Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. The NT Gift of a “Teacher”
3. An Analogy from The Household of God
4. Why NT Prophets are Needed
5. How Prophets and Teachers Can Work Together
6. The Futility of Independence
7. Notes

Introduction

In Part 2 of this series, I discussed the differences between prophetic revelation and teaching, and the consequences for neglecting the gift of the “teacher” in the charismatic movement. This article is meant to describe the two leadership gifts “prophets” and “teachers”. “Teachers” are not as well defined in the charismatic movement, of which I am a part, so this article will discuss the biblical understanding of this gift, and how it contrasts from a “prophet”. For the sake of clarity, I understand some who have the leadership gift of “prophet” as different from someone who has the gift of prophecy. They usually have a very clear call from God to bring the word of the Lord to institutions, nations, people-groups, or whatever the Lord might lead. Just like ancient prophets in the OT were not necessarily in charge of the people like the king was, they led the people through the word of the Lord for the current situation, and also counseled leaders. Today, NT prophets are meant to equip the body for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-12). There can be no one single definition for a NT prophet, but they are usually characterized by having an extraordinary level of supernatural activity in and through their life, and their ability to hear the Lord directly is on a much higher level than the average person.

The NT Gift of a “Teacher”

Apostles and Prophets are somewhat well-defined compared to the role of “teacher” in the charismatic movement. Apostles are usually associated with church planters, for example. But most of us probably don’t have a well-defined description of the role of a teacher and their purpose. But I believe that Jesus actually described the purpose and task of a “teacher” through the role of “the scribe”:

Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old. (Matt. 13:52)

“Teacher of the law”, or in other translations, “scribes”, were those who were experts in the written Mosaic law, which is Scripture; today they would be the equivalent of modern-day biblical scholars and/or theologians. But what is notable is the Lord’s description of bringing out both new treasures, and old. This contrasts with the ministry of the ancient prophets, who primarily brought something new. Teachers must mine through the old to bring out something new.

The biblical scholar R.T. France, a renowned expert in the book of Matthew, offers some key insight on Matt. 13:52 when he says that the Lord

…envisages disciples in their “scribal” function, that is as authorized teachers for the kingdom of heaven, in contrast with the Pharisaic scribes who have failed to grasp its message….The scribal language may suggest that the “things new and old” are a deliberate contrast with the official scribes of Israel, who can produce only what is old because they have not discovered the new secrets of the kingdom of heaven…If Jesus’ disciples have indeed “understood” these old/new truths (v. 51), they are now in a position to offer more adequate provision for God’s household, and this parable challenges them to “bring it out” for the benefit of others.¹

In the same way that prophets were “sent” by the Lord to bring the word of God, Jesus also said that he would be sending not just prophets to the Pharisees, but also teachers (Matt. 23:34). Being well-trained in the Scriptures is an activity of the Spirit, not just for “bookworms” or “those who like to read”. Assuming that Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing (Jn. 5:19), Jesus was actually directed by the Spirit to debate Scriptural technicalities with the Pharisees (Matt 10:1-5, 15:1-10). When challenged with a tough Bible question, Jesus instantly knew the answer (Mk. 12:38-42). While Jesus challenged these teachers of the law in his ministry, He also recognized the importance of these teachers; as a boy, Jesus seemed to have the habit of “…sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Lk. 2:46). In fact, Jesus was called “Rabbi”, which means “teacher”.

People with a strong “teaching” gift are usually those who are intellectually gifted, highly technical, and are more “left-brained”. They will have a Spirit-inspired passion for Scripture. Paul taught that “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Cor. 2:10). Teachers are searchers of the deep things of God. Mature teachers will have moved on from fascination for the purpose of knowledge and winning arguments to genuine fascination with Jesus.

