Evaluating ourselves as teachers

1. Suppose that sometime during this next week we needed to buy a new dishwasher.

2. We go to a store that sells dishwashers and we are somewhat surprised at what we find.

3. At the beginning of the dishwasher section, we find a dishwasher marked super saver special: $148.

4. We do a little more looking and we soon find some more models in the $300 range.

5. We look a little more looking and find similar products selling for $500, $600, $700, $900.

6. At the very end of the dishwasher display there is a unit for $1,200.

7. We find more than a dozen different types of dishwashers with a lot of difference in price.

8. How do we determine which dishwasher will be the right one for us to buy?

9. We know the answer – we evaluate things.

10. Price is one consideration. We consider the features. We may look at the warranty.

11. The size of the unit as well as its capacity are all important considerations.

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE WE EVALUATE MANY THINGS. SOMETIMES WE EVALUATE OBJECTS, SOMETIMES WE EVALUATE PEOPLE, AND SOMETIMES WE EVALUATE OURSELVES.

a) Tonight we want to think about evaluating ourselves as teachers.

b) If we are parents, we should evaluate the teaching we are doing with our children.

c) We should evaluate the teaching we are trying to do with the unsaved.

d) It is also important to evaluate ourselves as past, current or future Bible class teachers.

2) This evening I want to go through in somewhat order several different questions.

3) These questions are based on the Bible and will help us evaluate ourselves as teachers.

a) Question 1 is this: If we are a Christian, do we possess true religious convictions and faith?

b) Do we know what is right and are we clinging to this information with all our being?

c) Jesus said in Jn. 8:32 that we can “know the truth.”

d) We do not want to have teachers in a local congregation that do not know the truth.

e) Neither do we want teachers who do not believe the truth.

4) At a recent preacher’s meeting there was a discussion about elders and local congregations.

5) We discussed the possibility of having a man serve as an elder who has some doctrinal problems.

6) This man thinks that worshipping with instrumental music is fine.

7) He can worship without it, but he does not believe it is wrong to have it as part of New Testament worship.

a) The men at that meeting were unanimous in their discussion of this man.

b) He is not qualified to be an elder.

c) He is worshipping correctly, but he is not holding to the truth when it comes to NT music.

d) God said “sing” in Col. 3:16 and Eph. 5:19 and that is a specific type of music.

e) God could have said “make music” but He said “sing” and “use the heart.”

f) Our convictions will help determine if we are teachers of truth or instructors in error.

g) Some have evaluated themselves as teachers but not paid much attention to what they believe.

8) While at Freed Hardeman I came across a piece of information that cleared some things up for me.

a) A lot of preachers are being trained year after year, but we have a lot of empty pulpits in the church.

b) I have not been able to figure out where all the new preachers are going.

c) Now I have an answer. A lot of preachers are not going in what we think of as full time preaching.

d) A lot of preachers are becoming specialists—youth ministers, counselors, education ministers.

e) The simple role of preaching seems to be on the decline.

f) This decline seems to be consistent with a downward trend in Bible knowledge.

g) Many new preachers are specialists in a lot of subjects except the Bible.

h) True convictions about the faith of the New Testament may not be all that strong.

i) If we are going to teach, even our children, we need to know the truth and hold on to it for dear life.

9) Question 2: Is my life being lived in such a way where I am trying to win others to God?

a) In Mt. 23:2 Jesus said scribes and Pharisee “sat in Moses seat.”

b) In other words, these people were teachers and they had authority regarding the giving of instruction.

c) Jesus said that what these men “taught” was to be done (followed).

d) Jesus also said, “do not follow their works” for (because) they “say and do not.”

e) In other words, “do not follow their example.”

f) Some can be great teachers but poor examples.

10) It will be virtually impossible to teach or win others to Christ without being a good example.

a) “Good” is not a synonym for “perfect.” Good does mean fine, excellent, of good quality.

b) Children watch their parents to see how they act.

c) If children see half-hearted commitment to Christ, they learn some things..

d) They conclude that mom and dad have a shallow belief and commitment to God.

e) If God is not important to be first in mom and dad’s life, He will not have that place in a child’s life.

f) Teachers should consider their example on a regular basis.

g) This means we examine our speech, our actions, and our goals.

11) A third question to help us evaluate ourselves is what we know.

12) 2 Pet. 3:18 says “grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.”

a) If we are trying to teach, do we ever stop to consider how much we ourselves have learned?

b) What do we know now compared to last week or last month?

c) Has our Bible knowledge substantially increased over the last year or two?

d) How much has our knowledge grown over the last 10 or 20 years?

