Teaching is biblical

🎯 Objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

• explain what it means to teach and to educate, and why we need both;
• recognize in the Bible the command to pass on the faith to the next generation;
• see your service as a teacher as a calling and a responsibility before God.

📖 Receive

Read these two passages slowly. The first is addressed to the parents of the people of Israel, the second to a young servant of God:

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” — Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (KJV)

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” — 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

Notice the order in the first passage: first the Word must be in the heart of the one who teaches; only then can it be passed on to the children.

🔍 Examine

Two words that say a lot

We often use “teach” and “educate” as synonyms, but their roots describe two different sides of the same service.

Teaching (in Italian insegnare, from the Latin for “to mark”) carries the idea of engraving, of leaving a mark. Whoever teaches impresses a truth on the mind and heart, like a seal on wax. Educating comes from the Latin and carries the idea of leading out, of guiding: it is the patient work of someone who walks alongside a person so that what they have received develops and bears fruit.

The two actions need each other. Teaching that does not educate remains a mere fact; education without content remains a good feeling without roots.

Informing and forming Informing means passing on knowledge: who David was, what happened at Pentecost. Forming means helping the listener become a new person, shaped by those truths. Sunday school is not an hour of ancient history: it is a place where faith takes shape.

Evangelizing and helping to grow

Christian education involves two movements. The first is evangelism: presenting Jesus Christ, his love and his call to children and young people. The second is growth: helping believers know the Lord better and better and live as disciples. A good teacher holds both together. They do not take for granted that every child in the class knows the Lord, and they do not stop at the first proclamation.

The command to pass on the faith

In the Old Testament, teaching children was not optional: it was a command. Deuteronomy 6 asks parents to speak of God’s Word at every moment of the day, sitting at home and walking along the road, in the evening and in the morning. Psalm 78 (vv. 4-7) adds a long-term perspective: the works of the Lord must be told to the coming generation, so that the children put their trust in God and in turn tell them to their own children.

Proverbs returns to the same theme:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)

This proverb is not an automatic guarantee, because every person remains responsible for their own choices. But it expresses a truth of wisdom: what is sown with love and consistency in childhood leaves a deep imprint for the whole of life.

Jesus and the apostles taught

In the New Testament, teaching is at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. The Gospels show him teaching in synagogues, on the mountain, from a boat, along the road; Luke recalls that by day he taught in the temple (Luke 21:37). The apostle Paul, too, reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and sought to persuade Jews and Greeks (Acts 18:4).

Before returning to the Father, Jesus gives his disciples a commission that includes teaching: make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all that he has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Teaching, then, is not a second-class ministry: it is part of the very mission of the Church.

Scripture, the teacher’s tool

Paul reminds Timothy that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine (what is true), for reproof (what is wrong), for correction (how to get back on the right path) and for instruction in righteousness (how to keep walking on it). It is a true educational journey. The Christian teacher does not bring mainly their own ideas into the classroom, but God’s Word, explained in a way suited to those who listen.

A child needs an adult’s hand

A child does not grow up alone. They need someone to take them by the hand, explain things to them, set them an example. That is why God entrusts parents and the community with a real responsibility. Whoever teaches in Sunday school, or leads a group of young people, becomes for a stretch of the road one of those hands.

The chain of generations

The Bible describes teaching as a chain passed from hand to hand. No link is enough on its own: each one receives, lives and hands on. The diagram sums up the path we have seen in this lesson’s passages.

flowchart LR
  A["God reveals himself"] --> B["The Word in the teacher's heart"]
  B --> C["Teaching: leaving a mark"]
  C --> D["Educating: guiding growth"]
  D --> E["A disciple who lives the Word"]
  E --> F["Who in turn teaches others"]
  F -.-> B

The dotted arrow going back is the key point: the goal of Christian teaching is not only to have students who know, but disciples who will one day become “the adult’s hand” for someone else. This is the logic of 2 Timothy 2:2.

	Informing	Forming
Goal	That the student knows	That the student grows
Guiding question	“What should they remember?”	“Who should they become?”
Tool	Explanation	Explanation, example, relationship
Evidence	They answer the questions	Their way of living changes

A real-life case Luke has taught 10-12 year olds for years. His lessons are accurate, but he notices that the young people remember the facts without connecting them to their lives. He decides to close every session with a single question: “What changes for you this week?”. A few months later two of them tell him, unprompted, how they tried to put the lesson into practice at school. The content is the same: what changed is the goal.

🔗 Connect

The theme of teaching runs through the whole of Scripture:

• Ezra 7:10: Ezra sets his heart to study the Law, to do it and to teach it. First we study, then we live, finally we teach.
• 2 Timothy 1:5 and 3:14-15: Timothy’s faith came through his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice, who made him know the Scriptures from childhood.
• 2 Timothy 2:2: what Timothy received must be entrusted to faithful people able to teach others. It is a chain of generations.
• Mark 10:13-16: Jesus welcomes the children, takes them in his arms and blesses them.

As in the BereaWay Method, the path is the same here: receive the Word, examine it carefully, connect it to life, and then pass it on.

🙏 Apply

Take a few minutes, on your own or with your teaching team:

1. Who was “the adult’s hand” in the faith for you? What do you remember about the way they taught?
2. In your ministry, do you tend more to inform or to form? What could you change in your next lesson?
3. Deuteronomy 6 says the Word must first be in your heart. How are you nourishing your spiritual life at the moment?
4. Thank the Lord, in your own words, for the children or young people he has entrusted to you, calling them by name.

📚 Go Deeper

• Read Deuteronomy 6:1-9 and Psalm 78:1-8: underline every verb connected with passing on.
• Read 2 Timothy 1:3-7 and 3:14-17 and note what made Timothy’s faith solid.
• Think of a moment in the week, besides Sunday, when you could encourage a student or their family.

In the next lesson we will see what pedagogy is, where this word comes from and what we can learn from it without losing a biblical vision.