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The High Calling and Discipline of a Faithful Bible Teacher

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Good Bible teaching does not happen by accident. Behind every well-prepared lesson are countless hours of disciplined study, careful analysis, and serious reflection upon God’s word. It is not uncommon for dedicated Bible teachers to spend six to eight hours studying for every hour they teach. Think about that. Six to eight hours of preparation for a single hour of instruction. And this discipline comes after years of learning the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek, ancient and modern history, philosophy, culture, geography, and the many disciplines that comprise a sound theological education. Such preparation requires intellectual rigor, personal discipline, and a deep commitment to the truth of God’s word.

This is telling. I think anyone skilled at his craft, whether a professional athlete, actor, musician, luthier, medical doctor, or scientist, will spend thousands of hours learning his profession and decades afterward refining his skills. Research on expert performance has shown that mastery often requires thousands of hours of deliberate practice. One academic researcher and his colleagues studied accomplished musicians and found that the most advanced performers had accumulated approximately 10,000 hours of practice by age twenty.[1] Though no fixed number guarantees mastery, the research demonstrates the importance of sustained, disciplined effort over many years. Actor Anthony Hopkins once explained that he would read a script or rehearse individual scenes between 100 and 200 times before filming. Such repetition gave him confidence, mastery of his lines, and freedom to perform naturally.[2] That’s discipline. Excellence is not accidental. It is the fruit of years of preparation, countless hours of labor, and a determination to master one’s calling.

The pastor who is good at his trade, if I may call it that, faces a standard no less demanding. In fact, I believe it is higher, considering he is a doctor of souls. The physician labors for the health of the body, but the pastor labors for the spiritual well-being of men and women whose lives have eternal significance. Lewis Sperry Chafer described the pastor as a “doctor of souls,” ministering to Christians suffering from “some spiritual injury which sin has inflicted upon them.”[3] The pastor is not exempt from the same spiritual battles against the world, the flesh, and the devil. To be effective, he must know how to apply biblical truth to his own life and faithfully teach that truth to others. His primary responsibility is to teach sound doctrine so that Christians may advance toward spiritual maturity. As Chafer explained, “Though the pastor is a doctor of souls, his first responsibility to others is so to teach the members of his flock with regard to the whole subject of sin as related to the Christian, that they may themselves be able to diagnose their own troubles and apply intelligently to their own hearts the divine cure.”[4]

Like a physician or attorney, the pastor must devote years to formal education, specialized training, and the continued development of his knowledge and skills. Yet his responsibility extends beyond intellectual competence. He must also demonstrate spiritual maturity in his personal life. A pastor who teaches sound doctrine but consistently fails to apply it undermines his own credibility, much like a physician who warns his patients about the dangers of smoking while habitually smoking himself. His conduct becomes a contradiction of his message. Paul understood this when he instructed Timothy to “Be conscientious about how you live and what you teach” (1 Tim. 4:16 NET). The pastor’s life should give credibility to the doctrine he teaches, demonstrating that God’s word is both understood and applied. The lives of people, whether saved or unsaved, are directly affected by the pastor’s ability to share the gospel of grace and communicate God’s word with clarity, accuracy, and conviction. His responsibility is enormous, for he handles divine truth, and the consequences of his teaching extend far beyond the classroom or pulpit.

Those who possess positive volition toward God and His word can be blessed, both in time and eternity, by the truth they learn from the man God has called to study and communicate His word to others. A single doctrine, properly understood and faithfully applied, may strengthen a believer through years of adversity. A clear presentation of the gospel may be the means by which an unbeliever comes to possess eternal life. A faithful exposition of Scripture may correct years of erroneous thinking and establish a Christian in sound doctrine. Such is the extraordinary value of the pastor’s labor.

Such a calling demands years of preparation, thousands of hours of study, and a lifetime of continued learning and refinement. The faithful Bible teacher never reaches a point where he has mastered all that God has revealed. The more he learns, the more he recognizes the depths of divine truth and the need for continued study. His education does not end with a degree, nor does his preparation end when he steps behind the pulpit or into the classroom. He must return to his books, his lexicons, his grammars, and, above all, the sacred text itself. He studies because he must teach, and he teaches because God has entrusted him with His word.

I suspect very few people know or appreciate the demands that make for a good Bible teacher. They hear the finished lesson but seldom see the countless hours of preparation behind it. They receive the fruit of his labor without knowing the sacrifices that produced it. What is fascinating is that he often does his work with little appreciation, thankfulness, or compensation from those who benefit from his ministry. Yet the faithful pastor continues. He studies when no one is watching. He labors when no one applauds. He perseveres when his efforts seem unnoticed. His motivation rests upon something far greater than human recognition.

He knows whom he serves, and he knows who will reward him in the end. His attitude reflects that of the apostle Paul, who declared, “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). His work is done as unto the Lord, and the Lord Himself will evaluate his faithfulness. The approval of men is encouraging, but the approval of Christ is what matters most. And what greater reward could a faithful servant desire than to stand before his Savior, having spent his life studying, teaching, and defending the truth of God’s word, and hear those blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful slave” (Matt. 25:21).

That is the calling of a faithful Bible teacher. It is a life of study, sacrifice, discipline, and service. And for the man who truly loves the Lord and His word, it is a labor worthy of his best years, his finest energies, and his deepest devotion.

Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.

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[1] Ericsson, K. Anders, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Römer. “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.” Psychological Review 100, no. 3 (1993): 363-406, esp. 393-394. https://share.google/KIkAs57vtABIlsut1

[2] “Dialogue: Anthony Hopkins,” Backstage, March 25, 2013, https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/dialogue-anthony-hopkins-39713/

[3] Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1993), 325.

[4] Ibid., 325.