5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Mess With a Fivefold Teacher
I knew everything once. I was 14 and my opinion was gonna change the world. I watch my 12-year-old approach that magical era of transcended awareness. I smile.
He thinks he understands love, yet never had a broken heart. He assures me he knows what hard work is, but never worked a 9-5.
This is the unfortunate condition of someone who just found out they have a teaching call. We perceive the world through a unique lens. We see patterns and feel shifts. The unfortunate bit is that we mistake our gift for the final word.
It takes more than observation to succeed as a teacher. So allow me a little leeway here as I wrestle my fellow teachers into a discipline for spiritual maturity.
What It Takes to Be a Fivefold Teacher
1. Is it Just Me, Or Is it Getting Hot in Here?
"that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ," - 1 Peter 1:7
Teachers face lots of problems. I mean... like A LOT!
Gold isn't put into the fire to make it shinier. It's plunged into hell to expose the dross. Process upon process exposes and then skims contaminants from the top. The more it's plunged, the higher quality of gold.
Problems are the fire, your faith is the gold. When you use faith to overcome your problems, your process accelerates.
Your value as a teacher is directly proportional to your time spent in the furnace.
2. There's a Whole Lotta Shaking Going On
"Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain." - Hebrews 12:27
Teachers get away with nothing. Everything you believe will be shaken. Repeatedly.
Imagine a watercolor painting. A white-bearded guru rests in a posture of meditation, up on the hill. Many come from miles to glean from his wisdom. Yeah, that's not you.
You don't get away with reaching a heightened state of knowledge so others can admire your greatness. Your doctrine is refined, changed, and... SHAKEN!
The teacher who says, "I've arrived" is a 12-year-old about to hit puberty. It's about to get ugly.
3. Wow, You're SHARP!
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12
A katana is folded 1,000 times. Such is the nature of a teacher's doctrine.
There's always more to add. We can always become sharper. We're never content with one perspective of a doctrine. As such, we're always learning.
So what's the difference between my kitchen knife and a Katana? Run your hand over the blade to find out. Do you want to qualify to cut eggplant or divide joint and marrow?
The teacher who grows through study is one whose anointing divides spirit from the soul.
4. Teachers are Gordon Ramseys of the Fivefold
"Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one." - Colossians 4:6
A teacher who's been along the way a bit understands the value of remaining silent.
Teachers are Gordon Ramseys of the Fivefold. They are slow-cookers of the Word, seasoned with the Spirit.
As such, their speech is seasoned to perfection and well-received. It's not to say that teachers aren't rejected. Rather, a mature teacher will inspire even those that reject his doctrine. He does so for this reason - he knows the power of the spoken and written word.
Who doesn't admire creative plating? Such is the nature of a teacher who percolates until the time is just right to deliver.
A teacher who is slow to study and quick to speak sounds like a teenage boy whose voice is breaking. He might have a message, but who can take it seriously?
5. Yes, You're Better Than Siri (Or Alexa!)
"For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ." - 1 Corinthians 2:16
We nearly ended up in Germany instead of France. Don't judge. It's that easy to take the wrong road at the Swiss borderline in Basel.
It's the only time I didn't mind my husband taking the advice of another woman. Siri announced our route and set us on track. That is the nature of the teaching anointing. It gives the Church the mind of Christ. The teacher nudges our navigation in a godly direction.
When you allow the process - your anointing increases. You qualify to tell others what to do. We don't qualify because we have great ideas. We qualify because the mind of Christ is formed within us.
A teacher is shaped through years of fire, folding, and shaking.
I offer you this attempt at consolation. You aren't alone. I'm right there alongside you. Our process continues as long as we're willing to grow. You're here because you want to grow.
So move past the awkwardness of spiritual adolescence and embrace the pressures of adulthood. You're called to prepare minds for tomorrow's Kingdom plan. Let's go! We got work to do!
A TAKEAWAY FOR THE PROPHETS
BEWARE! The teacher's sword is sharper than your prophetic word. As such, they will cut the joint and the marrow better than you. On the other hand, no one brings the sweetness of Jesus into a room, quite like you! Leave the marrow slicing to the teacher and arm yourself with the healing balm!
APOSTOLIC INSIGHT
If you're prophetic, you need a teacher on the team. You might understand the heart of Christ, but do you comprehend the intention of His mind? The ideal apostolic partnership is between a teacher and a prophet. Embrace your superpowers and acknowledge your lack.
Feel the call to the teaching ministry? Get Today's Teacher and quit fighting God's hand!
EXCERPT from Today's Teacher
Nothing Comes Easy
The teacher is one that has travailed for the truth. I've had some words with God about this. When I was a prophet, it seemed so much easier. I would say, “Lord, I need this anointing” or “Lord, this person needs a miracle from you.” Instantly, the revelation would come.
In teacher training, the Lord made me continually knock, seek, and ask for an answer. He started to bring me spiritual kids that I didn't have answers for. I said, “Lord, give me revelation.” He replied, “Go to my Word.”
I studied and suffered long. I sought Him. Between what He told me in my journals, what I lived, and what I read in the Word, slowly, I started to get the answer. However, God never handed it to me on a silver platter.
He made me work and pay a price for it, as if I was pregnant with a baby and had to nurture it, carry it, and go through the pains of labor before I could birth it. That is what it was like for every single principle that I teach.
As a teacher, you don't just get your answer overnight. You travail.
Colette Toach of Toach Ministries International is the author of forty apostolic and prophetic books including the widely popular I'm Not Crazy – I'm a Prophet. She and her husband, Craig Toach, are the spiritual parents of the Next Gen Prophets. Connect and collaborate with like-minded believers in the Community of Apostles and Prophets by signing up at apostolic-network.com.