The insatiable thirst for answers will have moved from insecurity or mere curiosity to love; scholarly study will have been transformed into an intimate desire to hear the voice of the Lord and equip people with the knowledge they need in order to grow into the image of Christ, and so empower obedience. A mature teacher will be able to see their gift as empowering the apostolic mission to make disciples of all nations, as opposed to just acquiring knowledge. They might have a unique perspective on the importance of engaging intellectual arguments and can provide invaluable knowledge and insight to the more expansionary leadership gifts in the church like apostolic or prophetic leaders, that is, if these leaders can see the value of the teacher gift. When a genuine teacher is overlooked, there are sure to be blind spots, and the rate the gospel spreads will be slower than it could be if teachers were fully released and functioning properly.

In fact, as I’ve been overseas, I have heard reports of groups of believers within church planting movements wanting to form schools for in-depth study of the Scriptures - AKA a seminary. As far as I remember, this was a church planting movement in an Asian country, and these believers didn’t have any knowledge of the seminary model common in the Western church. The fact that the “seminary” concept grew from an organic church planting movement that had no concept of a “seminary” is a concrete example of how the “teacher” gift is inspired by the Spirit for the strengthening of the Church.

An Analogy from The Household of God

One of the spiritual metaphors Paul uses for believers in Christ is the “…the household of God…” (Eph. 2:19, see also Gal. 6:10). Peter echoed the same analogy when he said that we are all “…being built into a spiritual house…” (1 Pet. 2:5). This spiritual house represents all believers. Paul even described himself as “…a wise master builder…” (1 Cor. 3:10) who laid the foundation of the Corinthian church. He said earlier that the house of God is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:19-20). Taking the understanding of the “house” analogy, we can see the role of teachers and apostles and prophets in an unexpected proverb:

By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures. (Prov. 24:3-4)

The spiritual house of God requires foundations laid by apostles and prophets, but the rooms must be filled by the knowledge teachers provide. You can’t have a genuine house without any rooms with furniture, pictures, lamps, etc. But you also can’t have a house if there aren’t any walls, plumbing, or electricity. Scripture places the priority to apostles and prophets, in the same way that you must first lay a concrete foundation, build walls, create a ceiling, add a roof, etc. But once that is finished, the house is basically unlivable unless there are actually filled rooms.

Teachers may have a higher technical skill and be able to unearth deep treasures that come from their insatiable curiosity. But an apostle or prophet might be too busy with “the basics” that are more fundamental to the faith. When working together, the house can become all it’s meant to be. But many times in the charismatic movement teachers are not utilized, weakening the potential beauty the house can have. Outside the charismatic movement, there can often be an excessive focus on the proverbial furniture and wallpaper, however.

Why NT Prophets are Needed

First of all, there is no reason from Scripture to expect the “prophet” role to have disappeared. I would refer readers to the biblical scholar Craig Keener’s work for refuting such erroneous exegetical conclusions.

Agabus was a NT prophet who predicted a famine (Acts 21) effectively preparing the church for it. Prophets in the OT had many visionary experiences with God that were extremely important, but were particularly important for the current time. God used these men and women to bring specific messages for specific situations, providing hope, and therefore providing direction. In this sense, prophets are meant to lead because they provide hope and encouragement that casts forward vision. Prophecy has been without a doubt the most important spiritual gift I’ve received. Encountering God’s supernatural voice invigorates the soul and provides focused direction for our walk with God.

Prophecy was the means by which Timothy received his spiritual gifts (1 Tim. 4:14). Prophets in the OT often had ministries that included many supernatural signs. Supernatural giftings have always been the primary means by which God advances His purposes on earth; every Scriptural story in both the OT and NT contains some element of God’s supernatural activity at play, not least the ministry of Jesus which we are called to imitate! Prophets can really help catalyze supernatural gifts and get the Church expanding.

How Prophets and Teachers Can Work Together

Teachers were considered the same as pastors/shepherds (compare Eph. 4:11 in multiple translations), and were responsible for taking care of local congregations. Shepherds were required to be able to teach (Titus 1:9). Paul and Barnabas would appoint elders, which was also tightly connected to the shepherd/teacher role (Acts 20:28). So when new ground was broken, shepherds/teachers would come in to watch over the new congregation.

