Pastor Harry’s Thoughts for September

Dear Church Family,

The Courage to Be Teachable September has always had a certain feel to it. Children head back to school, teachers return to their classrooms, backpacks and notebooks come out again, and families begin se ling into a new rou ne. Even if it has been a long me since most of us sat behind a school desk, there is something about this month that s ll brings learning to mind. Maybe that makes September a good time for the rest of us to ask a question we probably do not ask ourselves very often: Am I still teachable?

When we are young, learning is simply part of life. We ask questions, make mistakes, change our minds, and slowly discover that some of the things we were once certain about were not quite right after all. As the years go by, though, experience gives us confidence. We begin to recognize patterns, we learn what works and what does not, we form convictions, and we gain wisdom that can only come through living. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, much of it is a gift. The danger comes when experience quietly hardens into certainty, and we begin to assume there is not much le for anyone to teach us.

That is why remaining teachable takes a certain kind of courage. It means being willing to look at something again, even when we have held the same opinion for years. It means listening carefully when someone younger than us sees something we may have missed. It means opening Scripture with enough humility to let the Word of God challenge not only what other people believe, but what we believe too. And sometimes it means being comfortable enough with ourselves to simply say, “I don’t know.”

Proverbs 9:9 says, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.” I have always liked the way that verse turns our usual idea of wisdom around. We tend to think wisdom means finally reaching the place where we have most things figured out, but Scripture seems to suggest that one of the clearest marks of wisdom is still being able to receive instruction. A wise person does not know everything. A wise person simply understands that there is always more to learn. There is a beautiful example of that in Acts 18 with a man named Apollos. Scripture describes him as eloquent, knowledgeable, and “mighty in the scriptures.” He was already teaching others and speaking boldly about the things of God, so this was not a man who lacked ability or understanding. Still, there were things he did not yet fully know.

When Aquila and Priscilla heard him speaking in the synagogue, they recognized that his understanding needed to be expanded, so Acts 18:26 says they took him aside and “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” What stands out to me in that story is not simply that they taught him, but that Apollos was willing to listen. He could have been embarrassed. He could have been defensive. He could have decided that, because he was already gifted and respected, there was nothing this couple could add. Instead, he allowed himself to be taught, and Scripture goes on to show that he became an even greater help to the believers afterward. There is something important in that for all of us. Being teachable does not diminish us; it deepens us.

The same thing happens in our walk with God. After years in church, familiar passages can almost become part of the furniture of our faith. We have heard the stories, listened to sermons, attended Sunday School classes, read devotionals, and walked through many of the same Scriptures again and again. Yet every so often, a passage we thought we knew suddenly meets us in a completely different way. A verse that meant one thing to us at thirty can speak with much greater depth at sixty because life has changed us. The words are the same, but we are not. That is one of the beautiful things about Scripture and about walking with God. There is always more depth, more truth, more correction, more comfort, and more wisdom than we saw the first time. We never really outgrow the need to listen.

David understood that. In Psalm 25:4–5 he prayed, “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me.” By the time David could pray words like that, he had lived through victories and failures, courage and fear, success and regret. He had experienced more than most people ever would, yet his posture before God was s ll, “Teach me.”

Maybe that is a prayer worth carrying into September.

The very word disciple carries the idea of being a learner. Following Jesus means we never really graduate from being His students. Sometimes He teaches us through Scripture, sometimes through another person, sometimes through a mistake, and sometimes through a season we never would have chosen for ourselves. The lesson may come through someone older than us, someone younger, a friend, a spouse, a child, or even someone with whom we disagree. God has never been limited to teaching us through the people or circumstances we would have chosen. Of course, being teachable does not mean believing everything we hear or laying aside every conviction we hold. Scripture tells us to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). We are meant to think carefully, pray, discern, and measure what we hear against the Word of God. There is a great difference between being teachable and being easily persuaded. But there is also a great difference between having convictions and having a closed heart.

Some of the strongest people I know are able to say, “I had never thought about it that way before,” or even, “I was wrong about that.” That kind of humility does not make a person weak. It shows that they are still growing. So, while children are heading back to classrooms this September, perhaps the rest of us can go back to school in a different way. Maybe God wants to show us something new about pa ence, forgiveness, grace, or the way we speak to others. Maybe there is a familiar passage of Scripture He wants us to see with fresh eyes. Maybe there is someone in our life we need to listen to more carefully.

Whatever the lesson may be, perhaps our prayer this month can simply be this: Lord, keep me teachable. Keep my heart so enough to listen, humble enough to admit when I am wrong, and willing enough to change when You show me something that needs to change. No ma er how many years I have lived, how many sermons I have heard, or how long I have walked with You, never let me reach the place where I think I have nothing le to learn. Because the ques on this September is not whether there is s ll something for us to learn. There is. The ques on is whether we s ll have the courage to be taught.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Harry & Jennifer