Teachability
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12: 7-10)
I recall hearing a funny story once about a salesman who had a flat tire beside a mental institution. As he started replacing the flat tire, one of the patients from the institution wandered over to the fence to watch. The salesman removed the lug nuts from the flat tire and placed them in the hub cap. However, when he was removing the flat tire, he accidentally kicked the hub cap and watched in horror as all of the lug nuts rolled down into a storm drain. The salesman was irate. He started shouting in exasperation and kicked his car in anger and said, “Now, what am I going to do?” The patient watching this scene from behind the fence spoke up and said, “Why don’t you take one lug nut from the other three tires to put your spare on - you can drive that way until you reach a place where you can replace the lug nuts you lost. So the salesman followed his advice. After getting the spare tire mounted on the car the salesman looked at the patient and said, “That was a pretty smart idea, what are you doing in a mental institution?” The inmate smiled and said, “I might be crazy... but I’m not stupid.” - We can learn some of life’s most interesting lessons in rather surprising ways!
Teachability. It’s a word which doesn’t actually appear in many dictionaries, which in itself is kind of strange. Unless a person possess it, the dictionary itself becomes rather useless. In some ways it might be one of the most important words you never think about. Unless a child possesses it, their academic career in school will be a long, hard, uphill struggle. If an adult doesn’t possess it, they will never be able to advance and grow and reach their full potential in life. What is teachability? In the most basic sense it is simply one person learning from another. It is the willingness to embrace new truths, even though they may dismantle natural inclinations and prior convictions. (Kind of sounds like the definition of a disciple, doesn’t it?) To possess teachability, one must possess a humble heart. The moment a person starts to think they have arrived or know enough, they instantly loose this marvelous quality. People who possess teachability never stop growing. They are like a tree that gets fuller and more beautiful each year. People who loose this quality are like stunted plants - still living, but never growing into what they should have become.
In the passage above the Lord was very concerned about Paul’s teachability. The apostle Paul tells us that at one point during his ministry he was caught up into the third heaven. The “third heaven” is Paul’s way of telling us that he was caught up into the presence of God Himself. In ancient culture, the sky above us would be referred to as the first heaven. Outer space and the stars and the planets would be the second heaven, and the unseen spiritual realm is the third heaven. Now that kind of experience would bring bragging rights, wouldn’t it? It would be a small step from having the experience and thinking “Because I had this experience, I’m really something. I don’t need to be taught by anybody. I don’t need guidance or advice, because I’ve been there. I have arrived!” To prevent that kind of a mentality from developing in Paul, he was given a thorn in his flesh by the Lord. Scholars will debate exactly what this thorn was, but the issue is not the nature of the thorn, but the lesson Paul learned from the affliction caused by the thorn.
In the midst of his affliction Paul realized that there was something worse than sickness or insult or difficulties – and that is sin and, the worse sin of all is pride. He realizes that even as careful as he was, pride could still work its way into his heart. And once it takes root – the transformation process is sabotaged. So in his pain God whispers into his ear, “My grace is sufficient for you.” And he begins to think how wonderful the love of God is. How there is only one living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection. How he is never changing, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own will, for his own glory. How he is the most loving, most gracious, most merciful, most long-suffering, most abundant in goodness and truth. How he forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. That he is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. That he is the most just, and also terrible in his judgments. That he hates all sin, and who will by no means ignore the guilty. He is the eternal, almighty, true and living infinite God. And perhaps he remembers the day when Christ broke into his life and knocked him into the dust – and how Christ then intervened in his life and revealed himself. And Paul remembers how he came to know him as the forgiver of his sins. Paul remembers how he came to an awareness that previously he used to hunt Christians down and mock them and imprison them and put them to death, but now Christ had fully forgiven him and flooded his soul with his grace. And oh how wonderful that grace is. Just by reminding him of how wonderful it is God was able to keep him teachable. He remembered how Christ was able to divert his attention from the small issues of his own life – his trials, his victories – and it kept him involved in the process of being transformed – and it stopped the devil from getting a foothold in his life by filling his heart with pride. And he realizes that the difficulties he was facing were not working against him but rather they were actually working for him to his own betterment. God was using the affliction to keep him fully dependant upon his grace. Paul’s willingness to refocus on grace – to turn away from the pride that might come with the ecstasy of his vision – to turn away from a victim mentality while he was suffering with a chronic problem - and accept that God’s love and care for him had not diminished by the smallest ounce is evidence of his own teachability. Through the highs and through the lows he was able to refocus by coming back to a point of humility – he remained teachable.
I think if we were able to ask Paul today, he would probably say he was thankful for the thorn, whatever it was. Without it he would have missed one of life’s most important messages - the sufficiency of God’s grace. May we all remain as teachable and learn that great lesson. Selah.
