People often seem to think that the responsibility for teaching the gospel to others is strictly that of the elders, preacher, or bible-class teachers. In Hebrews 5:12 the writer points out that his readers should have matured sufficiently enough that they would be able to teach others. Instead, they had gone backward and needed “someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God”. His point being that they had a responsibility to teach others, a responsibility they were unable to meet because their knowledge level, instead of increasing, was decreasing.
Many Christians today are hesitant to try to teach others because they know that their knowledge of scripture is not what it should be. Even though they know this, they make no real attempt to correct the situation. Instead, they are content to allow others to do their study for them. This is a very dangerous situation. If my salvation is dependent on my doing what God requires (and it is) should I not strive to learn what these requirements are? Or should I trust my soul’s ultimate destiny to someone else who may, or may not, be telling me the truth? Jesus said in Matthew 15:14, “if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch”. If we are content to receive our knowledge of scripture second hand we will never be sure whether or not we are in imminent danger of falling into the ditch, at least not until it is too late. In Acts 17:11 we read that the Bereans were “more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” We need to take responsibility for our own salvation so that we can help save others. You can’t teach what you don’t know.