It’s Time To Stop Undervaluing The Role Of A Gospel Teacher

I know were not supposed to rank callings in the church…but I’ve got to do it here. I think I’ll be justified in this case seeing as that Paul does the ranking for me when he’s addressing the Corinthians.

Have you ever asked someone what their calling was and noticed the difference in their reply depending on the perceived importance of that calling? “Oh…yeah…well…I’m just a Sunday School teacher…not much to it.”

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Funny…that same person invited an entire posse to come and watch him take the stand when he was called in to the bishopric a few years back. “Congratulations brother so and so…”

Why are administrative callings sometimes treated as a public inauguration, but the ever important calling to teach the 14 and 15 year olds met with indifference? Why the lack of back-slapping for that new calling to teach the temple prep class? It’s a cultural thing…with no doctrinal justifications. The scriptures paint an entirely different picture of the importance of teachers.

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Let me go back to Paul. “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles…” (1 Cor 12:28) Elder McConkie said to “Note the order of propriety. In the true Church apostles are first; they hold the keys of the kingdom, receive revelation for the Church, and regulate all of its affairs in all the world as they are guided by the power of the Holy Ghost. Next to the apostles stand the prophets, every prophet ministering in his own place and sphere. After apostles and prophets come teachers. Every teacher is expected to be a prophet and to know for himself of the truth and divinity of the work. Indeed, in the true sense, a teacher is greater than a prophet, for a teacher not only has the testimony of Jesus himself, but bears that testimony by teaching the gospel.”

So why is it that when someone gets called as a gospel teacher, sometimes they begin to slack? Not too long ago I was called to serve as the Ward Sunday School president. Some of my friends joked with me that I had just become the official “bell-ringer,” “hall-monitor,” and “role-keeper.” Someone even came up to me and made a joke that the Ward Sunday School President was where they called “in-active men to serve in order to make them feel important.” We all had some good laughs and I dropped a few jokes on myself at my own expense in the process as well. No harm intended.

But through all of that, I realized that one of the most serious flaws in our church culture is the unspoken…and sometimes spoken devaluation of gospel teachers. Even if it’s just in jest, I realized that this feeling of unimportance manifested itself through the level of consistency shown among some of the teachers in their ward callings. It has become quite the regular thing for teachers to call regularly at 10 p.m. on Saturday night to bail on their class the next morning. Sometimes teachers just flat out never show up without letting anyone know. They figure that it’s no big deal and that “brother so and so can just put a movie on for the kids.” Meanwhile, the kids get used to a bunch of adults, “throwing something together” at the last minute to “keep them busy.” But these kids aren’t stupid!  They know when they’re being placated or babysat for. Their perception of the importance of their class was based on the consistency and preparation of their teacher.

A couple years ago, I attended a CES training in which a young stake president, who also happened to be an institute director, stood up to give some remarks about the calling to be a teacher. He said that “it’s hard for me to call new bishops…but I lose sleep over the responsibility to call a new seminary teacher. You are that important.”  I loved hearing this…

There is no doubt that administrative positions such as an Elder’s Quorum President, Relief Society President, or Bishop is important as indicated by this stake president. But think about it. How often does the general population of the ward really and truly interact with those leaders? Many of those callings are focused on the temporal welfare of members of the ward, but the teachers of the ward are are literally responsible for the spiritual nourishment of every man, woman, and child in that ward. If the teachers slack, or view their calling a ancillary…what do we have? Without dedicated and effective teachers, the general body of the church would diminish and crumble from a lack of spiritual enthusiasm and doctrinal understanding. We won’t need administrative callings if church members testimonies don’t stay strong.

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Consider the seminary teacher who is with the youth every single morning of their high school life. Is there any greater influencer for the youth of this church than their regular weekday and Sunday teachers!? As much as we’d like to hope that parents spend a dedicated 45 minutes a day in gospel instruction…do you think that is an actual reality? No. Probably not. It would be nice…but probably not.

The teachers of this church have a duty, a responsibility, and an opportunity that is unparalleled in this church. Sometimes that fact gets lost in the cultural hoopla of other callings and their associated importance. The gospel teacher has got to be on their game, and the rest of the church has got to back them up and give them the support they need. This is especially true for the teachers of the youth.

There was a day when it was cool to be a master teacher. We should do whatever we can as a church to make it cool again.

