and misled. This is how you will be able to identify the best teachers to learn from.

My prayer today is that I continue to be one of those teachers and I know that the Lord will help me be just that as I completely place my trust in Him, allowing Him to provide the words I write or speak.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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