When
I assess the learning of my high school students, I do so through tests and
quizzes. These are often administered in written form but at times administered
by a simple oral dialogue. These assessments not only assess the learning of
the students, but the teaching of the teacher. The teacher is responsible for
doing all they can to assure that learning takes place. With this said, it is
impossible to teach if the learner refuses to learn.
When it comes to teaching in
fulfillment of my role as Pastor, assessment is done in a similar way. My
teaching and your learning are assessed through tests. These are not written
tests, but test in life. Life has a way testing us and our progress in the
learning the Word of God, and our living out of the Gospel of Christ.
All that God has charged us to be
begins with being a learner. As God gave His law to Moses in the books of
Exodus and Leviticus, He called Moses to assemble the people so that they could
learn. In the book of Deuteronomy (A recording of Moses’ last three messages)
God instructs Moses to gather the people together for the purposes of learning.
They were to gather themselves, their children, and the sojourners among them
to learn the commands of God. Consider these words, 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little
ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear
the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13
and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the
LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."
Deuteronomy 31:12-13
It
is for this purpose that we gather in our places of worship today. It is
accurate to say that in moments such as these we gather as worshipping learners
and inquisitive seekers. As one of those who has been called to teach, I am
very thankful for those among you that desire to gather in this way. And for
you, and your calling to share the Gospel with others, I believe that we all
are to be thankful for those who receive the word of God. Towards understanding
this, let’s turn our attention to 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 where Paul displays
thanks to and for those who have received the word of God.
The first observation made here is
how the teacher arrives helps the learner learn (V. 1-5). “1 For you
yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2
But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as
you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the
midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or
impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved
by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to
please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of
flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness.”. Notice that Paul states that
those who teach often do so from a conflicted past. Even though this is true,
they must arrive with a pure motive to help those they are coming to teach. To
ensure this happens, God tests the heats of those He sends to teach.
A
second observation is, the teacher seeks to benefit the learner (V.6-12). 6 Nor did we
seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have
made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like
a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being
affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the
gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 9
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that
we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel
of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and
blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how,
like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and
encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you
into his own kingdom and glory. Expounding on this point we can see that true teachers of
God’s word do not seek glory from people. This is a challenge by all who have
ever taught or sought to communicate God’s word in any form. It is human nature
to desire the approval of others. However, we must fight that natural desire and
teach in such way that builds up the learner and glorifies God. Paul also gives
two examples of a teacher. Teachers are to be like nursing mothers and
encouraging fathers.
In the final section of our passage,
we see that the learner receives from
God and imitates the learned (V. 13-16). 13 And we also thank God constantly for this,
that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted
it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is
at work in you believers. 14 For you, brothers, became imitators of the
churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same
things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed
both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and
oppose all mankind 16 by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that
they might be saved--so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But
God's wrath has come upon them at last! Here is seems like the teacher has
taken a subsidiary role. The learner receives the word of God from God and
imitates other mature learners. This is exactly what every teacher should seek.
Of the three components of this exchange, the teacher comes in third place regarding
significance. What became the primary component is the learner’s ability to
imitate how the mature learner endured times of difficulty.
Based upon what has been discussed,
I want to challenge you to send thank you notes to those who have received the
Gospel from you. This list may be long and that would be great because you have
been willing to speak God’s word to others. If your list is short or
non-existent, you may wish to ask God to fill you with His Spirit for the
purposes of being His witness. As we do, I pray that our church becomes full of
thankful teachers of the Gospel.
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