There are events in everyone’s life which make a deep impact. One for me occurred while sitting in a Sunday School class. I was a young Christian at the time just beginning my seminary studies.
The class was being taught by a likeable Dallas seminary graduate. He had been a pastor for many years. There were about seventy of us in the class. Yes, I do recall well many of these details and you will soon know why!
Our teacher was speaking on that controversial issue of whether the full humanity of Jesus demands that He could have sinned. Jesus obviously did not sin, but does real temptation carry with it the possibility to sin?
Our teacher asked if there were any questions and here is where I learned a big lesson. A Cal Tech graduate who is a diligent student of Scripture (reminds me of my dear friend, Dr. David McCoy) raised his hand. The Cal Tech scientist graciously, but meticulously started to show the flaws in the Dallas Seminary grad’s teaching. It became painfully clear that the pastor had not prepared, not just for that particular lesson, but more broadly had not put preparation as a high goal upon leaving seminary.
The atmosphere in the room was tense, even awkward. The winsomeness of both teacher and inquisitor quelled the tension a bit, but only a bit!
So if you are called to teach don’t become so enamored with the platform of influencing people that you fail to prepare!
Since my name was mentioned in this blog, it behooves me to comment.
I have been on the giving and receiving end of such embarrassing exchanges many times in the past fifty years or so. As you said, the best course of behavior for a teacher is to avoid such incidences altogether by being prepared ahead of time. In lieu of that, accept correction graciously and with a sense of humor.
In terms of correcting a teacher’s mistakes, I have found that the best course is to wait until the class is over and do it privately rather than publicly. That is, unless a grave doctrinal error has been made–in which case, the sooner the error is pointed out, the better.
Good counsel. I can’ t recall the specifics, but I do recall at the time thinking it probably warranted the public interaction.