Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
September 30, 2012
We owe our teachers a debt we can
never repay
Teachers have made the news lately.
The rowdy teachers on strike in Chicago did not resemble the public school
teachers I admired as a boy. But the Chicago crisis did remind me how indebted
all of us are to our teachers!
When we
were helpless babies our parents began teaching us the rudimentary rules of
living. We learned to speak by modeling the speech of our parents and siblings.
At age five or six we were put under
the care of skilled school teachers. Some of us were deeply impacted by our
first teachers. That was true for me. My first grade teacher was a remarkable
woman who inspired in me a love for learning and an abiding respect for
teachers. There is still a special place in my heart for Mrs. Oakley Melton who
guided me through the first grade of elementary school.
Many other teachers helped to shape
my Christian worldview. I owe them a debt I can never repay. They taught me by
“precept and example.” They practiced with their lives the faith they taught
with their lips. A few of them remain strong in my memory bank.
Si Mathison
was the pastor who convinced me that I could have a personal relationship with
Jesus. Until I met the man we called “Brother Si,” Jesus was a historical
figure like Abraham, Moses or Lincoln. Brother Si taught me that Jesus was
alive and that I could talk to him. There was something captivating about
Brother Si.
I soon
decided I wanted to know Jesus like Brother Si knew him. I wanted to be an
authentic disciple of Jesus like Brother Si was. The love of Jesus felt real
because the love of my pastor was real. Years later I would realize that I fell
in love with Jesus because Brother Si was in love with Jesus.
Stanley Jones, or “Brother Stanley,”
became my next mentor – through his books and especially through his sharing of
the gospel. His teaching was remarkably Christlike.
He seemed to care deeply for people. He wanted them to find freedom and joy
through surrender to Jesus. He made the ancient creed, “Jesus is Lord,” the
password into a transformed life.
Elton Trueblood,
the Quaker philosopher, was a gift of God to me as a friend and mentor. He
taught the church at large, and he taught me, that “every Christian is a
minister.” Elton was disciplined and gentle, devoted to Jesus, and uniquely
gifted as a teacher of the faith. More than once he set my heart on fire as the
Christ about whom he spoke came alive for me.
God used these three men, my
teachers in the faith, to help me develop my own personal relationship with
Jesus. He was real for them. And through them Jesus became real to me.
Kennon Callahan has been my mentor for the past 25 years. He helped
me realize that the mission of the church is the mission of Christ. The purpose
of the church is not to build and maintain buildings but to find and serve
people in need, offering them hope, help, and healing in the name of Christ. As
a pastor he helped me to move from a ministry of “commitment and challenge” to
one of “compassion and community.”
Basically these wonderful teachers
taught me to sit at the feet of the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ. As the living
Christ he still teaches those who will sit at his feet. He walked the earth
teaching in the First Century and, since his resurrection, has through the
“Inner Voice” become the greatest teacher of the ages.
The people who first heard Jesus
teach were astonished at “the authority” with which he spoke. He did not quote
the great rabbis of the past. There was no need to do that for Jesus was God
speaking! He was indeed the “Word” of God. His words were the authentic truth
of almighty God. Little wonder people were astounded!
The rabbinic teachers of Jesus’ day
did not want to share their authority with Jesus. They had“a
good thing going” and did not want Jesus to upset their applecart. But when
they tried to embarrass Jesus and turn the people against him, Jesus confounded
them with his own questions. They were no match for the Master Teacher who
often used these confrontations to teach truth about the kingdom of God.
Our world today is flooded with
information and opinions. Hundreds of people want to be our teachers. They want
us to buy their versions of truth and become disciples of their ways of
thinking. We can become easily confused by the vast array of “teachers” who
seek our allegiance. However, there is a solution, and that is to accept as our
ultimate authority the Master Teacher, Jesus, and the gospels that contain his
teachings.
Any “new” teaching must be tested by
the teaching of Jesus. He is our authority for truth. Any teacher must be
tested by how well his lifestyle compares to that of Jesus. Is a teacher’s
proclamation authenticated by his own word and deed? It should be. If not, the
teacher does not deserve to be heard or followed.
The longer I live the more I realize
my need to sit at the feet of Jesus and allow his teaching to saturate my mind
and heart. No other teacher is as worthy of my time and attention. Jesus is not
only the Source of truth, he is the Truth. Anything that contradicts the
teaching of Jesus is false.
The more
my life is aligned to the teaching of Jesus, the greater my sense of
fulfillment and joy. When he is my guide I have no fear of being lost for the
Gentle Shepherd is leading me home. When I listen to Jesus, I hear God
speaking! How wonderfully my teachers have served me! I owe them a debt I can
never repay but I shall remain eternally grateful for their kind investment in
me! + + +