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Teachers and Students

Here are a few random thoughts from and about the scriptures.

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1

This text should thin out the teachers because of stricter judgment on the possibility of teaching something false.

When I observe, among conservative believing churches, the vast number of differences on ecclesiology liturgy, eschatology, holiness, music and other forms of worship I have come to the conclusion that some of this is wrong teaching. At least some of the teachers should not be teachers. I suspect they cannot all be right.

Of course, each teacher thinks he is peculiarly right so he does not disqualify himself as a teacher.

Then we have problems with the students of the teachers. They believe what their teacher teaches. Aren’t they supposed to believe their teacher? No!

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” 1 John 4:1-3

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11

The teacher has the responsibility to teach truth. The student has the responsibility to recognize truth.

We should not become cynical or hypercritical but we should stay awake and alert to what and how the teacher is teaching.

For instance, if the teacher is going into great detail explaining a verse of scripture then get suspicious. Most scripture does not need involved explanations.

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