Being willing to grow in grace and knowledge.
by Mike Wallace
She came in late to the weekly adult Bible study class and found a seat after we welcomed her. She quickly began participating in the question-and-answer session.
We enjoyed having someone new join us — until she started taking over the class. She delivered a diatribe about a gospel of Jesus that was not part of the Bible. She had her own interpretation and wanted everyone to quickly convert to her spurious message.
When the woman found no one was taken in by her ramblings, she got up and left. It was clear that she had come to teach her views, rather than be humbly taught by the truth being shared in the study group.
Unteachable and proud
Jesus traveled, taught, and healed throughout the area of Judea and into Galilee. He brought the gospel of love and His coming kingdom to the poor and oppressed. He gave hope where hope had been swallowed up in defeat. Despite His message, Jesus encountered a group of people who lacked the spiritual gift of humble teachability. The religious leaders of Judea mocked and scorned Him.
The Pharisees, also called the doctors of the law, knew so much Scripture, they felt no need to learn anymore. As leaders of the community, admired and often called rabbi (teacher or master), the Pharisees became so righteous that they decided no one was going to guide, direct, or tell them what to do. They were not teachable, following instead the vanity of their own self-worth and false righteousness.
Jesus encountered the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees — the most scripturally learned men of His day — and found them wanting. He rebuked them repeatedly. In Matthew 23, He said seven times, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (vv. 13-15, 23, 25, 27, 29). He called these learned doctors of the law “blind guides” (v. 16) and a “brood of vipers” (v. 33).
Apparently, just knowing the Scripture is not enough to enter the kingdom of God. Religious leaders paid a “tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” (v. 23). They were so physically righteous in their minds that they forgot to practice the spirit of the law.
Jesus gave His final indictment against these leaders shortly before His crucifixion: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!” (v. 37).
Teachable and humble
What does Jesus expect of His true disciples? To “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). To do this, we must be humble, and thus teachable. The religious leaders of the time had lost their humility and were not willing to learn the truth from Jesus.
We are all familiar with the story of the good Samaritan. In Luke 10:25-37, we see an illustration of the religious leaders walking on past and ignoring the needs of the beaten man lying on the side of the road. How could these religious leaders walk past the poor man? Their lack of compassion was informed by an absence of humility.
Along came a Samaritan, despised by the Jews and called lower than dogs. He had compassion on the man, took him to an inn, and paid for his stay, food, and medical needs.
The good Samaritan got it right, while the Pharisees got it wrong. They were proud, with their faith displaced by their self-righteousness. We see the contrast in Habakkuk 2:4: “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.”
Are we teachable?
What does God want from us? Micah 6:8 gives the answer: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
God wants nothing more from us than a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and respect for His Word (Isaiah 66:2). That’s what humble teachability is. This quality is paramount in our road of salvation and discipleship. It is essential when we gather at church to hear the Word taught and preached, especially if outsiders visit who have divergent, divisive views.
The psalmist David wrote, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18). This is the orientation of the teachable. It is not so much about what we know but about being ready to grow — to learn from those God has put over us to teach.
God has given elders for this purpose. Paul told Titus that an elder should hold fast “the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict [teach] those who contradict” (Titus 1:9). He wrote to Timothy that an elder must be “temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2). Sadly, the young lady who visited our Bible study reminded us of the unteachable Pharisees. We don’t want to be like that. We want to be disciples of Jesus, ready to learn from Him. Let’s have an attitude of humility so we can grow in His grace and knowledge. Let us all spend a lifetime humbly learning and doing the Word of God.
