There are a lot of great Christian teachers out there today. I myself have several books on my reading list by some of the prominent Christian thinkers/teachers of the day including Timothy Keller. I have been known to, on occasion, watch a sermon by Mark Driscoll. There are others, Chuck Swindoll, James Dobson, John MacArthur, Billy Graham, the list goes on and on.
These men have some good things to say.I have learned things from these men. However, I do not always agree with these men and I do not ever take what they say as gospel truth without first checking it out and thinking it through on my own.
These men, as good as they are, do not know me. Nor do they know the people I serve at Bean's Corner. I have not seen them interact with their children, I do not know how they get along with their wives. They may talk about it sometimes, but I have never seen it personally. None of these men know me or have ever spent the time to get to know me and listen to me. As a result, they are limited in how they can speak into my life. I can definitely learn from them, but they cannot disciple me because they are not sharing their real life with me and sharing in my real life. We are called to make disciples and that can only be truly done with personal contact. The men that God has me discipling need to be able to know and see my life and have me know and see theirs. It can't be done through books, videos, or mp3's.
This is why we must be careful with how much we follow such men. There are things we can learn from them and I will continue to avail myself of the resources they provide and the wisdom that they have. But I must remember that they too are fallible people and that I have a responsibility to have the WORD be my primary source of study and wisdom. When I allow a teacher to become my primary source of thinking about the Word instead of reading it myself, I am in trouble!
The other lesson from this is that even when the pastor/teacher is local, you must KNOW him. As I have written in previous entries on this blog, it is essential that anyone involved in the discipling ministry (and that is supposed to be all pastors) share their lives. How I live my life, interact with my children, love my wife, conduct myself, is all fair game. This is not some kind of threat to me and my family. It is instead a marvelous opportunity to live a real Christian life in a real way that illustrates both what we teach, as well as the difficulty in putting our beliefs into practice. Even (and especially) my failures are rich grounds for growing disciples according to the Word of Christ.
So, make sure that as you do ministry or consume teachings, that you don't just find yourself involved in nothing personal. If your favorite and regular teachers are not part of your personal life and you not part of them, perhaps you should think about that. As Paul said, "Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us." (1 Thessalonians 2:8 NAS)
