Say No to Being Average

A Bible teacher in Tennessee corresponded with me and said he wants to improve his teaching so he's "right about the middle of the pack. I don't want to stick out as weird or really bad, just in the middle."

NO!

Great Bible teachers, the ones whom God is using to change lives, who understand teaching as a ministry, must say NO! to being average.

Don't settle, dear teacher, but keep stretching forward. Don't settle for the dull, lifeless questions in the study guide someone told you to teach from. Pester the Lord until He gives you the perfect questions for your class, this week.

Don't settle for lessons that leave people sleeping and anxious to be anywhere else. Find ways to engage the class, right from the start -- hook a nerve with your opening, and leave them with powerful application opportunities.

Don't think about how to occupy their thoughts for 60 minutes. Think about how to have the Word of the Lord occupy their hearts for 60 years, and then stretching away into eternity!

When does God honor the people in the Bible for being average, middle of the pack? Jesus condemns the lukewarm in Revelation 3:16! I don't see anyone listed in Hebrews 11, the great pantheon of faith heroes, who are commended for being average.

Honor God, reject passivity, seek to teach to change lives! It matters little what happened yesterday or last week. Start today.