You ought to be teachers
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Hebrew 5:12)
There are, unfortunately, few instructions, either in assemblies or in everyday life which show how to be perfectly equipped for the work of the service. Instead of being nourished in order to develop to mature man, the faithful quench their thirst for years with a little milk. Because of the lack of solid food, they remain small children who have to be told what is allowed and what is not. Many have never heard of the solid food Jesus Christ invokes:
My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (John 4:34)
The blatant lack of solid spiritual food is above all attributable to those who proclaim the Word of God. Is it not their calling to make every man complete in Christ? Rather than consoling the assemblies with the milk of the elementary teaching of repentance, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment (cf. Hebrews 6:1-3), the apostles and their fellow workers have shown through their godly life how the fruit of the spirit (the virtues of Christ), such as: righteousness, truthfulness, gentleness, humility, compassion, etc., develops and unfolds in life.
We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to his power, which mightily works within me. (Colossians 1:28-29)
We do not serve God with beautiful speeches, great gatherings and rich collections, but by announcing what Jesus Christ has done and taught to make every man perfect and allow him to live a victorious and blessed life. The teachings of Christ bring happiness -heaven on earth- to all those who, according to the sermon on the mountain, are poor in spirit, gentle, righteous, merciful, pure, peacemakers. Not to proclaim this teaching of Christ in spirit and truth is to despise the Gospel. To proclaim Christ, admonish, teach and encourage every man, especially the believers, with wisdom and patience, with regard to their perfection, is the task of all servants of God.
But since faith comes by preaching, the Apostle Paul applied himself to proclaim the word of life with unfailing patience so that each one in particular learns to love and keep the teachings of Jesus Christ. To this he also exhorts Timothy:
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (2. Timothy 4:2)
It often takes time for the Word of God to bring forth that faith in hearts that make one understand that God with pleaser give grace and the power both to will and to work. But when the faith arouses that it will become so, we also become grateful and blessed.
Even in Paul's time, the sound doctrine was hardly tolerated. And today people love even more entertainment and fables; they admire such preachers whose words tickle their ears, more than the healing truth. This is why more and more communities are using professional preachers. Often servants, who according to their salary, work as little as possible, but travel around as much as possible. They like gladly to tell how useful they have been “in the assemblies they visited” and then console their gullible listeners with the promise: “You also will have eternal life through pure grace, without works”. But that Jesus invites those who want to follow him to deny them, to carry their cross and to abandon everything in order to advance on the narrow way that leads to life, is hardly mentioned by these mercenaries.
But if it happens that a faithful servant of God proclaims the evangelical truth and exhorts to love and to observe the commandments of Christ, some “Scribes and Pharisees” immediately arise and warn against a life of slavery and of self saving. Hence Paul's exhortation to Timothy:
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2. Timothy 4:5)
To fulfill the ministry perfectly means to proclaim Jesus Christ, “the way, the truth and the life” so as to give all men a desire for a life of victory. To receive the grace of God for both to will and to work, is itself the true gospel, the glorious good news, that Christ’ disciples have to proclaim; everything else is a side issue.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1. Peter 2:9)
Many people value virtues, but how many want to enrich themselves? And how many think of using Zeal? To achieve a goal, you need teachers and apprentices -students. Only when the teachers do their work with zeal and the students listen and work with zeal, there will be a good result. Hence this important exhortation:
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (2. Peter 1:5-7)