National Christian Teachers Summit, 2018.

Day 3 – 4th August 2018

Message 4

The Teacher’s Necessary Preparation for Shaping and Sharpening the Young!

Isa 41:15; Isa 49:2-3; Isa 50:4-5; Luke 6:39-40

Luk 6:39-40  He also told them this parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.

The blind cannot lead the blind. A myopic, shortsighted teacher cannot raise a forward-looking, excellent student. A teacher can never train a student beyond what he has become himself. You can never see a student becoming anything more or greater than his teacher unless he has at one point or the other come out from under him to become what he has now become.

As we look at the Bible, we discover that God is interested in and actually uses sharp instruments. He doesn’t use just any kind of instrument. There is a need for teachers to be themselves sharp, actually sharper than our students if they (teachers) must be the ones to sharpen the students. Our students these days are very sharp, they are very intelligent, they have access to the web and so already seem to know a lot. If teachers must sharpen – bring out the best from – a child, then we as teachers must ourselves be sharp… so we can be capable of sharpening the young, for national productivity.

Teachers are called!

Exo 31:2  See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

To be able to appreciate the need for this preparation, we as teachers must know that teaching is a call. It is not just a job. God called Bezaleel, it was a calling and not just a job. For the Christian teacher, the classroom is his pulpit. He has an opportunity to discharge his call, his debt as he faces his students and teaches them every day.

The Necessary Implements for Ministering as a Teacher:

1. The Teacher’s Heart – Affective Capacity

The teacher’s heart is the most important equipping for being sharp as a teacher. The heart of a teacher is the compassionate heart for the ignorant. The ignorance, sluggishness and blindness of a student is the reason for my labor as a teacher. I must develop that compassionate heart as a teacher.

The teacher’s heart is never infuriated by the failure of his pupil. The teacher’s heart accepts the failure of his student as his personal failure. The teacher’s heart is provoked unto greater inner scrutiny of himself when a student has failed. A correct teacher’s heart does not blame the failure of his student on the student or the system.

The teacher’s heart has an undying hope. That heart believes in every child and continues to have hope that the child can become better. The teacher’s heart has an inexhaustible quantum of patience. The teacher’s heart doesn’t quench the smoking flax. When he finds a student who is smoking, he recognizes that there is no smoke without fire. He knows that if he pays more attention to that student, he can do better. The teacher’s heart also has wet eyes, eyes that shed tears for his student until they turn out right. The man without a teacher’s heart values money & salary above the success of the student. A teacher has an untiring spirit. He never gets tired, he is passionate, He loves the students and pursues them until he/she gets it.

2. The Teacher’s Head – Cognitive Capacity

Isa 50:4  The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.

A correct teacher must be learned. A correct teacher must not only know how to teach, he must know what to teach as well. You must know your subject discipline properly. A teacher must be sharp and sharpened in the area of your subject. Also, the teacher must be sharp in the ‘tongue’ of the learned. This refers to the methodology of teaching, presentation of teaching.

3. The Teacher’s Hand – Psychometric Capacity (Proper Skills)

God must sharpen the teacher to make use of every part of his body. The correct teacher must develop his skills so that he can teach well.