APEST Series #5 | The Teacher Among Us: Discipling the Heart that Can't Stop Educating
Front Note #1: Thank you to my mentor, Greg Getz, for contributing to this tool! Greg has been a long-term mentor and friend and an invaluable source of wisdom in catalyzing disciple-making networks.
Front Note #2: If you want to join a community of co-laborers launching missional simple churches, join my š„ PREMIUM COHORT š„. Meet monthly by Zoom with other disciple-making co-laborers. And get FREE access to my Simple Bible Notes web app and the 24/7 Virtual Disciple-Making Coach. Find out more by š¤ CLICKING HERE š¤.
Front Note #3: āļø Click HERE for a high-level overview of the GREAT TEAM!
The GREAT TEAM Series | The Teacher
This is the fifth article in a series on the GREAT Ephesians 4:11 Team. Each article uses the same format and language to describe each of the gifts from the perspective of disciple-making. I designed them to be identical to provide an opportunity to compare the differences among the Team Members.
Enjoy the series!
Click HERE for an overview of THE GREAT TEAM
Click HERE for Article #1 - The Prophet
Click HERE for Article #2 - The Apostle
Click HERE for Article #3 - The Evangelist
Click HERE for Article #4 - The Shepherd
The Teacher
Let me ask you something that might sting a little!
When was the last time someone in your discipling community was so committed to āright doctrineā that they forgot to actually apply it? Or they were so overwhelmed with leading the community that they appeared burnt out and exhausted? Maybe they taught the Bible with precision, but produced disciples who know a lot but do very little. Or they held so tightly to theological correctness that they suffocated the Spiritās movement. Or they constantly complained about an excessive workload and the lack of support from the community.
š³ Yeah. Uncomfortable, right? š³
Hereās the deal.
Ephesians 4:11 gives us five leadership roles that build the Kingdom Church. Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher. You know the Shepherd (the caregiver, the nurturer). You can probably identify the Apostle (the church planter, the missionary, the entrepreneur). The Prophet? Thatās the one making everyone squirm. The Evangelist? Running ahead, scattering gospel seeds everywhere.
But the Teacher?
Thatās the one everyone respects and depends on, until they realize the Teacher has grounded them so deeply in doctrine that they forgot the world outside needs to hear it. Or has become so focused on theological precision that theyāve lost the relational warmth of the Gospel. Or have focused so much on the administration of the community, that the rest of the church has become overly dependent on their isolated leadership.
What Is a Teacher? (And No, Theyāre Not Just Bible Study Leaders)
Letās kill the bad teaching right now (no pun intended!):
A Teacher is a faithful researcher and/or communicator of Holy Scripture who creates contexts for validating, learning, understanding, contextualizing, and loving truth and wisdom, resulting in greater faithfulness and maturity of the body.
Hereās what that actually looks like:
ā
Explains Godās Word to equip the saints (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Titus 2)
ā
Reveals the Gospel throughout all of Godās Word (Col. 1:9-10)
ā
Grounds the mission in the Word and Truth (1 Tim. 1:5-7; 4:6)
ā
Facilitates learning of truth and a kingdom lifestyle (Rom. 12:7)
ā
Mentors on a personal level (2 Tim. 2:1-2; 3:10-15)
ā
Instructs, corrects, and trains in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Titus 2:15)
ā
Continues to expose false assumptions and reveal truth (2 Cor. 10:5; Titus 1:9)
ā
Authority comes from truth rather than position (Matt. 7:28-29)
The Problem: Undiscipled Teachers Are Dangerous
Hereās what happens when a Teacher lacks accountability and discipleship, sometimes diving so deeply into the Word that they never come up for air to actually live it out.
ā They create a culture of knowledge accumulation instead of obedience
ā They foster intellectual pride (āI know more than youā becomes their identity)
ā They value doctrinal purity so much that they resist the messy work of mission
ā They teach people ABOUT God instead of leading people TO God
ā They lose synergy with the rest of the Ephesians 4:11 team
An undiscipled Teacher is like a librarian who hoards books but never lets anyone check them out. Thereās a lot of wisdom, but little Kingdom impact.
Discipling the Teacher: Four Critical Areas
1. Their Uniqueness
The Reality:
Teachers have a radar for biblical accuracy. They can walk into a room and immediately sense when something is theologically off. Their love for Scripture isnāt manufactured; itās their default setting.
