For All The Christians Looking For Better Bible Teachers

I, like many of you, have my favorites when it comes to Bible Teachers. Probably the two I enjoy the most are John Piper and C.J. Mahaney. A close third would be John MacArthur. If he were still alive today, Martyn Lloyd-Jones would top the list as my all-time favorite. So, yes, I have my favorite Bible Teachers who I thoroughly enjoy listening to whenever I have the time to do so, which isn't as often as you might think.

Now, having admitted this however, I think you should also know that whereas these guys are my favorite Bible Teachers--they would not make my favorite "Pastor List". You see, these guys are such good teachers and preachers that this is pretty much all they do--whether they do it via the spoken or the written word. And whether they are great teachers because this is pretty much all they do or its pretty much all they do because they are great teachers--I don't know, but think it may be a combination of both. What I do know is that when you need some quick godly counsel you're probably not going to be able to get a direct line to any of these great Bible Teachers (especially Lloyd-Jones). If your teenager has been injured and is in the emergency room, you're probably going to be disappointed if you think Piper, Mahaney, or MacArthur will be showing up to pray with you and cheer up your kid. If your marriage has just taken a nose-dive and is heading South faster than Bermuda bound geese in October, you can pray all you want to get into see one of these guys but, it'll never happen, which is why they write books-right!?

So, what's my point? God's plan for His church is that His church be shepherded by biblically qualified "on-site" pastors who because they are on site are able to effectively shepherd you and your family in far more effective ways that the "Big-Name" Bible Teacher who is a couple thousand miles away. Oh sure, your pastor may not hold a candle to the preaching of a John Piper or John MacArthur but that's OK. God's plan has been for His work to be accomplished in such a way that He gets the credit for it--not the preacher. Now, this is not to discredit or dishonor the teaching ministries that many great men of God have had throughout church history. It is to say, put the credit and the honor back where it belongs and that is upon the Holy Spirit of God WHo is every believer's "resident Bible teacher" according to 1 John 2:27.

I am afraid that sometimes it is detrimental to churches to have great Bible teachers whose gifts of communication oftentimes overshadow the most important thing, which is simply that the Word of God, in its purest form, is communicated in the power of the Holy Spirit of God rather than the eloquence and power of the preacher (1 Cor. 2:1-5). You see, when the preacher's gift to communicate is what is noticed then the Bible while having perhaps been taught correctly, still may not have been taught effectively. There is a sense in which, if the credit for the teaching can be attributed solely to the teacher the Spirit of God may choose not to apply the teaching to the hearts of the listener for the simple reason that the effect can be explained in human rather than divine terms. God will never allow His glory to be stolen or diminished in His church. Therefore, if what is glorified each Sunday morning is the greatness of the teacher and the teaching rather than the greatness of God--it would be better for that church to have a basic "nuts and bolts" kind of Bible Teacher who, having done the best he can in his study of his Bible, spends the rest of his time on his knees begging God to empower His Word and implant it in his people's hearts. Then the Spirit of God can fully apply the teaching of the Word of God to the people of God for the glory of God.

I find it very interesting that in reading the pastoral epistles of first and second Timothy and Titus that there is not a requirement for pastors to be great Bible Teachers. Rather what I see is that they are to be faithful men who are able to teach others what God has taught and is teaching them (1 Tim. 3:2; 2 Tim. 2:2, 24; Titus 1:9). Nothing is said about being great flamboyant preachers who can hold their audience's attention for an hour. Rather, what is emphasized over and over again is their ability to speak, teach, and preach "sound doctrine". In fact, the Apostle Paul warned Timothy that the day would come in the church of God when God's own people would no longer "endure" sound doctrine but rather would desire to be entertained by the preacher according to their preferred teaching styles (2 Tim. 4:3).

You may be in a church where your pastor, while not being the greatest communicator in the world, is preaching and teaching "sound doctrine" Sunday after Sunday. Don't despise him or his lack of great giftedness. Rather, be thankful that he preaches the Word of God consistently to you relying upon God's power rather than his giftedness to apply it to your hearts. Be thankful, you are in a church where the work that is happening cannot be attributed to the greatness of the preacher but rather to the greatness of God. And be thankful that your pastor keeps on preaching sound doctrine in spite of the fact that many preachers in their desire to make a name for themselves--don't. Don't succumb to the desire to no longer hear the basic nuts and bolts of sound doctrine from a preacher who doesn't inspire you Sunday after Sunday with powerfully moving and challenging sermons. Rather, "endure" the teaching of sound doctrine and ask God to apply it to your life so that the change in you can only be attributed to Him instead of the eloquence and inspiration of a man.