Ever tried to communicate something, only to discover words were exchanged, but you weren’t communicating at all? Yup, we’ve all been there.

This is the fourth in a series of posts on The Seven Laws of the Teacher by Howard Hendricks.

And please remember, we’re all teachers to somebody. Moms – you teach your children. Grandmoms – you teach your grandchildren. Even if you don’t have your own children, God brings children into your life through extended family, friends, church, or your neighborhood. So we’re all teachers!

We’re building on previous posts in this series, including:

• The Law of the Teacher: “If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow.”
• The Law of Education: “The way people learn determines how you teach.”
• The Law of Activity: “Maximum learning is always the result of maximum involvement.”

Today we’ll examine the fourth law, The Law of Communication:

“To truly impart information requires the building of bridges.”

The Latin root word for communication means to make common or to share. So it’s no surprise that communication is key to teaching and learning.

Hendricks relates communication to teaching by examining three components:

• Something I know: In teaching biblical truth, this facet of communication is easy since we’re already convinced of the validity of our subject. We have the privilege of handling the Word of God!
• Something I feel: This can get a bit more difficult. Do we get excited about teaching biblical truth? Or are we teaching solely out of obligation and duty? Do you and I teach as if we really believe in the life-changing impact of God’s Word?
• Something I’m doing: This is even more difficult. Has what we know changed who we are? Does our life demonstrate God’s grace? Is our surrender to the Holy Spirit revealed in the way we interact with others?

I love the illustration Hendricks used to describe our goal in teaching. Most of us have heard the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” But that’s not quite true. As at least one person observed, “You can feed him salt!”

What does that have to do with our teaching? As teachers, we can take the position that we can’t force our students to learn. Or we can be so convinced, excited, and changed by what we’re teaching, that we make our students thirsty to learn and apply God’s Word for themselves.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is:

“Am I genuinely excited and changed by what Jesus Christ is doing in my life
by the power of His Holy Spirit?”

If we’re not, we won’t be able to communicate our faith to anyone else, adults or children.

Our goal is for those we teach to learn what we know, be as excited about it as we are, and be changed by what they learned. Now that’s communication!