The Importance of the Teaching Ministry of the Church
Pastor David Chan
The Importance of the Teaching Ministry of the Church

I have been a pastor in the United States for more than 20 years. My experiences and my conference with fellow Chinese pastors in the United States have led me to conclude that most church members have a poor concept of the mission of the church. The church has often been used as a location for the gathering of Chinese for socializing. The Chinese are by nature a very close-knit people. When they go to a foreign land, they quickly find a group of their own people with whom they can associate and find a sense of security.

The mentality of this people is such that the Chinese church is one of the many “gathering places” of the community. This kind of mentality is carried over into the church.

The purpose of this article is to help believers understand the mission of the church and the importance of the teaching ministry of the church. It is also my desire that this article will encourage more will be willing to commit themselves to the teaching ministry of the church.

The Theological Foundation for the Teaching Ministry of the Church

God has charged the church with the responsibility for teaching. A study of the nature of the church will provide enlightenment.

The New Testament Greek word for “church” is ecclesia. This word means “the called out ones.”

In the Greek word, ecclesia was originally employed “to denote an assembly or congregation of free citizens summoned or called by a herald in connection with public affairs.”1 When the New Testament writers borrowed the word, it was used to denote the assembly or congregation of those “who are the recipients of His heavenly grace and have been ‘called out’ to be Christ’s witnesses in the world (1Peter 2:19).”2 Shirley C. Guthrie Jr. in his book, Christian Doctrine briefly defines ecclesia as “a community of people called out of the world by God to belong to Him and be His people.”3 He further states “the purpose of their coming together is twofold. First, they receive God’s judging, forgiving, renewing grace. Secondly, they come together n order to be sent out again to be God’s agents of judgment, forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal in the world.”4 The church gathers to receive the teachings of the apostles, (Acts 2:42) and departs to impart these teachings to others. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Having studied the Greek background of the word ecclesia, I would define the church as God’s assembly, assembled by His call in order to listen to, and to act on, His word. (Matthew 7:24-27) Three things are included here. First, people are called; then they are to listen; and last, they are to act. To become His people demands obedience. In order to listen and to act, God’s people must be taught.

One of the commands in the Great Commission is “. . . teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you . . .” (Matthew 28:20a) The Great Commission begins with evangelism and baptism. Baptism is a ceremonial act of obedience to Christ. This should be followed by a life-long obedience to all of His commandments. The person who is evangelized and baptized has only begun in a course of Christian living. Notice that it is not simply teaching them the commandments of Christ, but teaching them to observe His commandments. “They who disciple and baptize men should teach them the duty of obeying Christ in all things.”5

Teaching had a very important place in the Old Testament. When God called Moses to go and deliver the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, He said to him, “I will teach you what to do.” (Exodus 4:15) After the deliverance and after God had given them the Law, God commanded Moses to gather the people to hear His words, “that they may learn to revere Me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” (Deuteronomy 4:10) The books of prophecy, as well as lay, history, and poetry, contain many statements about teaching.6

Teaching occupied a prominent place in the ministry of Jesus. The ministry of Jesus is twice summarized in Matthew’s Gospel. (Matthew 4:23) “Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness.” (Matthew 9:35) There is a close relationship between teaching and peaching.7 These two ministries of Jesus “are so intermingled that one cannot be totally separated from the other.”8 Passages that link the two words together include Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Luke 20:1; Acts 5:42; 15:35; 28:31. Passages paralleled to Matthew 4:23 and 9:35 are found in Mark 1:39 and Luke 4:44. In the Marcan and Lucan accounts the word, “teaching” is omitted. The word “preaching” in Mark and Luke is sufficient to describe what Matthew calls “preaching and teaching”9 Many argue for the inclusiveness of the two words. There was always a preaching element in Jesus’ teaching and, conversely, a teaching element in His preaching.10 Two-thirds of Jesus’ ministry was involved in teaching. Mark described Him constantly as teaching. (Mark 4:1; 6:2,6; 8:31; 9:31; 12:35) Jesus was called teacher forty-five times in the gospel accounts.

