Being Teachable
3/25/07
(The
following was used with a PowerPoint presentation, the asterisks
indicate slide changes.)
*Are
you teachable? - do you have a teachable spirit? Is your mind able to jump on
another train of thought and easily consider another’s point of view? Or is
your mind stuck . . . stuck on one track, one train of thought . . and the
switch from one track to another . . . doesn’t work, or it’s very slow!
*A
person who is teachable shows a great amount of integrity.
*Being
teachable is a spiritual virtue.
*Pr. 15:31 He who listens to a life-giving rebuke
will be at home among the wise. 32 He who ignores discipline
despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
*Pr. 18:13 He who
answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame.
*Pr.
9:9 Instruct a wise man and
he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
*Pr. 12:15 The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice.
*Hard
headed people are not teachable!
Know-it-alls are not teachable!
Scott
Peck uses a great illustration in “The Road Less Traveled.” Two
battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in
heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on
watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so
the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly
after dark, the lookout on the wing on the bridge reported, "Light,
bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving astern?"
the captain called out. Lookout replied, "Steady, captain," which
meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. the captain then
called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: We are on a collision course,
advise you change course 20 degrees." Back came a signal, "Advisable
for you to change course 20 degrees." The captain said, "Send, I'm a
captain, change course 20 degrees." "I’m a seaman second class,"
came the reply. You had better change course 20 degrees." By that time the
captain was furious. He spat out, "Send, I’m a battleship. Change course
20 degrees." Back came the flashing light, "I’m a lighthouse."
*1.
Being teachable means that I realize that my knowledge is incomplete and that
therefore, when I am in a disagreement with someone there is the slight
possibility that I might be wrong. Having a Teachable spirit is a freeing thing
-- it frees us from the overwhelming burden of always having to be right.
*2.
Being teachable means that we say things like, "Tell me more. I want to
understand your perspective."
"How do you see it?"
"What could we do differently? What do you suggest?" "I might be wrong in my opinion. What
do you think about it?"
In other words, we are fellow explorers of truth & life, and not just
debaters of positions.
*3.
Being teachable also means that we ask ourselves what can each person I come
into contact with teach me? (even if I think they’re out to lunch) What can I
learn from this person? Every person that God ever created has something to
teach us.
*4.
Being teachable means that I truly believe that God isn’t finished with me yet.
And therefore I offer myself to God in each and every circumstance to grow, to
learn, to be taught.
Non
teachable people would rather be entertained!
*Ez.
33:30 “As for you, son of man, your countrymen are
talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying
to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.’ 31My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before
you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice.
*With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are
greedy for unjust gain. 32Indeed, to them you are nothing more than
one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well,
for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.
If
we are not teachable we will not understand what God is doing in these days!
*1
Chr. 12:23 These are the numbers of the men armed for
battle who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him….32men
of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do….
*Is. 43:16 This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
17 who
drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
18 “Forget
the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
*19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
People
who are not teachable cannot easily learn something new!
Matthew, Mark and Luke all
have this parable, but Luke gives us some insight that the others don’t.
*Lk.
5:29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd
of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30But the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his
disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
*31
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I
have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
33They said to him, “John’s disciples often fast and
pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and
drinking.”
34Jesus answered, “Can you make the
*guests
of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35But the time will
come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will
fast.”
36He told them this
parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If
he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the
*patch
from the new will not match the old. 37And no one pours new wine
into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine
will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38No, new wine must
be poured into new wineskins. 39And no one after drinking old
wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
One of the greatest thorns in
Paul’s flesh was dealing with the so called converts from Judaism. They were not all that way, but many were.
* Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching
the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by
Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2This
brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them.
*Seven questions about your “Teach ability.”
*1.
Do you automatically think your ideas are best?
*2.
Do you seek counsel and seriously evaluate various options before making a
decision?
*3.
Can you think of a recent instance in which someone mentioned something you
could improve on? Are you working on it, or did it offend you?
*4.
Are you a good listener?
*5.
Are you defensive when someone gives you advice? Do you try to justify
yourself?
*6.
Do you discover changes that need to be made in your character from reading the
Word of God?
*7.
Do you have a questioning mind, rather than thinking you have all the answers
you need?
*Pride,
Self-sufficiency and A critical spirit are major barriers against being
teachable.
*Jo.
9:39 (The Message Bible) Jesus then said, “I came into the world to bring
everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so
that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense
of seeing will be exposed as blind.”
*Some
Pharisees overheard him and said, “Does that mean you’re calling us blind?”
Jesus
said, “If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to
see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.
*A
teachable person must be a good listener!
*Ja.
1:19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone
should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry….
*Ec. 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near
to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that
they do wrong. 2 Do
not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything
before God. God is in heaven and you
are on earth, so let your words be few.
*We
so often miss the “teachable moments.”
*Pr. 8:34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.
“Watching
daily at my doors,” is not about looking for Jesus’ return but watching for the
opportunities to learn from God--through life’s daily experiences.
*There
is a big difference between having a “curiosity” toward God as opposed to
having a “sustained desire” for understanding.
Curiosity is short lived.
*Pr. 2:1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 turning
your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
3 and if
you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
4 and if
you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then you
will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
*Blank
There
is an old story about a student who comes to a master and asks him to teach him.
The master invites the student to sit with him and have tea. While they are
sitting, the master starts to converse with the eager young student. But every
time the master starts to explain a point, the student would interrupt him and
say, "Oh, I know that, I do this when that happens, or I don't have that
problem because. . . ." Soon the master stopped talking and picked up the
teapot. He began pouring tea into the student's cup. As the cup filled, he
continued pouring until the cup overflowed and spilled out. The student
shouted, "Stop! It is enough! My cup is full!" With that, the old
master smiled and replied, "Yes, your cup is full, therefore I can teach
you nothing until you empty your cup."
A teachable person makes
application of what he learns.
*Mk.
4:22 (The Living Bible) “All that is now hidden will someday come to light. 23If
you have ears, listen! 24And be sure to put into practice what you
hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand what I tell you.
*Blank
A genuinely teachable person
understands how much they need Jesus!