28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
The gift of teaching is communicating the truth of the Bible to other people. This gift, of course, begins with understanding Scripture ourselves. We cannot communicate what we do not know. Someone with this gift will be someone who studies the Bible, who meditates on it, who reads books about it, and who grasps the content of the Bible for themselves. Someone who knows nothing cannot be a good teacher.
Then having grasped in greater or lesser measure the teaching of Scripture, this person will communicate that teaching to others. Now, there is a host of ways in which the gift of teaching can be exercised. It is exercised from the pulpit. Christ gives the church men who are qualified and able to communicate his Word and to teach. It is exercised in a Sunday School class, a Church Youth Society, or in campaigners as young people are taught. Those who are responsible for them, who have been entrusted to their welfare by the church, have a duty to communicate to them the teaching of the Word of God. It might be in leading a study group. It might be just sitting down one‑to‑one and talking with a friend about the teaching of Scripture, explaining to them even very informally what you understand of God’s truth. Some people teach by writing; not the spoken word but the written word. God has given them the ability to put down on paper the teaching of God’s Word. So, there are many, many ways in which the teaching gift can be exercised. But it means communicating the teaching of the Bible in an accurate, clear, attractive way, so that people are both interested and understand what you are saying. If someone then has the gift of teaching, they will be able to communicate the Bible or parts of it in an accurate, clear, interesting, and memorable way.
There is something more than that. This is where biblical teaching differs in a way from ordinary teaching because biblical teaching is always related to real life. Biblical teaching is always aimed at producing change; it has a practical purpose. The gifted teacher will be used to bring about change in those who listen to him or her.
This gift is given to both men and women. The spheres in which they are called to exercise this gift are different in some cases, but the gift is equally given to men and women in the body of Christ. Of course, in a way, the most important and most fundamental arena for teaching is the family. Every parent has been called by God to be a teacher of their children. Every father and mother—it is your enormous privilege to be the main channel by which God’s truth enters your children’s lives.1
Edward Donnelly
11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.