A more modern example might be able to highlight how prophets and teachers are meant to work together. In many ways, the church mirrors the way businesses grow. Every business has founding leaders who start the business. These are people who have a vision for a new venture, see an opportunity and act on it. Once they establish a business, they might expand it, or franchise it, starting many locations. This organizational process mirrors the organizational process of church expansion: a new church is founded, leaders are appointed, and the founders of the church (e.g., Paul or Peter) would move on and plant other churches.

Businesses must hire the right people in order to run a business. Managers are technically the ones who actually run the business on the ground. Executive leaders of the business are typically focused on higher level operations, such as expanding, making company-wide decisions, and formulating strategy, while managers actually make the abstract “vision” become a reality by hiring employees and training them.

In the business-world, managers are often the people with practical skill and are probably more of the “realists”. They pull the visionary people out of the clouds and onto the ground, where the real work happens. Their job probably involves enforcing protocols for maintaining processes and procedures that they know are keeping the business afloat. They may find visionary leaders too unrealistic, and might feel like their input is often ignored or dismissed as unnecessary.

Executive leadership might have practical skills like managers, but are more of the “optimists”. Their vision inspires people to expect new and positive change and forward movement. If people complain about protocols and procedures, they might not care as much because they might not see these processes as important for the overarching vision they are committed to. Their passion and vision is absolutely necessary, but they can sometimes overlook their managers at the expense of their own vision.

While the parallel between business and church is somewhat crude, there are some principles that overlap with teachers, and prophets and apostles. Paul would launch new churches, but then appoint teachers/shepherds to oversee the new congregation. Analogically, he is functioning like the founder of a business, and then selecting people to “manage” the new congregation. Sometimes (not all the time) the personality types of a teacher/shepherd might look more like “manager” rather than a founder. Teachers are more similar to the managerial role, while prophetic leaders are more similar to an executive role, although executives might need to manage, and managers might need to provide high-level vision for a company (a good executive will be intimately involved with their managers).

Scribes were those who were deeply committed to Scripture and specifically the Mosaic law, which contained all the processes and procedures, the “protocols” if you will, that the people of God were called to live by. They were meticulous experts, and we’ve all had a manager that might have been too “meticulous”, even controlling. Many times prophets would come and rebuke the current “establishment” which was often composed of scribes whose protocol and procedures became an idol. Even so, prophets were themselves accountable to past Scriptural protocol, so they had to be checked and well-versed in Scripture.

But there were many false prophets that Jesus warned people about; in the NT, teachers were commanded to preserve sound doctrine to protect against false teaching which was and still is a threat to the church. Bad teaching and absorbing the culture around us is something gifted teachers can discern and their ministry plays a huge role in maintaining the purity and health of the church, if done in a way that speaks the truth in love, instead of just the truth.

While the business parallel can be helpful to understand how some church leadership gifts work together, it is certainly not cut-and-paste. I’ve seen people who have primarily been gifted in teaching have an apostolic ministry planting churches. I’ve also seen prophets whose ministries involves teaching more than providing expansionary vision for churches or movements. As Paul said, there are varieties of gifts (1 Cor. 12:4).

The Futility of Independence

Mature leaders will understand their deep dependence on others in the body of Christ, and one of the many weaknesses of strong-willed leaders is their independence and inability to rely on others. While it may come from control issues, it also may come from an inability to see the value of others in the body of Christ. Prophets and teachers must humbly recognize their need for each other, and honor each other not just in word, but in yielding authority to each other.

