I always find it interesting when other people try to teach me things. I recently had a conversation with a gentleman who was trying to teach me about my car. He was passionate and clearly wanted to impart knowledge he knew about my car, becasue he thought I did not know it. After his teaching was over, I thanked him for the knowledge and tried to gently let him know I already knew what he was try to tell me. This got me thinking about what it means to be teachable.
See, we have this idea that being teachable means that we must be open and learn from every single person that wants to speak into our lives. We think being teachable is, in humility, sitting at the feet of every teacher and learning from every single person that wants to impart knowledge to us. This is not want it means to be teachable. Being teachable means that we are humble and open to learn from others and learn from the community of saints. Yes, there are people that we all must be open to learning and growing from. God has given Elders and teachers to the church for the equipping and growing of the saints. So we all must be humble and teachable from the leaders that God has placed over us in our churches. For me personally this means I must be open to what many of my peers have to say, my professors, and former elders in my life. But being teachable though, does not mean I have to be open to learn from everyone.
The Bible tells us that we must be wise as serpents and as gentle as doves. This means that every person must be discerning and knows what is good, healthy truth, and what is false, heretical lies. So for my life personally I am gentle and humble in how I learn and even how I respond to those who try to teach me. But I am also discerning and I reject what is wrong and tune out those who do not know the truth, even as they try to teach me. I must respond in gentleness and love, but this does not mean I have to learn from them.
So the point in all of this is, as Christian we all must be humble and open to learn from others. We especially must be open and learning from the leaders God has placed over us in our lives. But we do not have to be open and learn from every single person. We need great wisdom and discernment, which only truly come from God, and learn from those who will lead us to growth and depth of God and His character. We all must be learners, but we do not have to be learners of all. So do we discern what is truth and what is not? And do we then learn from those who speak the truth and silently tune out those who do not? We all must be discerning teachable students of the Word and those who speak the truth from the Word, but not teachable students from all.
I find that I look for opportunities to be taught things. in my job there are some who may not have been there as long as me, but their work history and experience is different than mine. I look for times when I can ask their opinion or if they will tech me things.....such as a better way to read an EKG. People are always eager to help when they know a need a present. My boss has a book for me to study more on interpretation of the EKG she will lend me. For this kind of teaching I am grateful.
ReplyDeleteThis also goes for the church. I got into a discussion with someone recently who doesn't understand my desire to learn and read and study so much. I was told "Tammy, you don't have to know everything.....we will know it all when we get to heaven". This is unacceptable to me. I don't think that is a good way to look at what we can learn and know while on earth. Yes, we may know it all in heaven, but for now, on earth, we have obligations to God also.
I like how you say we can be teachable without being taught by everyone. i agree that being teachable is being humble. Humbling to God and humbling ourself to realize we don't know it all. Being mature is recognizing we have much more to learn. I knew someone once who felt he didn't need to know any more of the Bible because his wife taught Sunday school for 30 years.....or some High number like that. He felt he couldn't learn anymore. What a shame. This is not being humble or teachable. It's pride and there's no room for pride in our walk with God.