Do First, Then Teach — YWAM Value #12

It was my turn to teach this week on our YWAM Values, so I thought I would share it with you. The one I chose was Do First, Then Teach.  I love teaching, and believe this value can enhance my teaching.

From the book Values Matter, here is Value #12:

YWAM is committed to doing first, then teaching. We believe that firsthand experience gives authority to our words. Godly character and a call from God are more important than an individual’s gifts, abilities, and experiences.

Deuteronomy 4:5–8
“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?”

Proverbs 1:1–4
“These are the proverbs of Solomon, David’s son, king of Israel. Their purpose is to teach people wisdom and discipline, to help them understand the insights of the wise. Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young.”

Matthew 7:28–29
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.”

2 Timothy 4:1–5
“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”

From these verses, what should teaching look like? Here are some things that stood out to me:

• Pass along what we have been taught by God.
• In living out God’s laws, we will teach the people around us who our God is (righteous, fair, and near to His people), and we will be wise and intelligent. This part of the Bible reminded me of Daniel and his friends going before Nebuchadnezzar. Because of what they had learned from God, they were wiser than all the others who came before him.
• Teach the simple and the young what is right and just. Teach discipline so that they may live successful lives.
• Teach with authority.
• Be prepared at all times, patiently correcting and encouraging with Scripture.
• Do not teach to please people.
• Be clear-minded, not fearful, fully carrying out what God gave you.
• Know that Jesus is coming soon.

In the book Values Matter, Darlene makes some good points:

• “Ministry is life and life is ministry.”
• “The work of God is never a job.”
• Working should be a great joy because it is their calling.
• Teaching should come from passion for God and acting out of that passion.
• “If we don’t apply what we have heard, then it becomes stagnant head knowledge.”
• Teachers should have good godly character, be full of faith, and walk out their calling with joy.

These things are important because once you are walking them out, then when you teach, you have authority in that, and there is an impartation that happens to those you teach. Those you teach become empowered to do the things you taught them, with new wisdom and authority.

Matthew 7:24–27
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

James 1:22
“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.”

With teaching, there should be timely and applicable ways to put the concepts into action. It also shows you whether what you taught was understood or not, and if you need to rethink how to teach it. The timing of the application is important because it helps the concept of your teaching sink in deeper than head knowledge.

It was important for teachers of the DTS (Discipleship Training School) to have competency and good character. The Cunninghams would ask the questions: Do you practice what you preach? Do they only teach ancient stories, or do they walk in current revelation? And are they “living letters”—men and women of God who have the integrity to be “known and read by all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2)?

Darlene wrote that “if you want to impact the next generation of young people for God and the world of missions, we must be men and women of godly character who are authentic and available. And we must be doers and models of what we teach, imparting faith alongside knowledge.”

2 Peter 1:5–10
“In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away.”

Do you like teaching? Or do you need to get teachers for something? These things are very important, I think, even for just life. You teach things to those around you whether you know it or mean to. It is important to walk in integrity. So, what did you learn? Please share with us.