Yesterday we were thinking about the danger of having non-Bible lovers teaching children and youth.  But there are other Bible ministry opportunities in the church:

Surely the home Bible study is a safe place for different folks to try their hand at leading?  Absolutely, it can be a very safe and loving environment as far as the trainee leader is concerned.  People will be reasonably forgiving toward them.  But turn it around.  What effect will their leadership have on others present?  I am not talking about polish and skill . . . this can be learned and people will be patient.  I am talking about core motivation for the Bible.  Out of the group who meet on that evening each week, don’t invite someone to try leading unless they have an evident personal appetite for the Word.  You might have a Bible college trained, capable presenter, experienced school teacher, well dressed and even charismatic person in the group who is showing motivation to lead the group.  But if that person lacks an evident hunger for God’s Word, don’t let them near the reins.  There may be another person who ticks far fewer boxes, but if they are not an immunizer, they might be the next Bible study leader to train up and launch.

There may be other venues that include “sharing a biblical thought.”  Perhaps a prayer gathering or a social event or whatever.  Make sure that every potential biblical communicator is a potent biblical communicator.  Having a wider group of people speak, even in a “safe” venue, is not worth it.  A good shepherd will not let some of the sheep be immunized so as to lose their appetite for healthy grass, no matter how small a group of sheep are involved, or how brief the immunization exposure might be.

Then there is the pulpit ministry of the church.  How many Sundays should a church knowingly tolerate pulpit ministry from people without a personal hunger for the Bible and the God of the Bible?  How many Sundays in a year is it ok to have dull, unhelpful, weak preaching?  I think once a year is too often.  For the visitor that comes that week, the effect could be lifelong.  Better to have a local with a passion for God and His Word than a visiting “expert” who dulls the hearts of the listeners.

I feel for the churches where there doesn’t seem to be anyone who can teach the children, the youth, the adults, with a delight in God and His Word.  But if that is your church, perhaps you are the key player.  Invite people to read through the Bible with you, pray for someone to get infected with the real disease.  Seek to infect someone and then see them grow into being a biblically infectious Bible study leader/teacher/preacher.  And at the same time do whatever you can to never let a non-Bible lover teach the Bible.  The cost is too high.

Something is not always better than nothing.  My wife and I went to a local restaurant and she decided to try something different: pheasant.  We’ve never had it before.  We’ll never choose it again.  The one we were served was poor: chewy, funny tasting, and a piece of shot included as a bonus.  Others may say how great Pheasant can be, but we tasted enough of the bad version to probably never choose it again.

There is too much Bible immunization going on in churches.  That is where the administration of weakened or dead pathogens are introduced to healthy persons so that immunity is developed against lively forms of the same “disease.”  Take the life out of the Bible and give it to people, but don’t be surprised when they develop a distaste for the Bible.

Take Sunday School, for instance.  Since the church has always had four classes, it must always have four classes, even if that means pressuring people to teach who lack any personal delight in God’s Word.  The children taste a “nothing there” version of the Bible that feels like ancient fables with predictable moral lessons from dull non-infectious teachers.  Better to have two or even one classes with a good Bible teacher than more classes where any of them are offering an immunizing effect.

Then the children move up to youth ministry.  Here’s a safe place for people to “cut their teeth” on Bible teaching in a safe environment.  Perhaps, but only let people teach who have a personal appetite for and delight in God’s Word.  It is dangerous to open the door to immunizers.  The young folks are at a key stage in life.  They are preparing for university, for adulthood, for living out their own faith.  And if they have been dulled to the Word of God, then the damage done by such bad leadership choices will be impossible to calculate.

I learn a lot by teaching, but I don’t think it is wise to give people the opportunity to teach in order to generate an appetite within them.  It may work for them.  But the cost for the listeners is too high.  Tomorrow we’ll follow this through into the home group and pulpit ministries of the church.

This week I have been raising a warning flag toward preaching that makes Christ, or biblical characters, just an example to copy.  While both may be offered as example, and biblical writers do just that at times, still there is always a danger of seeking to motivate a performance approach to Christianity that is not birthed from the inside-out transformation of being in union with Christ.  There’s another area worth a mention: the use of non-biblical persons as examples.

It is so easy to offer people famous or unknown, past or present, with an implied “copy that” tone.  It could be the prayer warrior who rises at 4am, or the self-sacrificial missionary who gives up all to go and serve, or the faith-filled achiever, or whatever.  Again, there could well be real value in offering such an example.  However,

1. Be careful not to paint a caricature.  Humans are usually a mixed bag of motives.  So while in anecdotal form an individual may appear perfectly selfless and wonderful, the reality is probably not so flawless.  Even the greatest deeds and sacrifices can be made for the wrong reasons, which is what Paul addresses at the start of 1Corinthians 13.  The greatest feats can count for nothing.  So be careful not to imply that feat/deed/sacrifice/effort can trump the heart issue.  We do need to inspire a new generation with those who’ve gone before, but let’s be sure to inspire with the faith and relationship that others have with Christ, spilling into those amazing anecdotes.  Let’s invite people into the fullness of that kind of connection with Christ that can spill out in numerous unique ways in our lives today.

2. Be careful not to endorse a copycat approach.  Just to reinforce the point made above, let’s be sure to invite people into the relationship with Christ by His Spirit that can spill out in wonderful ways.  Simply copying the performance of another will not bring about the necessary heart transformation that will allow such a feat to count as anything (in 1Corinthians 13 terms such empty performance is “nothing”).  Performance is not the key to Christian living–it may be the fruit, but it is not the source.