Able to Teach: The Pastor’s Passion, Precision, and Power in the Pulpit

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Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. -- 1 Timothy 3:2–3 (ESV)

The list of qualifications for pastors includes qualities that every Christian should strive for, except for one. There is only one quality that pastors must have--that is not required of every other Christian. It is the ability to teach. What we often refer to as the “preaching gift” is actually the gift of teaching. If you do a study of the New Testament, you will find that there is no actual “gift of preaching.” Pastors are gifted with the ability to teach. So what does it mean to be “able to teach?” Every pastor has a different degree of gifting when it comes to their ability to teach. There are different definitions for what it means to be “able to teach,” but I like to define the gift as having passion, precision, and power to study and teach God’s word.

Passion

Passion is the desire to teach. Passion is not necessarily being loud or yelling, but passion means you actually have the desire to teach God's word. If you feel like it's a pain to teach God's word, or if you don't want to, then you probably don't have the gift of teaching. So there's a passion to teach God's word.

Precision

Precision refers to the clear and accurate interpretation of Scripture. If every single time you get up to teach, you misinterpret the Spirit-inspired word, or if you are consistently unclear, then you’re probably not gifted with the ability to teach. The Spirit is not going to give blessing to false interpretation, even if it's just a well-meaning simple mistake. Precision distinguishes spiritually gifted teachers from great communicators in the Christian world who aren't really teaching the Word of God — meaning, they might be dynamic communicators but they’re not really saying what the Word of God is saying.

Power

You can have plenty of people who have passion and precision. But one aspect of being able to teach that I don't always experience in every moment of my own teaching is power. Power is the ability to teach the Word of God, where people are convicted. It’s the manifestation that it's not you, but it's God speaking through you. The powerful impact of biblical teaching is something that only the Holy Spirit can bring. It’s an anointing upon the lips -- an unction-- that happens only when the Spirit is working. You can't plan it, you can't study for it. You can’t manuscript it. But you can only be on your knees, praying for it.

Certain teachers preach or teach with greater power than others. I'm the least compared to the teachers you listen to on the radio or the people who lead really big churches. They're very powerful teachers. They're very gifted. So I learned a long time ago not to compare and not to be envious. That's an example of the different degrees of God's gifting and sovereign distribution when it comes to the gift of teaching.

Character Over Competence

Remember, when you desire to serve God, you need to be qualified in terms of character. God looks at character over competence. We know this to be all the more true because of the recent moral failure we’ve seen of Christian leaders within evangelicalism. God cares more about character than competence. Don't let anybody tell you that competence matters more. Because you can have the most gifted people in the world, if they disqualify themselves, they're out, right? So it's all about character. Godly character combined with Spirit-empowered gifting brings great blessing to the church.

Develop Your Gifts and Pray for the Spirit’s Power

When someone says they want to be a pastor, the first thing we look at is an observation of their character. We try to get references. And then they have to guest teach. We need to see them teach and at least see that there's passion, precision, and some degree of power. The empowerment of the Spirit is what separates the Spirit-filled proclaimer of God's word who has the spiritual gift of teaching from the average school teacher who is skilled in teaching. The spiritual gift of teaching does need to be developed. It takes time, and I myself am still working on it. I don't think I have a strong gift. I can keep studying and I can keep reading. I need to grow. But I know that of all things, I need to pray for the Spirit's power.