There is a concept among
various circles that seems to constantly come up, that is, the need to be
teachable. Whether it be in the religious or secular, (non-faith world.) It is
a concept that each person must consider and think about regarding their
attitude about learning. As one credentialed into the ministry in Evangelism
and as a Pastor, I am going to approach this from a Christian perspective.
I recently asked the
question of what does it mean to be teachable on Facebook? I got a myriad of
answers, but one of the things that seemed to come up most was humility and humbleness.
Those are good responses I believe to start because often what happens in life
is many think they know it all and are unwilling to try and learn new things. As
a follower of Jesus, we must seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, elders in
the church, and those in leadership to seek truth. Of course, there are ways to make sure they
are giving good advice as well and are teaching the concepts of God, much of
the following applies to them as well. After all, we need to remember we follow
one who is called truth, (Jesus). Shouldn’t we be about discovering the truth
of the one called truth? Far too often
our own opinions and pride get in the way of truth. This can cause problems.
The one area I believe
must be used to determine what ultimate truth is and being teachable is the
Bible. The Scriptures are I believe God’s
truth and especially for a Christian, when we use our truths to determine God’s
truth as opposed to God’s Scripture, then we run the risk of making ourselves
out to be God and the ultimate determining factor as to what truth is. For
obvious reasons, this can be dangerous and not only cause problems in the application
and practice of our faith but also in the relationships of those we call brothers
and sisters. While the Holy Spirit will
give us truth in being teachable, that truth will never, let me repeat, NEVER be
inconsistent with scripture. This was a prevailing thought in the responses I
got today at Facebook on the question of being teachable.
If the above is true, and
I believe it is, it is catamount that we study scripture to have a starting
point, whether it be a place we perceive to be true, or want to be true, the
scripture gives us the assurance that certain things and thoughts are true. When
we negate scripture, try to avoid what it says, often because of a sinful concept
called pride we do so because we don’t want to admit that we might be
wrong. Remember the phrase that pride
comes before the fall? For the follower
of Jesus, as one who believes that the Bible was inspired by God and is God’s
truth, this can cause serious issues in our walk with God and relationships with
other Christians.
Let me say at this point,
there is often struggle in being teachable, I know, because I have had those struggles
in areas where I thought I was correct about something but then being challenged
in some instances, after a study of scripture, I did indeed find out I was wrong.
Thus needing to change my opinion and admitting to others that I was
wrong. That process is not nearly as
painful as going through life, making bad or poor decisions, or promoting a
concept that is, wrong.
There are various verses
that talk about the need to be teachable and some flat out telling us, while
others giving us great advice. Some of
those include the following:
All of you young people
should obey your elders. In fact, everyone should be humble toward everyone
else. The Scriptures say,
“God opposes proud people, but he
helps everyone who is humble.” ~ 1 Peter 5:5
Now these Jews were more noble than those
in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the
Scriptures daily to see if these things were so ~ Acts 17:11
Apply your heart to instruction and your
ear to words of knowledge. ~ Proverbs 23:12
Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to
fear your name. ~ Psalm 86:11
All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness, ~ 2 Timothy 3:16
Believe me I am only touching the surface
on scriptures that reaffirm the concept of being teachable, a willingness to
learn and so forth. The question becomes, are we willing to search for the
truth through scripture or even defend our positions with scripture. If the answers to those are no, then maybe
just maybe we have a bigger problem than being teachable, maybe just maybe we
need to search to see if we truly have a relationship with God and are willing
to make sure we are right before going ahead with a belief that may be wrong
according to the scripture. It’s not a rules thing, but a thing where we strive
to be imitators of Christ because we love Him so much and has such important consequences
to those around us. With that, I’ll
close with another scripture.
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and
teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from
of old. Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to
your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. ...
~ Psalm 25: 4-9
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