The Church as a School

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. - 2 Timothy 2:2 HCSB

“I don’t need to attend church.” Some claim. “I can stay home and read my Bible. The Holy Spirit Himself teaches me.” They’ll even quote, “The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in Him.”[1]

However, just as they misquote Christ’s reference to a beit din[2], these same folk also take John’s words out of context. John was warning against those who would try to deceive and was urging us to rely on the Holy Spirit’s ability to remind us of Christ’s teachings.[3] In this, he was leaning on the Master’s promise that when we will be handed over for the Great Persecution we will not need to worry about how we should speak or what we should say. The Holy Spirit will give us the right turn of phrase at that hour and we will not be speaking but the Spirit will be speaking through us.[4] He will be so effective that none of our adversaries will be able to resist or contradict our message.[5]

However, this passage cannot be misconstrued as authorization to escape the proper chain of command. Paul urged young pastor Timothy to give attention to public reading, exhortation and teaching. “Do not neglect the gift that is in you;” he said, “it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.”[6] Did you notice how Timothy received his authority?

Ongoing discipleship and teaching holds a central part of the Lord’s Great Commission.[7] That chain of custody was passed on by the authority of the Father to the Son, to the apostles, to the elders of the first century assemblies and on through, in an unbroken chain to today. What each pastor heard and was taught, was in turn taught to other faithful men who then continued teaching others also.

A crucial part of this process is the authority of the called out leaders of each local assembly to teach, reprove, rebuke, correct and train according to the Word of God.[8] It is their responsibility to rebuke false teachers and sinning sheep sharply so that they may be sound in the faith.[9] However, their actions must be “consistent with sound teaching”[10].

There’s the rub. Without regard to the warning about teachers being judged by higher standards,[11] some wolves still desire to cut a few sheep out of the herd so that they can devour them at their leisure.[12] They just want to voice their opinions and live however they like.

“Woe to those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who are wise in their own opinion and clever in their own sight.”[13]




[1] 1 John 2:27
[2] Matthew 18:20
[3] John 14:26-27
[4] Matthew 10:17-20
[5] Luke 21:15
[6] 1 Timothy 4:13-16
[7] Matthew 28:19-20
[8] 2 Timothy 3:16
[9] Titus 1:13; 2:15
[10] Titus 2:1
[11] James 3:1
[12] 1 Timothy 1:7; 2 Peter 2:1-3
[13] Isaiah 5:20-21