They remember verses.
They cross-reference.
They dig into the original languages.
They create frameworks where truth can be understood and applied.
š„ But hereās the tension.
š š š Their love for truth can become love for THEIR interpretation of truth or the interpretation of their theological tribe.
Teachers can unintentionally shift from āstewarding Godās Word for the body of Christā to āprotecting MY or A theological system from challenge.ā And they can rely more on monologue teaching of scripture instead of group or individual DISCOVERY of scriptural principles.
Your Action as a Discipler:
Acknowledge, appreciate, and bless their uniqueness.
Donāt try to make them more spontaneous or less analytical. Donāt make them feel guilty for not being excited about the ānew thingā everyoneās chasing. God wired them this way for a reason.
Your job is to help them steward their gift, while also allowing the body to self-discover truth through conversation and engagement.
PUT THEM TO WORK IN GROUNDING YOUR FAITH COMMUNITY IN SCRIPTURE AND SOUND DOCTRINE! AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO ALLOW OPEN DIALOGUE AND SELF-DISCOVERY.
āļø Tell them: āYour ability to explain and apply Godās Word is a gift from God. The Church needs your wisdom. And we need the ability to discuss and challenge based on our own discovery and study.ā
2. Their Presence
The Reality
Teachers can come across as dogmatic, rigid, or resistant to anything that doesnāt fit their theological framework. They can also lean to much on monologue and lecture in response to the years they have spent studying.
They ask questions like:
āBut is that biblical?ā
āWhereās the scriptural support for this?ā
āHave we really thought through the theological implications?ā
š„ And hereās the truth:
They donāt love mission less, they love TRUTH more.
They see the danger of building on a faulty foundation. They know that when you launch something without biblical grounding, people are going to be led astray. They feel the weight of that. And God designed them this way!
Your Action as a Discipler:
Help them understand that Truth and mission arenāt oppositesātheyāre partners. And that there are other methods of effective learning than just lecture.
Teachers need to learn that loving truth sometimes means releasing it into messy situations and organic teaching opportunities, not just preserving it in pristine theological boxes from the sage on the stage.
The most loving thing you can do is equip someone to live out the Word, even if their application isnāt perfectly systematic.
Think about it in Three-Thirds terms: They need to balance the āLOOK BACK (relationship), ā LOOK UP (truth), and LOOK FORWARD ā (application).
Teachers default to LOOK UP. Your job is to help them see that LOOK FORWARD is the purpose of truth.
š¤Æ Help them see that hoarding knowledge can be disobedience. And monologueing from the stage can be less effective. š¤Æ
3. Their Role
The Reality:
Weāve all been in that meeting. The Apostle is casting vision for rapid multiplication. The Evangelist is fired up about reaching the lost. The Shepherd is concerned about caring for people.
āļøThen the Teacher speaks up:
āBut are we grounded in Scripture? Whatās the biblical basis for this approach?ā
The room shifts uncomfortably. Someone says, āWe donāt have time for a Bible study right now.ā
š© The Teacher feels dismissed. Again.
Hereās what you need to understand.
ā The Teacher isnāt being a legalistic know-it-all; theyāre being faithful to their call.
ā¤ļøāš„ Theyāre reminding us that movements not grounded in truth will eventually collapse and lead people astray ā¤ļøāš„
The Hard Truth
š¤·š¼ Contemporary teachers are often put on a pedestal and idolized š¤·š¼
Theyāre made the central feature of the Sunday gathering.
š³ Theyāre revered, but also expected to do everything in the community, leading to overdependence and pressure to be perfect.
š„ EVENTUALLY, THEY BURN OUT! š„
Your Action as a Discipler:
You have TWO jobs
1. Help the Teacher stay connected to the mission by showing them how their gift serves multiplication. The Apostle will plant. The Prophet will keep them aligned to the will and word of God. The Evangelist will bring people in. The Shepherd will care for them.
š¤Æ But the Teacher will ensure theyāre actually grounded in truth and not just swept up in the latest trend.