Still Growing,
PT
I recall hearing a funny story once about a salesman who had a flat tire beside a mental institution. As he started replacing the flat tire, one of the patients from the institution wandered over to the fence to watch. The salesman removed the lug nuts from the flat tire and placed them in the hub cap. However, when he was removing the flat tire, he accidentally kicked the hub cap and watched in horror as all of the lug nuts rolled down into a storm drain. The salesman was irate. He started shouting in exasperation and kicked his car in anger and said, “Now, what am I going to do?” The patient watching this scene from behind the fence spoke up and said, “Why don’t you take one lug nut from the other three tires to put your spare on - you can drive that way until you reach a place where you can replace the lug nuts you lost. So the salesman followed his advice. After getting the spare tire mounted on the car the salesman looked at the patient and said, “That was a pretty smart idea, what are you doing in a mental institution?” The inmate smiled and said, “I might be crazy... but I’m not stupid.” - We can learn some of life’s most interesting lessons in rather surprising ways!
Teachability. It’s a word which doesn’t actually appear in many dictionaries, which in itself is kind of strange. Unless a person possess it, the dictionary itself becomes rather useless. In some ways it might be one of the most important words you never think about. Unless a child possesses it, their academic career in school will be a long, hard, uphill struggle. If an adult doesn’t possess it, they will never be able to advance and grow and reach their full potential in life. What is teachability? In the most basic sense it is simply one person learning from another. It is the willingness to embrace new truths, even though they may dismantle natural inclinations and prior convictions. (Kind of sounds like the definition of a disciple, doesn’t it?) To possess teachability, one must possess a humble heart. The moment a person starts to think they have arrived or know enough, they instantly loose this marvelous quality. People who possess teachability never stop growing. They are like a tree that gets fuller and more beautiful each year. People who loose this quality are like stunted plants - still living, but never growing into what they should have become.
In the passage above the Lord was very concerned about Paul’s teachability. The apostle Paul tells us that at one point during his ministry he was caught up into the third heaven. The “third heaven” is Paul’s way of telling us that he was caught up into the presence of God Himself. In ancient culture, the sky above us would be referred to as the first heaven. Outer space and the stars and the planets would be the second heaven, and the unseen spiritual realm is the third heaven. Now that kind of experience would bring bragging rights, wouldn’t it? It would be a small step from having the experience and thinking “Because I had this experience, I’m really something. I don’t need to be taught by anybody. I don’t need guidance or advice, because I’ve been there. I have arrived!” To prevent that kind of a mentality from developing in Paul, he was given a thorn in his flesh by the Lord. Scholars will debate exactly what this thorn was, but the issue is not the nature of the thorn, but the lesson Paul learned from the affliction caused by the thorn.
In the midst of his affliction Paul realized that there was something worse than sickness or insult or difficulties – and that is sin and, the worse sin of all is pride. He realizes that even as careful as he was, pride could still work its way into his heart. And once it takes root – the transformation process is sabotaged. So in his pain God whispers into his ear, “My grace is sufficient for you.” And he begins to think how wonderful the love of God is. How there is only one living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection. How he is never changing, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own will, for his own glory. How he is the most loving, most gracious, most merciful, most long-suffering, most abundant in goodness and truth. How he forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. That he is the rewarder of those that diligently seek him. That he is the most just, and also terrible in his judgments. That he hates all sin, and who will by no means ignore the guilty. He is the eternal, almighty, true and living infinite God. And perhaps he remembers the day when Christ broke into his life and knocked him into the dust – and how Christ then intervened in his life and revealed himself. And Paul remembers how he came to know him as the forgiver of his sins. Paul remembers how he came to an awareness that previously he used to hunt Christians down and mock them and imprison them and put them to death, but now Christ had fully forgiven him and flooded his soul with his grace. And oh how wonderful that grace is. Just by reminding him of how wonderful it is God was able to keep him teachable. He remembered how Christ was able to divert his attention from the small issues of his own life – his trials, his victories – and it kept him involved in the process of being transformed – and it stopped the devil from getting a foothold in his life by filling his heart with pride. And he realizes that the difficulties he was facing were not working against him but rather they were actually working for him to his own betterment. God was using the affliction to keep him fully dependant upon his grace. Paul’s willingness to refocus on grace – to turn away from the pride that might come with the ecstasy of his vision – to turn away from a victim mentality while he was suffering with a chronic problem - and accept that God’s love and care for him had not diminished by the smallest ounce is evidence of his own teachability. Through the highs and through the lows he was able to refocus by coming back to a point of humility – he remained teachable.
I think if we were able to ask Paul today, he would probably say he was thankful for the thorn, whatever it was. Without it he would have missed one of life’s most important messages - the sufficiency of God’s grace. May we all remain as teachable and learn that great lesson. Selah.
Still Growing,
PT
posted by Larry | 3:37 PM
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