There are many people teaching the Bible who may not actually be teachers.
That may sound harsh, but we need to be honest about it. Leading a class through someone else’s lesson is not the same thing as having the God-given gift of teaching.
A person can read the questions, follow the outline, fill in the blanks, and keep the discussion moving. That may be useful. It may even help people learn. But that person may still be guiding a lesson rather than teaching the Word of God.
Scripture says,
“Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith; if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching.” (Romans 12:6–7)
Teaching is a gift.
It is not something everyone is automatically equipped to do just because there is an empty chair at the front of the classroom.
That matters because Bible teaching is serious business.
“Do not become teachers in large numbers, my brothers, since you know that we who are teachers will incur a stricter judgment.” (James 3:1)
That verse should make every Bible teacher stop for a moment.
Teaching Scripture is not simply standing in front of a group and talking. It means taking the Word of God into your hands and explaining it to other people. If you teach it wrongly, you can lead people wrongly.
That ought to make us tremble.
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
A teacher should know how to handle the Bible.
That does not mean he knows everything. It does not mean he never uses a commentary, lesson guide, study Bible, or something another teacher has written. Good material can be useful.
But here is where I have a problem.
If you take away the lesson booklet and the person cannot teach, what exactly was he doing?
If he cannot open the Bible, study the passage, understand what it says, explain it in plain language, and help others see the truth for themselves, then he may be dependent on the lesson plan rather than exercising the gift of teaching.
That is not the same thing.
A teacher should be growing in the ability to build a lesson straight from Scripture.
The Bible should be the foundation. The lesson book should be a tool. Those two things should never be reversed.
There are churches where people have been teaching classes for years, but if you removed the printed material, the teaching would stop. That should concern us.
The goal should never be to create people who cannot function without somebody else’s outline.
The goal of a good Bible teacher is not to make students dependent on his lessons. It is to help them understand Scripture well enough that they begin learning how to handle the Word for themselves.
A gifted teacher should want that. He should want people to become less dependent on him and more dependent on Scripture.
Paul told Timothy,
“The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)
Notice the pattern. Paul taught Timothy. Timothy was to teach faithful people.
Those people were to become able to teach others. That is not dependency. That is multiplication.
There is another problem we need to talk about.
Some people know a great deal about the Bible but still should not be teaching it.
Knowing the Bible and having the gift of teaching are not the same thing.
A person may know Greek words, historical backgrounds, theological terms, and complicated doctrines. He may have shelves full of books and years of education.
That does not automatically make him a teacher.
The real question is whether he can take the truth of Scripture and make it clear without changing it.
Can he explain it so people understand what God actually said? Can he teach without showing off what he knows? Can he stay under the authority of the text instead of making the text serve his own ideas? And perhaps most important, has the Word he teaches first dealt with him?
They can quote the text in Greek, but have they let it cut them deep?
A teacher should never become so comfortable with Scripture that he stops trembling before it.
God told Isaiah,
“But I will look to this one, at one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2)
That is the kind of person I want teaching me. Not someone impressed with his own knowledge. Not someone dependent on somebody else’s outline. Not someone filling a position because nobody else volunteered.
I want someone who opens the Bible carefully, studies it honestly, teaches it plainly, and understands that one day he will answer to God for how he handled it.
There is nothing wrong with using a good lesson plan. But a lesson plan cannot give you the gift of teaching. A workbook cannot give you discernment. A printed outline cannot replace prayer, study, humility, and the work of the Holy Spirit in a teacher’s life.
If God has given you the gift of teaching, develop it.
Study.
Learn.
Use good resources when they help.
But do not become dependent on them.
Learn how to open the Bible and build the lesson from the text itself. And if you teach others, never forget what you are holding in your hands.
This is not your message.
It is His Word.
Handle it carefully.