What would you do if you had to teach a class with absolutely no preparation time or information on the course curriculum? Would you panic? Would you run?
This exact situation was put before me this past Wednesday at church and I had no clue what to do. Before I get into what actually happened in the class time, let me provide some background.
Every Wednesday night we have our Move Classes where people enroll in courses that help them in their spiritual growth. These classes are multiple weeks, ranging between 4-10 weeks. One of my primary ministries at the church is to teach these classes, however this round of classes, I took some time off after teaching for 11 months straight in 2013. Because I believe these classes help people at all levels of one’s spiritual journey, I enrolled in the men’s course to fellowship with other Christian guys.
This past Wednesday, as I was sitting in class, waiting for it to start, I overheard a frantic conversation between two church staff members. One of the teachers of another class had a medical emergency. As the two staff members were pausing to figure out what to do, this came out of my mouth: “I’ll teach.”
For those that know me, this is completely out of character for me. I am not impulsive, I am not spontaneous, nor am I a big risk-taker. If I paused and thought logically about the situation before me, I would most likely not say anything. But at that moment, it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit that guided me to say “I’ll teach.”
I walk down to the room with a pastor who explained the situation to the class and then introduced me. The class is on “How to Read the Bible” and there is no main textbook or curriculum. As I stood before a group of people I mostly did not know, my heart was racing and my mind was going a million miles. With no clue on how to proceed, I opened the class in prayer, so we could seek God’s direction as a class.
What I did have at my disposal was my iPad, which holds pretty much every single sermon and teaching I did over the last decade. I could have easily picked one and it would have been fine. While that definitely would have been the easiest path, I felt strongly that it wasn’t the direction we were supposed to go in.
After a few minutes of class discussion about what they studied over the past two weeks, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 popped up in my head. We read that passage and talked about how it related to all of 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14. For about 45 minutes, it led to an amazing teaching time that the class really benefited from.
What was so unique about this experience, was that this teaching, was completely brand new to me. It wasn’t one I did before, but it was what God wanted the class to hear on that particular night. One of my motto’s in teaching is “teach without a net.” My philosophy has always been to teach without fear and with the faith that Holy Spirit will empower me to do His will. Even though I did not know I was going to teach that night, that philosophy stayed the same.
In order for God to use me, I must take that step of faith and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
After the class was completed, I reflected on one of my memory verses:
“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” – 2 Timothy 4:2
Right now I’m in a down season for teaching, using that time to rest, read, and reflect. However, this situation reminded me that God desires me to always be prepared to teach, regardless of what season I am in. It is truly amazing to see how the Holy Spirit will empower us if we just make that first step of faith.