The teaching ministry was the central activity of the church in the early period. (Acts 2:42; 5:35, 42) This was one activity the Sanhedrin found very distressing and attempted to suppress its continuation. (Acts 4:1ff; 5:17ff) This attempted suppression demonstrates that the ceaseless teaching of the Apostles was making a tremendous impact on the people.

One of Paul’s more prominent ministries is found in his teaching activity. (Acts 15:35; 18:11, 25; 20:20; 2128; 28:31) “It is certainly true that many sections of his epistles are largely didactic in tone.”11 The pastoral epistles are books built on the teaching ministry. There are sixteen references to teaching in these epistles.12 The history of the church clearly indicates that the fruitfulness of the church depends upon the place that the church gives to educational ministry in its total life.

The Need for Understanding Christian Education

The teaching ministry of the church has often been misunderstood by the general membership and the community. J. Stanley, in his book The Recovery of the Teaching Ministry, has correctly depicted most Chinese Churches in the united Sates when he says, “In spite of the traditional emphasis that the church has placed on . . . the education of its ministry, . . . a strange subordination of the teaching function pervades its life.”13 Many adult members consider Sunday School as a place for their children “to learn to be good.” The same dilemma is shared by many other Chinese pastors in North America. No matter how hard they work to promote adult Sunday School, there seems to be very little success. Most churches suffer a heavy loss of pupils in the college years. Thus there is a need to help the church members gain a better understanding of the teaching ministry of the church.

The Need for Understanding the Pupils

Findley B. Edge, in his book, Teaching For Results, rightly states, “the pupils is a the center of the learning process.” 14 He goes on to suggest, “We must place the child in the midst and let the child (or the class member) determine everything that is done in the Sunday School.”15 But no two pupils are alike: not in appearance, mentality, attitudes, acceptability, nor teachability. Thus the teachers must realize that in order tow in and train their pupils for Christ they must understand them.

A study of Jesus’ teaching methods reveals how carefully he tailored His methods and contents to the needs of each individual. To the rich young ruler, who, in haughty pride was seeking to find a righteousness within himself, Jesus said, “Go and sell all that thou hast and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21) But to the woman taken in adultery—already slapped by society and needing to know that there was someone who believe in her enough to give her a chance—Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee; go, and sin no more.” (John 8:11) Recall how Jesus dealt with his problem disciples, with James and John and angry disciples, with vacillating Peter, with doubting Thomas. He gave to them all the same soul—saving message, but the need of each individual determined what he gave and how he gave it.

Literature dealing with educational psychology often includes a unit on developmental psychology. The implication of such inclusion is that understanding the pupil and his/her growth is an important factor in successful teaching. Daniel Smith points out that the study of educational psychology helps teachers to deal humanely and effectively with their pupils.16


The Need for Understanding Teaching Methodology

Teaching is a very complex undertaking. This endeavor is even more complex for Christian teachers, for their work is that of guiding the experience of pupils that will affect their eternity. The task of teaching cannot be taken lightly.

John T. Sisemore succinctly states “teaching is a venture in faith . . . and to this faith the teacher must add an understanding of teaching . . . and skill in planning.”17 One time when I was still serving in my former church in Tucson a member of my congregation told me that he and his family decided to transfer to a larger and more structured Caucasian church. His major complaint alluded to the deficiencies of the teaching ministry. I do not fully agree with his assessment of the church. Yet it cannot be denied that many people whom the church has contacted, and has had a chance to reach, are dropping out because of poor teachers and poor methods of teaching. The phrase, “Sunday School stuff,” has been used to express one’s contempt for anything sub-standard.

Zeal for the Lord and love for the people are not sufficient to effect changes in the lives of the pupils. Skills in communicating the Word of God are of great importance.