13) Just as we can measure the growth of a child, so we should look for spiritual progress in our lives.

a) Some of this progress is related to Bible knowledge.

b) Other aspects of progress include the qualities found in the scriptures.

c) Are we growing in the Christian graces?

d) Maybe it used to be hard for us to forgive someone or be kind to certain people.

e) Maybe we used to get angry at the slightest thing.

f) Maybe just a wrong look would wound our feelings.

g) Have we grown in these areas? Has out level of patience and self-control grown?

h) Have we made progress in the areas of compassion, commitment and love?

i) If we are trying to be a teacher or even a faithful Christian, the answer to these questions should be “yes.”

j) Tonight much of what is said is certainly related to teachers.

k) In broader terms, this information can be applied to the Christian life in general.

l) Do we ever stop to evaluate ourselves as Christians?

m) 2 Cor. 13:5 says “Examine/try your own selves.”

n) What we are looking at tonight is the same subject Paul discussed with the Corinthians.

o) It was important for these Christians and it is important for us.

14) Question 4 is about loyalty:

a) Are we a faithful and loyal member of the New Testament church?

b) In Lk. 9:23 Jesus made three simple points: deny self, take up our cross, do this daily.

c) That is a lot of material for just one sentence.

d) We would like to have every congregation filled with Christian who are absolutely dedicated.

e) Sadly, that is not the case.

f) This is one of the things discussed by the men of this congregation earlier this afternoon.

15) As time passes things can change from generation to generation.

16) Sometimes as time passes there are improvements in various things.

17) In other cases, as generations come and go, some things get worse.

18) A lot of congregations have seen a loss of commitment with the latest generations.

19) Older generations were accustomed to whole heartedly supporting gospel meetings, singings, etc.

a) From what I heard earlier a couple of weeks ago in TN, gospel meetings are steadily declining.

b) They are arranged, announced and carried out, but a high percentage of people do not come.

c) With one of our recent meetings we had less than 30 people on evening.

d) An area congregation, North Manchester, has tried to have a monthly singing.

e) So few came they are now doing it twice a year.

f) Every Christian should look at his or her commitment to Christ.

g) This is especially true for parents and teachers.

h) Are we really trying to take up our cross, deny self, and do this every single day?

i) This is the way of life Jesus has called us to live.

j) If someone evaluated themselves in the area of commitment, they would get a failing grade.

k) If our commitment is not in line with the standard given by God, some adjustments need to be made.

20) Question 5 is related to question 4.

a) 2 Tim. 2:15 says “give diligence” to our study of God’s word so we can teach others.

b) We do this to save ourselves and those who “hear us” (1 Tim. 4:16).

c) Are we truly devoted to teaching God’s word to our children, other children, and the lost of the world?

21) This year the elders have started to work on a project that as of tonight has some bugs in it.

a) I cannot tell you tonight that the eldership has all the details worked out on something new.

b) I will share with you a preview of what is planned for the near future.

c) We have tried many different things in the area of evangelism.

22) So far all of our efforts have not produced much fruit.

23) One of the best tools available to us is invite friends, family members and neighbors to services.

24) That is something we encourage members to do.

25) In conjunction with this, we are working on another method of evangelism.

a) Some congregations are making some progress with Bible correspondence courses.

b) Specific advertising is being done for courses and that advertising is generating study prospects.

c) If things go as planned, we are going to be introducing a 13 lesson Bible correspondence course.

d) This course covers the very basics about the Bible.

e) With today’s society, some people need to be convinced about God’s existence.

f) To help us become familiar with it, we hope to go through it using several Sunday night sermons.

g) When those sermons are done, we want to be positioned to have members from here grade those lessons.

h) That means we are going to be looking for helpers.

i) If we are interested in becoming devoted to Christ, this is one more thing we can do.

j) It is certainly something that the elders are going to be seeking people to help with.

k) By assisting in this effort, we can help take God’s word into our world.

l) If you want to get on board with this effort, see one of the elders and give them your name.

26) Question 6 for teachers to evaluate themselves is this:

27) “What if all my students were to live as I live?”

a) What kind of Christians would my students be if they followed my example?”

b) Would they be dedicated to God?

c) How often would they be at services? What kinds of things would they help with in the church?

d) Would they be faithful Christian parents? Would they be a hard worker in a local congregation?

e) This question helps us evaluate ourselves as a teacher as well as a Christian.

28) Our final question involves the conscience.

a) The conscience is not always a safe guide.

b) If a conscience has been properly trained, it is of great use.

c) Paul once said (Acts 23:1), “I have lived in all good conscience until this day.”

29) That is a wonderful standard to strive for in our Christian lives.

30) Imagine making this our goal every single day – we want a clean conscience at the end of a day.

31) This is a great thing to seek, especially if we are a teacher.

a) We want to teach in such a way where we have a clean conscience.

b) There are going to be times when a class may not go well; that happens to all teachers.

c) After that class ends, a teacher might be able to draw some consolation from Acts 23:1.

d) They did the best they could. They had prayed and prepared. They did their best.

e) Although the class may not have gone well, they did all they could on that occasion.

f) This point is true for other things in the Christian life as well.

g) We did all we could, things did not go well, but we gave the project our best shot.

h) Our standard for evaluation must be the scriptures, but the conscience can also play a role.

32) We can usually do a pretty good job in evaluating ourselves.

33) None of those present time would get a perfect evaluation – we all have some flaws and defects.

34) Could it be said that we are seeking to do the best we can in our Christian life? We hope so.