2. Disciple the team to embrace the Teacherās wisdom, but not put too much pressure on their performance and overload them with responsibility. Challenge the impulsive leaders. Ask the hard question: āAre we building something thatās actually team-led, or are we just building something around a charismatic Bible teacher?ā
Key Principle
ā When the Teacher burns out, the community loses its pathway to biblical maturity! ā
When they speak, theyāre calling us back to why Jesus cameānot just to save souls, but to make disciples who obey everything He commanded. BUT, we must recognize that they are only 20% contributors to the effectiveness of the GREAT TEAM, and they need the rest of the team to help them stay grounded and fresh.
Donāt dismiss the theological grounding, however, donāt expect them to be the faith community CEO or Rock Star!
4. Their Recruitment
The Reality:
Teachers are often isolated. Theyāve been carrying the intellectual weight of defending truth and directing the church while the rest of the team moved on to the next exciting thing. AND they feel the pressure to be perfect and Holy as the central figure of the gathered church.
This makes them vulnerable to burnout!
They might not even know theyāre a Teacher. They just know they canāt stop thinking about the scriptural implications of every decision. They feel guilty for not being more excited about outreach events. They wonder why the community outreach felt less important than the deep study they did alone on Saturday and the staff meeting they led on Tuesday morning.
š„ Theyāre often running on fumes, feeling alone in their burden for truth and leadership.
Your Action as a Discipler:
Discipling the Teacher begins BEFORE they join the team.
Hereās what to look for through prayer and spiritual discernment:
š They naturally go deeper into Scriptureāthey remember theological details
š They create frameworks where complex truths become accessible
š They get more energized by deep study than by outreach events
š They feel a burden, almost a restlessness, for biblical accuracy and church health
š They ask, āIs this biblical?ā when others are asking, āWill this work?ā
When you find this person:
ā
Come alongside them as a team and donāt expect them to do EVERYTHING!
ā
Recognize and affirm how God has gifted them
ā
Give them permission to be who God made them to be
ā
Connect them to the larger missionāshow them theyāre not alone
ā
Share with them their Ephesians 4:11 role and their Uniqueness and Function
āļø And hereās the critical one:
Teach them that multiplication is the ultimate application of truth and the Jesus-patterned fruit of disciple-making.
The Teacherās greatest weakness is knowing without doing. Help them see that teaching truth means equipping people to obey it and pass it on. And walk alongside them in the administration of the community so they donāt get burned out.
ā¤ļø Teach AND ā šāā”ļø release.
How This Fits the DMC Pathway
In the Disciple-Making Collective, weāre committed to the Jesus pattern of disciple-making. That pattern includes all five Ephesians 4:11 roles working in alignment and partnership.
š§° Hereās where this hits our tools š ļø
In your X-Groups: Are you creating environments where people are grounded in truth, or are you just driving activity without biblical foundation?
In your Discipling Communities: Are you recognizing and deploying the teaching gift, or are you frustrated that āthose peopleā always want to slow down and ask theological questions?
In your Simple and House Churches: Are you practicing the 9 Behaviors of Church in a way that balances mission AND truth, or have you created a culture that values excitement over substance?
In IOI (Iron-on-Iron) coaching: Are you asking the hard question: āWho on your team is the Teacher, and are you listening to them?ā
Your Next Step
Hereās what I want you to do:
1. Identify the Teacher in your sphere.
Whoās the person who always asks about biblical support? Whoās concerned about theological accuracy? Who lights up when they talk about what they discovered in the Word? Who pushes back when things move too fast because āwe havenāt thought this through biblicallyā?
2. Pray for them.
Ask God to give you wisdom to disciple them well and to protect them from intellectual pride and isolation.
3. Release and support them.
Reach out this week. Tell them you see their gift. Tell them you want to help them steward it well. Tell them the Church needs their wisdom. Ask them what you can do to remove some of the leadership load of the church.
4. Connect their gift to the mission.
In your next Three-Thirds meeting, ask them: āWhat Scripture is God using to shape how we should move forward? How can we help you ground us AND multiply the truth?ā
āļø Drop a comment below:
Do you have a Teacher in your discipling community? How are you stewarding their gift? Or are you the Teacher who feels like your wisdom is dismissed?
Letās talk about it.
The body of Christ needs all five roles. Donāt dismiss the Teacher. Disciple them.
For more on building healthy discipling communities that include all the Ephesians 4:11 roles, check out the tools at disciplemakingcollective.com.
Hey, great read as always, your point about people being so committed to 'right doctrine' they forget to apply it really hit home becauze it's such a crucial bug in human interaction, not just spiritual contexts.