Perhaps if there was more humility in well-known charismatic prophetic leaders, there wouldn’t be so many failed prophecies. When Trump didn’t get elected in 2020, as many well known prophetic leaders predicted (for whatever reason), I was disappointed at common explanations behind why it didn’t happen. I know of only one who actually apologized and accepted their failure (Kris Vallotton). But for others, there either was no explanation (and therefore no accountability), or excuses like “we didn’t pray enough”, despite the fact that Scripture says that “No word from God will ever fail.” (Lk. 1:37). If these prophetic leaders would create an environment of critical analysis of prophecy, their prophetic words (and everyone’s in their church) would become more refined and the gift of prophecy wouldn’t accrue a bad reputation. It also gives people permission to think critically about prophecies, which is healthy. This is precisely where a sharp teacher could come in to provide help.

When prophecy and teaching combine, there will be massive spiritual growth. In non-western contexts, almost all major church planting movements² have a high emphasis on communal learning and discussion of Scripture and manifestations of the Spirit’s power. If we teach based off of Scripture, the teaching or lesson we are learning can travel faster, because everyone can access it. If I only try to teach someone an important spiritual lesson based solely from my own experience, chances are the person or group I’m teaching will forget what I say. But if we can teach from Scripture and back up our experience with it, the chances are the people we teach will come across that Scripture again, reinforcing whatever point we were trying to make.

Lastly, power-plays and pride in one’s position can undermine the entire mission of a church. Too often leaders refuse to honor each other’s unique gifts and work together. This is due to a misunderstanding of authority.

Paul was facing a situation in Corinth where many “false apostles” were claiming more authority than Paul and trying to become their leaders, essentially engaging in “turf wars” with Paul. These people trying to take over the churches were trained speakers that the Corinthian church seemed impressed by (see 2 Cor. 10:1, 11:6) and they saw Paul as a weak public speaker (2 Cor. 10:10). These people were also “commending themselves” (2 Cor. 10:12). Public speaking was a larger part of Paul’s culture than it is today. For our day, we might liken these “false apostles” to people who have impressive resumes or being talented; in short, the Corinthians were esteeming natural abilities over and above the supernatural call of God in and through Paul and his associates. So we might ask, how did Paul handle a situation where he needed to reinforce his apostolic authority? He did not do it in the way the world does:

1. Paul emphasized the purpose of the Lord’s authority as for building up and not tearing down (see 2 Cor. 10:8, 13:10). Authoritative calls from God are not given to us, but for others. It is also not given for personal power, or because we are worthy of a position. If someone justifies their decisions simply because of their own ministry position (e.g., I’m in charge so you need to listen to me), they misunderstand authority, and therefore misunderstand their position. Paul focused more on the divine purpose of his ministry position and his heart before talking about logistics. Focusing on purpose effectively removes the emphasis off of “self” and on something bigger than ourselves. When management is involved in a ministry, it is only ever for the sole purpose of building other people up for the work of the ministry (2 Cor. 10:8, Eph. 4:12). Management in the Kingdom of God, then, is actually for helping people take our position, not for maintaining it.
2. Paul was very reluctant to say why he was more qualified than these false apostles, and considered it foolish to boast in his qualifications (see 2 Cor. 10:17, 11:17, 12:11-13). How quickly a leader talks about their strengths is indicative of their maturity level. Jesus warned against this poisonous self-exaltation (Lk. 14:7-11), and Scripture says “Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth…” (Prov. 27:2). In Western culture (especially America), it is not always easy to discern when we have the right motive when talking about our strengths, because talking about our strengths is how we get hired for a job. But in the Kingdom of God, how weak we are is how we get “hired” (1 Cor. 1:27-31).
3. Paul qualified himself from his own weakness, not his strengths. This has huge implications for leaders. Leaders should constantly be aware of their own weaknesses and therefore their dependence upon others. Paul lived with a constant sense of what we might call “self-awareness”, but more his own weaknesses than his strengths. This is the opposite of the world’s way of thinking, which derives value from strengths. God working through Paul despite his weakness was the evidential proof that it was God’s authority at work, not Paul’s, especially on the basis of signs and wonders being the primary evidence of a true apostolic ministry (2 Cor. 12:12). Signs and wonders are not possible by human strength, but only God’s, which effectively authenticates and authorizes the ministry of Paul (see also Jn. 14:11).

Notes