3 Convictions You Need to Have before You Teach the Bible
Confidence in God’s Word
If you’re just getting started teaching the Bible, this is the first thing I want to put in your mind: beginning preachers and teachers (and experienced ones too!) need confidence in God’s word.
Anyone who is going to teach the Bible needs real conviction that God acts through the proclamation of his word. Additionally, you need confidence in the Holy Spirit. You need to trust that the Spirit can overcome any opposition to his word in the hearts of your hearers and you need to trust that he can empower you to overcome any fear you may have in proclaiming his word.
How Can I Begin to Teach the Bible?
David R. Helm
In this short, accessible guide, pastor David Helm provides proven, easily applicable tips for creating and communicating memorable, gospel-centered messages.
You Need Right Convictions
Teaching the Bible well starts with confidence in God’s word. But you also need a set of godly convictions. Three particular convictions are a good start: (1) the Bible is God’s word, (2) prayer is a must, and (3) the local church is one of God’s greatest gifts.
Conviction 1: The Bible is God’s word. Having right convictions about the Bible is essential to teaching it faithfully.
To illustrate what I mean let’s take a look at some ART:
A (author)
R (reader)
T (text)
If you’re going to teach the Bible faithfully you need to understand ART, that is, you need
to understand how the authors (A) of the text (T) of Scripture relate to the readers (R) of Scripture.
Some Bible teachers mistakenly believe that the text (T) of Scripture is nothing more than a collection of human writings. They think the Bible only provides us with a centuries-old “history of God.” Other teachers believe that God had a hand in writing the Bible, but that over time human hands corrupted it. As a result readers (R) must discover God’s message for us in Scripture by separating the wheat of truth from the chaff of error. In other words, it’s up to the readers (R) to establish what the Bible really says.
But do you see the problem with that line of reasoning? If you treat the Bible as a mixed bag of truth and error, then you’re really not submitting to its authority because you can always discount or ignore any parts that challenge or trouble you. Unless you’re convinced that the Bible is God’s word, then the reader (R) of the text (T) is the final authority on what the Bible says and what the author (A) has to teach us.
In contrast, the Bible asserts that it is nothing less than the authoritative, inerrant word of God: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).
Faithful Bible teachers should believe what Scripture says about itself:
- God is Scripture’s ultimate author (A).
- Therefore, the original text (T) is inerrant, authoritative, and infallible.
- Therefore, we the readers (R) are never free to ignore any part of Scripture or find meanings in Scripture which simply aren’t there.
To put it differently, your conviction needs to be that the authors (A) were carried along by the Spirit of God (2 Pet. 1:21), that the text (T) has not been corrupted, and that the reader (R) must only teach what accords with the sound doctrine of the author’s intention.
By way of encouragement, let me suggest to you that in my experience those who share these beliefs become the types of people God uses to win men and women to faith in Jesus and to build up the body of Christ.
If you’re going to teach Scripture well, you need to hold the conviction that you’re teaching nothing less than God’s authoritative, inerrant word.
Conviction 2: Prayer is a must. Faithful Bible teachers not only believe that the Bible is God’s word, they believe in the necessity of prayer— both for their preparation and their presentation.
Certainly, ordinary reading strategies will help you understand God’s word. But spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). We must depend on the ministry of the Holy Spirit to properly understand the Bible. If the Spirit does not give us understanding, even the best presentation will never be able to make up for our ignorance.
If anything good comes out of our teaching ministry, it’s not because we’re so gifted and clever. God’s word and Spirit are producing the spiritual fruit. In fact, I have seen God do wonderful things even when my own exegesis was flawed and my presentation was faulty. As Bible teachers demonstrate a reliance on God in prayer, God honors their hard work with the attending power of his Spirit.
Before you even begin the preparation process, prayer must come first. In my life, I ask God to help me understand the passage. I ask him to help me submit my life to everything that I discover while studying his word. Further, I ask him to work powerfully in my presentation. I would encourage you to join me in this conviction and in these prayers. Exhibit humility before God by living out the conviction that prayer is a must.
Conviction 3: The local church is one of God’s greatest gifts. Often someone has the desire to teach the Bible before ever having an opportunity to do so. Like most things in life, aspiration precedes action. That said, an aspiring Bible teacher shouldn’t ever set out on his own. Charting your own course simply based on your desires and aspirations is spiritually dangerous.
You need a local church.
The local church formally recognizes us as belonging to Christ and teaches us to obey everything that Jesus commanded. The local church is where we witness God’s word faithfully taught by pastors who are “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2). It’s also the place where we see obedience to God’s word modeled.
If you want to know how to begin teaching the Bible, the local church is the school in which you are trained. After all Christ established local churches to be the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15). So if you desire to teach, you need to be nurtured in a local church under the authority of godly elders. Specifically, the local church is essential for your growth as a teacher because it both (1) assesses your competence and (2) appoints you to teaching roles.
Anyone who is going to teach the Bible needs real conviction that God acts through the proclamation of his word.
Think about your need for assessment. When I went to college, I got involved in a wonderful, Bible-teaching church. The pastoral staff took an interest in me, and eventually I did an internship under the associate pastor. He put me to work and even gave me a few opportunities to teach and lead in some smaller settings. Those opportunities, safely tucked away from the limelight, were invaluable. They allowed me to try my hand at Bible teaching around people who loved me and gave me honest feedback. They told me how to improve and instructed me on how I could handle God’s word more faithfully. In short, they assessed my readiness to teach the Bible.
But that local church did more than simply assess my abilities. They appointed me to the work of teaching. Having helped me develop the ability to teach and having assessed that I was able to effectively handle God’s word, they gave me more and more public teaching opportunities and encouraged me to continue in that work.
This church was patient with me, encouraging me along this path even when I failed. I will never forget one of my first sermons in a church service. Kent Hughes was my pastor. He gave me the opportunity to preach, even as he sat in the pews listening attentively. From the response I had gotten from friends and congregants, I thought I had done quite well.
A few days later, Kent invited me into his office to provide some feedback. I will never forget what he said: “David, that was a fine sermon, and helpful to many. But I couldn’t help but feel that you didn’t quite tell us what the text was actually trying to convey.” Looking back on it, that hour with him was incredibly formative. Rather than being discouraged, it lit a fire under me to develop and grow. I wanted to make progress—and the local church was my greatest gift in doing so. I want that for you too!
So join a healthy, gospel-believing church that teaches the Bible. Don’t ask to teach a Bible study on day one. Start serving the church and encouraging people with Scripture in whatever informal opportunities the Lord provides. Submit yourself to the elders and ask them to assess your preaching and teaching gifts. Don’t be a self-appointed teacher. Look for the church and its leaders to give you teaching opportunities at the right time. Wait patiently for them to appoint you to preach or teach. A mentoring relationship in the context of the local church is indispensable to discerning if the role of Bible teacher is right for you.
This article is adapted from How Can I Begin to Teach the Bible? by David R. Helm.
Related Articles
10 Key Bible Verses on Ministry
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. . . .”
Dear Pastor . . . Let Christ Preach
If preaching isn’t simply transferring data or trying to make people feel something through our charisma, what is it?
Dear Pastor . . . Don’t Settle for the Status Quo in Your Preaching
We take up our call to the ministry believing the gospel is the power of God for salvation. Fatigue, fear, and even temptations to doubt the message we are preaching can cut the nerve of our zeal.
Listening Well to Preaching Is a Spiritual Discipline
We need to listen well—attentively and prayerfully—remembering that as our pastor preaches the word, it is the Lord who is speaking.
