II Timothy 2:2  And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also  When something is committed, it has been pledged or given in trust for its preservation.  The place or person who has something committed to them takes on the responsibility for its preservation.   Since we don’t have to invent anything, just hear it then commit it to other faithful men we need not be geniuses, just honest and disciplined.  These are learnable traits and diligence beats genius any day of the week.

It doesn’t matter if you know it. The question is will you teach it.  Anything else is just plain thievery.  The things committed to us were put in our trust.  Anything committed to us that we are not willing to teach dies with us.  The idea of preservation involves propagation.   The things heard from the Word of God and our mentors in the faith become the tools for our ministry of discipleship to others.

Find faithful men.  Jesus was looking for men that would follow Him, not those He had to push.  He did not waste time on those who did not value the truth or were lazy.  He knew that they would not be good stewards of the truth that He came to teach.  When there was a war on Saul looked for the valiant and strong men and took them to himself.  I Samuel 14:52.  Find faithful men and then tell them all you know.  Commit to them the things you have heard. Teach only truth:  Teach the truth that will stand the test of accountability that many witnesses provide.  We are commanded to teach the things we already heard, and its even ok if the guy that taught you hears you using his stuff.   John the Baptist and Jesus both had a message entitled, “repent for the kingdom is at hand.”   

  1. Don’t be a black hole of learning.  If you are not teaching anyone the things you learn then you will become like the dead sea.  Go burn off some information calories and ask someone if they understood the message Sunday night.  If they did, ask them to explain it to you.  If they didn’t then explain it to them.
  2. You may not be able to create faithfulness or discipline in your first disciple.  Remember, Jesus had entire cities come out to hear him only to have them leave when the sayings became difficult or the cost to high.  Be ready to look hard for faithful men.  When you find one, then invest heavily.