 

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7 thoughts on “It’s Time To Stop Undervaluing The Role Of A Gospel Teacher

  1. Rozy

    So TRUE!!! I love teaching and wish I could be one all the time. Right now in our little Twig, er, Branch we have one of the worst Gospel Doctrine teachers ever. At least once a month he just doesn’t show up, not to mention try to call someone ahead of time; and worse, he’s the High Priest group leader. Go figure. I refuse to go anymore because I’ve been insulted too many times in that class. He gets doctrine wrong, asks asinine questions and is rarely prepared to lead a good discussion. I can learn the material on my own in the hallway. Our youth don’t have a good teacher either, in fact, last I checked they didn’t even have a teacher; and the past teachers haven’t used the Come Follow Me method at all, just the same old tired lecture and fact checking questions. I have lost three sons here in this pathetic place. Sorry for the rant but I miss being in a ward with intelligent saints, you know those sinners who keep trying because they aren’t content with who they are.

  2. Adam Orgill

    I teach the oldest youth Sunday school class that has Seniors in High school and young men and women that are just about to enter the mission field. I see my calling as the last, big push of doctrine before going out into the world. Some times it is overwhelming the pressure I feel to make sure they leave the class better prepared for life and to increase and strengthen their testimony. This truly is a dream calling and I am excited to teach them each week,

  3. Amanda

    I taught Primary, 10-11 yrs old, for 4 1/2 years. For a few years, our English ward was combined with the Spanish ward that shared the building, so for two years, I had 12 boys in my class. 12 BOYS. They were funny, active, great kids and even though half of the class time was trying to get everyone to focus, they were the best years. The primary presidency was trying to push ‘team teaching’ so that the ‘burden’ of preparing the lesson wasn’t on the same person every week. I told the primary president before I started that if they wanted me as a teacher, then I wanted to be the teacher – no team teaching. I wanted those kids to know that I cared enough about them to be there on time, every Sunday, with a lesson prepared by the Spirit. Kids know the difference. Many times, the spirit was present in our primary class and the kids would get misty-eyed. Our roles as teachers are not only to teach, but to testify and to help others recognize the Spirit so that they can learn and grow. What greater impact on someone’s life than to be taught how to identify and follow the promptings of the spirit, especially in today’s society? The opportunity to teach in the church is one of the greatest blessings and responsibilities…I think the only thing greater than that would be being a parent and spouse.

  4. itssofai

    Thank you for this article! I LOVE MY CALLING AS A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER!! Yes, in caps because that’s how important I know my calling is. I’ve always been a teacher – at home, at church, at work. I love it because it does amazing things to my character, soul, and behavior. It teaches me more than anything and I get to bear with moral authority about treasuring up the words of the Lord and help others do the same. At one time I was teaching Sunday school and precious souls in Primary. I’m totally ok with people not patting me on the back for it. As long as I know God is pleased, that’s all I care for.

  5. socorny

    You got this SO right! I was “converted” to the VERY important role that Sunday School, and it’s teachers, plays in church when I was called as the Stake Sunday School President about 5 years back. Sadly, Sunday School teachers are often seen as expendable. A couple of years ago, our Stake YW President (a dynamite gal) was released and called as our son’s 16-17 year old Sunday School teacher. We were so excited about the call, and she was doing an incredible job with the class. But, you guessed it, after just a few months she was released and called to be the ward RS President….a better place to utilize her talents. Really? The best teachers in the church, whom are often the best for a lot of callings in the church, should be in those youth classes.

  6. Teal

    Thank you, Greg. Absolutely beautiful message. I have been fortunate enough over the years to have many callings that involve teaching, and I have loved every moment of it. Nothing strengthens and builds faith and testimony like consistent gospel study and preparation for class instruction, as well as having the opportunity to bear testimony often. In my now 47 years of active membership in the Church, I have also had the precious privilege of receiving gospel instruction from various dedicated and conscientious teachers, without whom I assuredly would not be where I am today.

  7. Kathie Gibson

    Thank you for this great post! I teach the 14-15 year olds, it has been my calling for two years now, ironically the two worst/most trying years of my life. Having this calling has sometimes been the one thing that got me up on Sunday, ready and out the door for Church. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to teach these youth and hope that in some small way I am helping them to learn the gospel. I know that I have learned so much from the preperation, which is so different than anything I have ever taught before becasue of the way the outlines are. My dad was the gospel doctering teacher in his wards for MANY years, he loved this calling. It was by far his favorite, when he had to be released because of declining health it broke his heart. Gospel teachers ROCK!

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