Articles
“Are You Teachable?”
1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,
to understand words of insight,
3 to receive instruction in wise dealing,
in righteousness, justice, and equity;
4 to give prudence to the simple,
knowledge and discretion to the youth—
5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,
and the one who understands obtain guidance,
6 to understand a proverb and a saying,
the words of the wise and their riddles.
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:1-7
Wynton Marsalis, the Pulitzer prize winning jazz trumpeter, once said of his role as a teacher at The Juilliard School of Music, “If you want to learn, I can’t stop you. If you don’t want to learn, I can’t teach you.” His statement is reminiscent of the biblical book of Proverbs. The introduction to the book Proverbs (above) contains the purpose of the book in verses 2-6, which is two-fold: to develop moral skill (AKA “wisdom” 2a, 3-4) and mental discernment (“understanding” 2b, 6). We need both to overcome our stupidity and naiveté which add so much unnecessary trouble to our lives.
However, to acquire these gifts, one must know one needs them. “Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7) because they already regard themselves as wise (3:7). Quintilian, a great Roman teacher of oratory said of some of his scholars, “They would no doubt be excellent students if they were not already convinced of their own knowledge… Blessed is the man who has the humility to know his own ignorance, his own weakness, and his own need.” To gain wisdom requires a proper view of oneself (humility, Mt. 5:3), which grows from a proper view of God (“the fear of the Lord”, Prov. 1:7).
This all reminds me of Jesus, the master Teacher. When opposition against him reached a certain point he began to teach in parables. The greatest parable of all is the one by which all other parables are understood, the Parable of the Sower. In Matthew 13:1-9, Jesus tells the story of a man who went out to sow seed. The seed landed on various types of soil and was unfruitful for various reasons. However, some seed fell on good soil and produced a huge crop.
Before he explained the meaning of the parable (Mt. 13:18-23) his disciples asked him why he was teaching this way (Mt. 13:10). Jesus replied, “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Mt. 13:13). He did not speak in parables to hide the truth from certain people. Rather, he spoke in parables “because” the truth wasn’t getting through to them in the first place. In fact, parabolic teaching is a very effective way to learn but only to those who want to learn. Thus the parables sift the audience into those who are fit for the kingdom and those who are not.
Are you teachable? The issue is not intellectual but moral. If the mind cannot understand it is only because the heart has “grown dull” (Mt. 13:15). It goes back to the quotes from Marsalis and Quintilian: the people who gain wisdom are those who possess a humble attitude and a desire to learn. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Mt. 7:7-8). Reverential fear of the Lord is the prerequisite to knowledge (Prov. 1:9) and foundation for wisdom (Prov. 9:19). It hates evil (Prov. 8:13) and results in a prolonged life, in more ways than one (Prov. 10:27).
