Don’t Change Your Message

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James 1

When we doubt, we flail from “truth” to “truth” not knowing what is really truth.  Tossed about, to and fro, we seek opinion, consensus and more truth.  There is no answer great enough because we doubt the very truth that is presented.

When teachers change their teaching, they steal the “compass of truth” from the ship.  Students lose bearing on what was “truth” and what is now “truth”.  

You must know that what you are teaching is truth, is correct and is ready to be taught.

I had a mentor who proclaimed, “When I look back at what I have taught over the years, I realize how immature and inadequate some of it was!”  It is true that all of us have grown much in not only how we teach but what we teach.  The maturing teacher teaches differently and with more depth and understanding.  If nothing else, time itself has broadened the mature teachers understanding of the topic.  Practical experience has added depth and character to the truths.

It is okay to grow in how we teach.  It is okay to mature and find ourselves more capable to handle and pass the truth.  However, we never want to look back and proclaim, “Oh no!  I was an idiot.  What I taught was entirely untrue!”  Teaching is an exceptionally important and honored task.  Teachers should be humble, clear headed and most of all – teachers should only teach what they are certain is truth.  If we only teach truth, then we will never look back in dismay at an errant teaching.

If you only teach truth, your message will not change and you will not steal the “compass” from the students sailing.  Yes, they may choose to doubt and find themselves tossed about and lost at the mercy of the sea of uncertainties; however, cursed be the teacher who causes them to doubt by changing his teaching.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
Mark 9:42