There is a fundamental difference between the secular philosophy of education and the Christian philosophy of education. Secular educational methodology is manifested in two ways: the “pouring in” process, and the “drawing out” process. The “pouring in” process refers to the impartation of factual knowledge on the part of the teacher who seeks to fill the mind with educational information. The “drawing out” process advocates complete freedom for the learners and is largely stimulation in character. Self-expression is encouraged.

These secular views of education are inadequate for Christian education. They ignore building moral character and are in direct opposition to the Christian theistic world view. The Christian view of method is God-centered. To the Christian tea her, method is the means by which the teacher brings the pupils to a realization and experience for Christlike character and to a revelation of God.

The Bible uses the term “bringing up” (Ephesians 6:4) to describe the learner “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” In this phrase there are two elements of education. Albert Barnes, in his commentary Notes on the New Testament, explains that the word nurture means “education, instruction, discipline. Here it means that they are to train up their children in such a manner as the Lord approves; that is they are to educate them for virtue and religion.”18 Barnes provides the following statement to explain the word admonition.

The word here used means literally, a putting in mind, then warning, admonition, instruction. The sense here is, that they were to put them in mind of the Lord—of his existence, perfections, law and claims on their hearts and lives. This command is positive, and is in accordance with all the requirements of the Bible on the subject.19

Protestant church must not stop at putting the Bible into the hands of the common people. They must go further and teach them how to interpret the Bible correctly. There is a need to train teacher in teaching skills that will result in bringing up the learners in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Need for Training Leaders

Many churches are plagued by a shortage of lay leaders. It is estimated that most churches are run by 10 percent of their membership. The few trained leaders available are loaded with multiple responsibilities to the breaking point while others are neither enlisted nor trained to serve. The 90 percent non-involved membership not only demonstrates an attitude of indifference to the ministry of the church, but also shows no interest in their own spiritual growth. The poor spiritual health of these people continues to reinforce the attitude of indifference. The vicious cycle continues.

Many factors lead to such lopsided situation in the ministries of the church. Two are most crucial: they have never been asked; and they have never been trained. Many Christians have very vague notions of their obligations and privileges. Some contend that there is a desire in the innermost part of many believes to be involved in the ministry of the church. The church has the responsibility to transform this desire into reality.

Leadership training is a difficult and time-consuming task. It, nevertheless, is an important aspect of the church’s program.

Endnotes
  1. Merrill C. Tenny, general ed., The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, vol. one (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1975), 845
  2. Ibid., 846
  3. Shirley C. Guthrie Jr., Christian Doctrine (Virginia: The Covenant Life Curriculum, 1968), 353.
  4.  Ibid., 353.
  5.  John A. Broadus, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, (Philadelphia: The American Baptist Publication Society, 1886),
  6. 1 Samuel 12:23; 2 Chronicles 15:3; Job 36:22; Psalm 25:4; 27:11; 51:13; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2.
  7. Ralph G. Turnbull, ed., Baker’s Dictionary of Practical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Book house, 1967), 414-415.
  8. James D. Smart, The Teaching Ministry of the Church (Philadelphia: The Westminister Press, 1966), 17
  9. Craig Skinner, The Teaching Ministry of the Pulpit (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 173), 84.
  10. Alan Richardson, ed., A Theology Word-Book of the Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1957), 171-172.
  11. Turnbull, Baker’s Dictionary of Pictorial Theology, 415
  12. 1 Timothy 2:12; 4:11; 6:2; 1:3; 6:3; 2:7; 1:7; 2 Timothy 2:2; 1:11; 4:3; Titus 1:11; 2:12; 2:3.
  13. J. Stanley Glen, The Recovery of the Teaching Ministry (Philadelphia: The Westminister press, 1960), 9.
  14. Findley B. Edge, Teaching For Results (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1956), 77.
  15. Ibid.
  16. M. Daniel Smith, Educational Psychology and Its Classroom Applications (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1975), preface.
  17. John T. Sisemore, Blueprint For Teaching (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1964), 7.
  18. Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, ed., Robert Frew (London: Blackid & Son, 1884-85; repr., Grand Rapids: Baker Book house, 1983), 119
  19. Ibid., 119