What Jesus Knew About Teaching That We Forgot

Christian Teaching Reboot

If you hang around churches, conferences, or Christian corners of the internet long enough, you may notice something. Almost everything we teach is designed to make a case for our beliefs.

We want to prove what the Bible says, why it says it, how we can be confident it means what we think it means. We pile up cross-references, sprinkle in Greek and Hebrew, and add a few emotional stories for good measure. It’s passionate and sincere, and a lot of it is good teaching.

But I fear that something very important has fallen off the radar. Discipleship. We stopped training disciples and started presenting dissertations. We drown people in information then wonder why quality, fruitful transformation feels so rare.

The Persuasion Epidemic

Most Christian content today—books, sermons, studies, even social posts—is structured like a persuasive essay. The goal? Convince your listener to agree with you.

We teach them why forgiveness matters, why they should trust God, why they should love their neighbor. And yes, those truths are vital. But if persuasion is the end of our effort, we’re missing the point.

Conviction alone doesn’t create obedience.

We tell people to believe, to feel deeply, to surrender, to “just do it.” But we rarely show them how.

So, they walk away emotionally stirred but practically...stuck.

The False Win

We’ve come to measure success by reactions instead of results. If people cry, clap, or shout “amen,” we assume something deep happened. If our book gets good reviews, we tell ourselves it’s bearing fruit.

But applause isn’t transformation. We’ve all heard sermons that gave us goosebumps and yet left us unchanged by Tuesday. A swell of amens is not the same as the fruit of maturity.

Why Information Alone Fails

Even if you convince me that your message is true, that doesn’t mean I know what to do next.

Truth isn’t transformation until it’s lived out.

Take forgiveness, for example. I can understand every biblical reason why I should forgive. I can memorize verses, study the Greek word, and nod my head in agreement. But if no one has shown me how to forgive—how to process the pain, how to release resentment, how to trust that God can handle the situation—then I’m still stuck.

Recently I experienced betrayal by a close friend, and my emotions were all over the place. Someone told me I didn’t have to forgive right away. WHAT?! The good, Sunday-school-loving girl in me was scandalized. You mean there’s actually a process to forgiveness? I don’t have to swallow my feelings and white-knuckle my way to “forgiveness” instantly?

It dawned on me that no one had ever allowed forgiveness to become a skill for me. A practice. An exercise with steps to follow and space to grow.

That’s the missing piece. We’ve been teaching people what to believe, not what to practice.

The Fallout for Teachers and Learners

This gap hurts everyone.

Teachers pour themselves into their message and wonder why nothing seems to stick. They assume their audience just isn’t hungry enough. Or maybe they aren't engaging enough.

Learners walk away inspired but quickly deflated when they can’t make the change last. Then they feel ashamed, like they must be spiritually lazy or rebellious.

We’ve told people to climb mountains without ever teaching them how to walk uphill.

And then we wonder why they give up.

The truth is, we’re not failing because we’re faithless. We’re failing because we were never trained.

What Jesus Actually Did

Jesus didn’t hand out booklets of doctrine and disappear. He didn’t host weekend conferences and call it good. He lived among His disciples, showing them exactly how to live out what He taught.

• He asked before He told. “Who do you say I am?” (Mark 8:29)

• He modeled the lesson. “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (John 13:14–15)

• He let them practice and then debriefed. He sent them out two by two (Luke 10:1–20), listened to their stories, corrected their misunderstandings, and encouraged them to keep going.

Jesus didn’t settle for convincing minds. He equipped hands and hearts.

A Rebooted Approach: Three Teaching Skills That Transform

If we want to teach like Jesus, we have to think like trainers, not lecturers.

That means building skills, not just delivering facts.

Here are three ways to start rebooting how you teach:

1. Listen First

Instead of rushing to download your knowledge, invite curiosity.

Ask questions that help your audience discover truth for themselves, and truly listen to their answers. You might find your understanding of the problem was incomplete.

• “When have you seen this play out in your own life?”

• “What makes this command hard to follow?”

• “What do you think Jesus meant when He said this?”

Questions activate reflection. Reflection leads to ownership.

2. Model It

Show what obedience looks like in motion.

If you’re teaching about forgiveness, share how you walked through it. If you’re teaching generosity, talk about a time you wrestled with giving.

Modeling makes abstract ideas real. It gives people a mental picture to imitate.

3. Measure It

Transformation isn’t fuzzy. You can define what fruit looks like.

Ask: What change would prove this truth took root?

Maybe it’s a calmer reaction under pressure, or a habit sustained for thirty days, or a reconciled relationship.

Give your audience a way to track progress so they can see God at work.

Training Is Tangible

Training requires repetition, feedback, and time. That’s not unspiritual. That’s human design.

When we expect instant obedience without process, we create frustrated believers and burned-out leaders.

People need permission to practice.

That’s why Jesus didn’t just preach once and move on. He traveled with His disciples for years, giving them safe spaces to try, fail, and try again.

I’ve spent time in churches where my spiritual and moral performance felt under such scrutiny that I was afraid to move at all. It didn’t feel like family looking out for one another. It felt like control. That kind of pressure leads to hiding, keeping secrets, lying, hypocrisy, and sometimes walking away from the faith altogether.

That’s not Jesus’ heart. That’s not how the body was meant to function. We will never truly strive to be more like Christ if we aren’t allowed to walk around with skinned knees from our messy attempts.

If our teaching doesn’t include that kind of grace, we end up doling out guilt instead of growth.

Reimagining Success

Imagine a ministry or message where people don’t just nod in agreement. They go home and do something different. Imagine teaching that replaces shame with skill, and performance with progress.

This is what true discipleship looks like:

• Less pressure, more practice.

• Less guilt, more guidance.

• Less convincing, more coaching.

That’s how faith matures. That’s how the Kingdom multiplies.

✏️ Your Turn to Practice

Pick one biblical truth you’ve been teaching—maybe patience, faith, or forgiveness—and ask yourself:

• Have I shown people how to practice it?

• How might I model it in front of them?

• What would success look like if they really lived this out?

Now design one small way your people could practice this truth this week. It could be a reflection exercise, a daily challenge, or a conversation prompt.

Then share it. Invite feedback. Celebrate what they notice.

That’s discipleship. That’s training. That’s transformation.

Ready to Build Messages That Train, Not Just Teach?

If this stirred something in you, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at your message—what’s working, what’s getting lost, and where it could go next.

In a free Discovery Session, we’ll take a quick overview of your message and explore the best next step for you. That might be refining your topic, mapping your book or course, or digging into the stories that shaped your journey.

You’ll leave the call with clarity, encouragement, and a few clear paths forward.