Authority in Teaching

In "Step One" on pages 19-20 of the text Creative Bible Teaching, the author describes a scenario in which a student teacher, Matt, was critiqued by a fellow student, Kate, who cited Matt's failure to lead his students in an actual study of the Bible. The author relates his observations: "Matt did not teach the Bible passage. Matt instead led a class session on everyone else's experiences and opinions. He did quite well when it came to the dynamics of teaching, but he failed when it came to teaching with authority. Matt responded to Kate's critique, 'Well, I didn't really have a lot of time to study the passage. I had a paper due in another class, so I thought I would just get everyone involved.' Matt made a fundamental error in his teaching ministry. He confused involvement with authority. Getting students involved in a class is not the same as getting them involved in the Bible. Authority in teaching the Bible is not derived from the teacher's skill or the methods selected, but only from teaching what the Scriptures teach."