The Teacher - the Ox

The first animal like a lion, the second like an ox, the third with a human face, the fourth like an eagle in flight. (Rev 4:7)

In this picture, the lion represents the apostle, with authority, a picture and sent one of the King. The human face stands for the pastor, connecting with people. The eagle, with its sight, reminds us of the prophet.

But the oxen? It tills the ground, with perseverence and strength. Just like the teacher.

My former Nature

Before I became a Christian, and frankly a long time afterward, let's face it, still to some degree I am a nerd. What is this:

Wikipedia sais it very good:

Nerd is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities or esoteric knowledge rather than engaging in more social activities, such as organized sports. Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers.

Another word to put it again in Wikipedias words, is geek:

The definition of geek has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive modern meaning. Here are some of the many definitions:

• A person who is interested in technology, especially computing and new media. Most geeks are adept with computers, and treat the term hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves.
• A person who relates academic subjects to the real world outside of academic studies; for example, using multivariate calculus to determine how they should correctly optimize the dimensions of a pan to bake a cake.A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance.
• A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as "geeky" is heavily debated. Persons have been labelled as or chosen to identify as mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephile), comic book geeks, theatre geeks, history geeks, gamer geeks, music geeks, art geeks, philosophy geeks, and literature/rp geeks.

Maybe you will enjoy these articles to see what I mean: The Nerd Handbook, and A Nerd in a Cave, or The Two Types of Programmers.

But I am not there anylonger, or less and less. How is that?

(Rom 12:2) Don't be like the people of this world, but let God change the way you think. Then you will know how to do everything that is good and pleasing to him.

Rom 8:11-14 Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit. (12) My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. (13) If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires. (14) Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children.

Silas the Scribe

(1Pe 5:12) Silvanus helped me write this short letter, and I consider him a faithful follower of the Lord. I wanted to encourage you and tell you how kind God really is, so that you will keep on having faith in him.

Silvanus, or with his aramaic name Silas, helped Peter write his first letter. He also was at the apostolic council in Acts 15. Maybe he wrote the letter for the churches there, as he was chosen to deliver it to the churches. He was also known as prophet and encourager of the church.

Silas traveled with Paul and Peter. He helped them found churches and encourage them. Maybe he was a scribe by profession. But for sure he was somebody that supported the vision of other people.

This is another secret to grow into your calling: support somebody else's vision.

Being in the right Place

Act 18:24-26 Meanwhile, a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker with a thorough knowledge of the Tanakh. (25) This man had been informed about the Way of the Lord, and with great spiritual fervor he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Yeshua, but he knew only the immersion of Yochanan. (26) He began to speak out boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of God in fuller detail.

After finding the right place, where God wanted me to be, there came a whole new dimension about growing into my calling as a teacher. I found the people that could explain the Way of God in fuller detail to me.

It is so important to be at the right place. What is the right place though? As Weinberg, an Information Science guru, said: "no matter what the problem is, it's always a people problem." If this holds true for computers, how much more for faith! It's all about people.

Therefore, the right place has a lot to do with relationships, in all directions. Do you have somebody fathering you, investing his life in you, even correcting you to bring you on, even further then he himself would go? Do you have a leadership with complementing gifts (Eph 4:11ff) and talents? Are there people you can invest yourself in?

Obviously there is another requirement for the right place: am I getting fed? Is the Word of God taught? If not, who would on free will go eat in a bad restaurant again?

The Teacher

Mat 13:52 He said to them, "So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old."

Every teacher, writer, scribe or secretary that has taken grasp of the Kingdom of God spreads from his storage room, his treasure, the wealth that God provided in him by means of the gift deposited in him both trusted and well known doctrine as much as revelatory prophetic new insight into the Word of God. And he does that in season and out of season.

A scribe started to be taught in his profession in Israel of old at the age of 14 and finished his apprenticeship at the age of 40. They were responsible for new copies of the biblical scrolls and well able to teach the law. As it was most important when copying the Bible not to change a Yota, they at the time of Jesus as we know tended to follow the letter of the law more then its spirit.

I personally started my Bible studies when I entered boarding home at the age of 14 and 4 months. We were allowed to read the Bible during study hours (2.5 hours daily) after having done our home work. So I read a lot.

With 40 years and 4 months I joined my church "Lebendiges Wasser", knowing that I had been placed where God wanted me to be. All up to this point was preparatory.

Growing into the call and office of a teacher, I'm searching the Lord so I can from the treasure he provided me pass out the new and the old.

I recommend the book by Mark Stibbe, "The Teacher's Notebook", on the subject for everybody that either is called to be a teacher in the body of Christ or has to work together with them.