What’s the difference between a teacher and a teacher who is a discipler? There’s a lot of difference, actually. The church needs teachers, but the church really needs disciple-making teachers. I’d like to introduce you to 5 differences between teachers and disciple-making teachers, and see which one you lean toward in your own ministry as a group leader. Our goal is to become more like the disciple-making teachers described below.

I’m taking these 5 differences from Robby Gallaty’s book Growing Up: How to be a Disciple who Makes Disciples. Dr. Gallaty makes some great points about the characteristics of disciple-making teachers. See if you come closer to being a teacher or a discipler:

1. A teacher shares information, while a discipler shares life. What happens outside the classroom is just as important, or maybe more important, than what happens inside the classroom. A disciple-making teacher knows the people he leads, where they live, where they work, and he enjoys spending his free time getting to know them more deeply.
2. A teacher aims for the head, while a discipler aims for the heart. A teacher typically loves to be thought of as the expert in the room, the one who knows things and has important ideas and content to give to the group. A disciple-making teacher, however, aims about 10 inches lower and shoots for the heart. His goal is to be used to help bring about spiritual transformation; at the heart of transformation is a change in not just knowledge, but in attitude and action.
3. A teacher measures knowledge, while a discipler measures faith. A teacher might focus on how much he or she knows, and how much of that is transferred into the minds of group members. On the other hand, a disciple-making teacher measures success by the increasing levels of faith that his or her group members demonstrate. Obedience to Christ becomes the measuring stick.
4. A teacher is an authority, a discipler is a servant. I actually knew a teacher who did not allow the people in his group to speak during one of his Sunday morning lectures. He had a lot of ground to cover, and questions and dialogue just slowed him down. After all, he’d studied all week and knew lots of interesting facts to share about the Bible. A disciple-making teacher views themselves very differently. That kind of teacher sees himself as a servant, the one who is last in line, the one who seeks to meet the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of his group members. The disciple-making teacher exists for the group, not vice-versa.
5. A teacher says, “Listen to me” while a discipler says, “Follow me.” Some teachers love to hear themselves talk, but a disciple-making teacher says, “Do as I do, as I attempt to follow Christ.”

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