Where it all started (photo courtesy of golfdavenport.com)

For those who may not know me all that well, I actually felt called to ministry at the age of 14 while attending a summer student camp. My church family was ecstatic and put me to work teaching. No one really took that much time to teach me how to do what I felt called to do. Sure, I occasionally would sit down with a pastor and leader to look over some notes that I had prepared or I would get some feedback on a sermon but it was sparse. Little did I know that some of my foundational concepts on teaching the Bible would come from an unlikely source.

Fast forward two years and I was sixteen and needed a job. I only wanted one, to work my local golf course Duck Creek. I loved golf and wanted to absorb that environment and in God’s providence the still current pro, Matt Hasley, offered me a job. Matt was not a seminary trained pastor. He did not have years of experience leading a church. To my knowledge he has never preached a sermon. However, he was a great boss, friend, but more importantly taught me some truths that have served me in preaching and teaching the Bible. I am quite sure we both had no idea at the time how impactful he would be in my life. What I would like to do is share a few things that he taught me and how they are helpful to those of us who teach the Bible.

Keep Things Simple

One of the responsibilities that a person working my job had was to set up and pick up equipment for group lessons that Matt would teach. On slow nights I got the opportunity to watch and listen to Matt as he would teach beginning golfers how to swing a golf club. Regardless of your knowledge of golf, all people agree that golf is a difficult game to pick up and excel. This only becomes more true if you have little to no exposure to golf.

Matt had played and taught golf for years but over the course of the three years that I worked for him I watched as he made something complex incredibly simple. You can become very technical very quickly when talking about golf instruction but Matt was never this way. I was always amazed at how he could explain complex topics to people who had no prior knowledge and they would walk away understanding what he was teaching.

When it comes to the Bible this is what Christians, pastors, and theologians should be striving to do. People should not need a four-year degree at a Bible college to understand our sermons, lectures, or teaching. Further, this is not a call to water down our theological convictions or teachings. I never once saw Matt put the responsibility on the student to understand something that was new to them. We as Bible teachers must rigorously work in our studies to understand what we are teaching so that we can communicate it in clear and concise ways. Clarity is what we are after here and if we are not careful we can enjoy complexity because it makes us look smarter. People are hungry to know the Word in deep and meaningful ways and as teachers of the Bible we should strive to model how people can experience this in their lives.

Teach Up Not Down

As I was able to watch these lessons unfold I also noticed the way that Matt talked to the people he taught. He laughed, joked, and instructed them without talking down to them or making them feel foolish. He never made people feel like they were less than important for not catching a skill right away or needing lots of practice to get better. I would watch as class after class and person after person left feeling like they could play the game. They also left with no illusions of their future in golf. No one left these beginner lessons thinking they were going to play on the PGA Tour but they didn’t leave feeling like there was no hope for them either.

Those of us who teach the Bible need to remember that at one point we didn’t know what we know now and that there is still a lot for us to learn. We need to be patient with people and help them along. I am so excited when my college students ask me questions about the Bible and I would (metaphorically) give my left arm if they would ask me more. It can be frustrating at times to be the answer man or woman but there is no greater gift than to have people who are hungry to study the Scriptures. Never take for granted that God has blessed you with people who show up to hear you teach.

Encourage Other Teachers

As I worked for Matt I learned a lot. I also was given the opportunity to teach a little here and there. What many do not know is that there were moments when Matt would encourage me. He encouraged me by noting that I had talent at explaining things or he would share with me a way that I could be clearer in explaining something that I was trying to communicate. Keep this in mind, my job was not to teach anyone anything about golf. My job was to make sure golf carts were clean and had gas in them. My job was to help out picking up or setting up or doing something in the pro shop. Yet Matt invested in me. He encouraged me. He was the first person other than my parents to intentionally say “Hey I think you have skill in this area”.

I’m trying to do a better job in this area. If we want to see a new generation of Bible teachers, pastors, missionaries, or counselors to grow up and go out into our world we must recognize them and encourage them. If you find yourself reading this and you are the new one to this area, seek out your pastors and leaders and hang around them and learn as much as you can. If you are the “seasoned veteran” take the new person under your wing. Invest in them and encourage them even if they have no idea what you are doing.

This summer I had a chance to go home to Duck Creek. I had a chance to visit my old boss and friend. It wasn’t until I returned that I realized what the place had done for me. I didn’t realize what God had done in putting me there. I honestly thought during my years working there that I was just enjoying what I was passionate about but God was using an unlikely place and an unlikely person to shape me and mold me. If we could go there today I would show you the places where hundreds of conversations formed the way that I would think about people and how God is still using those conversations in the way that I think about the people I am blessed to teach week in and week out.