December 13th

In the course of my role as a Teaching Elder (one of the official titles I have as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada) I have discovered that there are two ways I teach. Now, I’m sure that professional educators may have something to say about this, and I accept your input, but this is what I’ve discovered on my own.
One way I teach is by simply sharing information. That is, I offer facts, figures or whatever I have to offer to, what is effectively, a clean slate. In this mode I’m kind of like a filled vessel filling up an empty one, except that the process doesn’t empty me. This is what happens after I’ve done some research in to the Bible and share that new discovery from the pulpit. I do it when someone doesn’t know anything about a subject I’m keen on, and they too want to share that interest. Sometimes it even happens here in these Pensive Pastors. In fact, it’s happening right now. I am sharing something about myself that I’ve just discovered. Hopefully it’s not too boring; certainly it’s not necessarily new to professional educators, and that leads me to my second method of teaching.
Sometimes rather that pass on something new, I simply retell and reinforce something already known. Now, you might be saying, well, what is the point of that? If I know something, what good is it you teaching me all over again. Well, the point is that sometimes folks know a thing without being certain they are right, or even realizing that they know it. In fact, there are times when people come for help, and all I really have to do is teach them that they already have the answer, and need simply to extract it and act on it.
Mind you, this isn’t always a straightforward proposition. Sometimes a person doesn’t realize how smart they really are. Sometimes they don’t think they have any clue. And sometimes they just don’t believe in themselves enough to trust their own instincts. For those folks, my teaching is not so much about imparting information, but helping them extract both what they already know, and also they confidence they need in their own genius.
I think God teaches us that way to. God knows we have the answers, but that we either don’t realize it, or don’t trust them. So, while there are times God teaches us as if we were a blank slate, more often than not, He knows we already know the answer. Take the 10 Commandments, for instance. We know them not just from Sunday school, but because what they say is in our hearts anyway; that’s why they make so much sense when we hear them read out for the first time. Their truth lies within us; we just need to get it out with the help of the one who put it there in the first place.
It’s the same thing with God’s love, the love we are supposed to have for Him, ourselves, and our neighbours. It doesn’t have to be taught; we just have to put it into practice as well as be reminded of its truth once in a while. But I bet you knew that already, because as a child of God, you don’t need to be taught something like that by someone like me. At least that’s the way I see it.