Lesson 5 | The Fourth Pass: Label, Part 2
Don't Trip over Your Tools
Although it is vital to become skilled at the tools of your trade if you want to be successful, it is also important not to leave your tools lying around your work area! If you don’t use them properly or organize them, you could trip yourself up and make yourself look stupid. Worse, you could injure yourself or other people.
Don’t be one of those people who brags about their knowledge of Greek, or Hebrew, or Phrasing! Don’t be one of those Sunday School teachers who acts like a sleeping pill to his class by talking about genitive relationships and subordinate phrases! That’s not your job!
When I bring my car to my mechanic, his job is to fix my car. I’m confident that he knows how to use his tools, but I also don’t want him to bore me to death in talking about them. I don’t want to hear him talk but see him work! And when people hear you teach—whether it is at church, at an institution of learning, your family during devotions, or a friend you’re having a conversation with—your job is to build them up, not reveal the extent of your knowledge.
Of course, this isn’t a perfect analogy, as our goal in teaching is not only to build people up by teaching the Word, but also to equip them to learn how to use the tools themselves. But it is important for us to know when we are doing what!
So be familiar with your tools, use them so well they get worn and nicked and stained, but don’t trip over them in the pulpit or classroom or living room.