Page 65 - Youth Discipleship Student Textbook

So, we must ask ourselves the question, “What does it take to become a good, or even great teacher?”
The answer is a lot of work! Let look at key principles you need to understand to become a great
teacher.

1. Know and understand who you are teaching.

You don’t teach everyone in the same way! Jesus used a
variety of methods to teach those who came to him. Why?
Because each person He taught had a different need in their
life, was at differing levels of maturity, and varied in their
education, cultural standing, and position in life. So how He
taught depended on to
whom He was teaching.

How He taught depended on to whom He was teaching!

For example, in John 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. He was a highly trained member of the
Sanhedrin, the ruling body of Pharisees and Sadducees of Christ’s day. He was educated in the Law of
Moses and was considered “upper crust” in their society. Jesus’s response to his questions was to teach
him some new and lofty thoughts about spiritual birth. These things were hard for Nicodemus to
comprehend. But Jesus taught him the purpose for His coming, and the great sacrifice that would be
offered for the sins of mankind. He even said to him, “You are highly educated, and you don’t know
these things?”

When the rich young ruler came to him, rather than teach him content, he asked him some questions.
The purpose of these questions was to penetrate to the heart of the man, and to show him his real
motivations. He loved riches. He was not willing to part with them to follow Jesus. With one remark,
Jesus stripped away pretense and revealed to him his heart problem. He dealt differently with the rich
young ruler than he did with Nicodemus.

Of course, Christ, who was God in flesh, KNEW the people who came to him. He knew their
backgrounds, where they were coming from, what they were thinking, and how to guide them to truth.
But we cannot know what others think. We are limited to finite bodies.

So, for us as teachers to really know the needs of those we teach, we must get to know our students.
That comes by spending time with them, finding out about their lives, their needs, their desires, their
cares and their hopes. We need to find out about their spiritual walk with God. How mature are they in
their knowledge of God’s Word? Do they practice reading the Word and fellowshipping with God daily?
Is there a major problem in their lives that prevent them from growing spiritually? Without this
information, your lessons may sail over their heads or completely miss that mark when it comes to
bringing the Scripture to bear to meet their needs.

So, if you want to become a great teacher, you must know your students! That comes from spending
time with them.

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