We desperately need an army of Effective Bible Teachers. What is an Effective Bible Teacher?

An Effective Bible Teacher teaches so that people live according to the Bible. Effective Bible Teachers create doers of the Word and not hearers only. Effective Bible Teachers make disciples.

Effective Bible Teachers result in classes that pray, people who serve, and individuals who read their Bibles and follow what it says.

Effective Bible Teachers create people who love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Effective Bible Teachers lead people to know their spiritual gifts and serve according to their gifting. Effective Bible Teachers teach people to abide in Christ.

Effective Bible Teachers love the people in their group. They hang out with them. They serve them. They have them in their homes. They are with them.

Effective Bible Teachers lead people to love. They lead people to lay down their lives in service to others. They lead people to care.

Effective Bible Teachers lead people to love the Word as they love the Word. The Psalmist said it is sweeter than honey. In another place, “Oh how I love your law.” It was not mere duty and obligation. It was a delight.

Effective Bible Teachers make a difference. Their classes are different because of the way they teach. Their people are different because of their influence on the lives of individual members. Their corner of the world is different because it is infected by people who are salt and light.

People who listen to Effective Bible Teachers love it. They can feel their hearts changed each week as they are exposed to the effective teaching of the Word of God. They look forward to getting together. They rarely miss.

When they are in the group, they don’t look at their watches. They don’t fiddle with their keys. They don’t day-dream. They are engaged, interested, thinking, participating, disagreeing. They often find themselves with their hand up. Sometimes they blurt out things because they just feel they have to participate. They have experienced the truth of the Proverb that says:

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive. Proverbs 15:2a (HCSB)

The Living Bible is characteristically fresh:

A wise teacher makes learning a joy. Proverbs 15:2 (TLB)

Things are quite different in the group that does not have an Effective Bible Teacher. Attendance is sporadic. People often arrive late. They look at their feet a lot. There is not much energy in the room. People rarely speak up unless called upon. They never write anything down.

We need an army of Effective Bible Teachers. It does not matter if they teach in a home group or in an on-campus Sunday School class. What matters is that the teacher is an Effective Bible Teacher. It doesn’t matter if they lead a children’s class or an adult class. Obviously, specific methods would have to be different in each case. What matters is that the teaching is effective.

Josh Hunt, The Effective Bible Teacher (Josh Hunt, 2013).