As teachers, God has given us an important area of influence, and we have the awesome responsibility and privilege to be a light in this dark world. If we truly believe in Christ and the desire to follow HIM, then our faith must impact every aspect of our lives, no matter what our vocation is. The teacher’s life style and character are as important as their professional credentials. If you are a Christian teacher, it shouldn’t matter where you teach. Our goal should be the same – to show Christ to our students.
All of us can and should be intentional about showing Christ and His love in every way we can. God is LOVE: if we want to show Christ to our students, we must also love them – all of them. Even the ones driving us crazy. Love is a powerful force. We’ve seen its powers. We know what it is capable of. In our homes, in our classrooms, love is what makes the biggest impact, what changes hearts and minds.
As teachers, we know what it means to put others first. Our lives are given to serving the children and doing what is best for them – showing Christ through our actions. A teacher is one who models the Christian faith. People learn by watching others’ actions and words. What we do and how we relate to others is more powerful than what we say; how we live is stronger than how we claim we should live. Your students of all ages will watch you and learn from you. It is vital, then, that you model and teach well. The most powerful Christian teacher is one who not only recites, “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31), but also actually practices it. An effective teacher is one whose faith is evidenced in his or her actions in the community. This does not mean that you cannot accept a teaching role until you are a perfect Christian. (If it did, our teaching ministry would have ended with Jesus!) It does mean that you understand the importance of seeking to grow into the likeness of Christ and model humility. A teacher should be growing in his or her own knowledge of the Bible, learning to pray, attending worship, and setting the example of a follower of Christ. The role of a teacher of the faith is not just to pass on information of facts. It is to help children to be learners and followers of Christ, and transformed into people God has created them to be.
Romans12:2 says Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good, acceptable and perfect.
Thus, the good news for teachers is that we are not responsible for this transformation – God is!
A teacher’s role is only to create places, times and an atmosphere where people can learn about God, hear the stories of Christian people, experience Christian community, and talk about how God may want them to live in their everyday world. We trust God to do the rest.
Part of the teaching responsibility is , indeed, to share information. There is more to learn about the Christian faith than any of us can ever know – information about the Bible and the stories in the Bible (Parables or short stories with moral values), the history of the Church theology (or how people think and talk about God), facts about the beliefs and practices and much more.
There are a number of ways that a teacher can teach through:
- Words: Learn through reading, speaking, discussing and other language based activities.
- Pictures: Learn through drawing, diagrams, images and other visuals.
- Physical experience: Learn through dance, athletics, games, drama, building, holding or manipulating objects and other physical a
- Music: Learn through singing, playing musical instruments.
- Self – reflection: Learn through independent projects.
- Social experiences: Learn through group discussion, group projects and roleplay.
- Learn through Parables, internet, movies etc.
Mary Pinheiro