The Value of Teaching

SHB2958T. That's the licence plate of a very nice taxi driver today. =) Took cab to work, and the taxi driver took a route that was longer than the route I was familiar with. So decided to let him know about the shorter route that I knew of. To my surprise, he didn't know about the shorter route. So, at the end of the trip, he tried to return me the difference in change... about $1 difference. Only after my repeated insistence that he keep the change did he finally keep it. And he was actually very thankful.

So that made me think. Besides the obvious niceness of the taxi driver, and his making my day... I was thinking about the value of teaching. I had taught the more experienced taxi-driver something that he didn't know. And he was so appreciative!

(BTW did you know that taxi drivers prefer to take many short trips instead of one long trip? Because it's more profitable... just do the maths!)

Having read a recent article on mentoring, and recalling Hong Teck's exhortation to me to "be a father and mother to your team." When I asked him what he meant by it, he said it means to protect (father) and to nurture (mother) those under your care. Even though I'm in an operational ministry, it doesn't mean any less that I should disciple those I'm with, and care for their needs.

When one of my friends blogs, she blogs in an instructional, teaching style, with the intention to teach others about God. Personally, I find her blog posts refreshing, especially when it's teaching about God. Then I realised that the blogs and sites I enjoy visiting most are those that teach something - be it web design, or programming, or current affairs - but especially those regarding life and God. The kind that go beyond mere skills and knowledge... the kind that not only teach you how to walk... but where to walk to.

And why not? Between you and me, aren't some of the best sites that you visit those that actually teach, instruct and educate you in the deeper things of life? Cotton-candy fluff has its place, to be sure... but there's nothing like a substantial article that leaves you feeling like you just finished a tasty, meaty prime-rib dinner. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

One way how Jesus loved people, besides feeding and healing them, was to also teach them.

Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

And when He went up to heaven, one thing about the Great Commission that He gave His disciple was to "[teach] them to obey everything I have commanded you."

I think while having degrees, qualifications, experience and so on are important and essential... (I mean, if you're going to teach brain surgery...!) the most important thing is whether what you're teaching is true. And whether it might help the other person as well. So it'll be good to speak gracious words to instruct and teach others what you genuinely do know to be true, to work... it doesn't mean that only if you're a leader in church, only then are you able to teach others. The key thing is whether you're teaching the truth in love... and that's what the leaders are there for.

To illustrate what I mean, Acts 18:24-26 says it clearly:

24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Now, Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers. Blue-collar workers. Ordinary people like you and me. And Apollos was a learned man. Eloquent speaker, standing out even in a culture that already had a pedigreed breed of classical orators. Likely a professor, Th.D. :) Groovy Greek name some more! But that didn't let Priscilla and Aquila shrink back from explaining to Apollos the way of God more adequately.

And what a refreshing joy it is to be taught the grace of God, the word of God, the obedience to God... So yup, let's do our best, to teach one another about God... to teach one another in love... never to condemn, never with a self-righteous 'I know more than you' spirit, but with the heart of wanting to build one another up in love. =)