“But… I’m not gifted to teach the Bible!” is the common refrain against taking the step to share God’s Word with others.

Yes, God has especially gifted certain men to be teachers so as to “equip the saints for the work of ministry” and to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12). These men have been endowed with a special measure of the Spirit to help believers understand things that are especially “hard to understand” (2 Peter 3:15-16) and to hold fast to the truth.

However, the Great Commission is clear that every follower of Jesus is to make disciples of all nations and to “teach them to observe all that I (Jesus) have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). Each Christian must work hard to have a firm grasp of the truth so as to teach others God’s commands and how to rightly obey them.

As Paul wrote to Timothy, we are to do our best “to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Hot, tired and sweaty, Philip caught up to the chariot where he’d noticed an Ethiopian eunuch was sitting and reading the Holy Scripture. The conversation opens with Philip asking the eunuch: “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30)

The eunuch replied: “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (Acts 8:31)

Deciding to spare him from the hot desert sun, the eunuch invited Philip up on his chariot to explain the passage of Scripture that he was reading. Then, Luke records that Philip “opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35). After hearing Philip, the eunuch turned from his sin, placed his faith in Christ and was subsequently baptised.

Here’s the interesting thing: The Ethiopian eunuch was no lowly court official. Rather, he was a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians and was in charge of all of her treasure (Acts 8:27). And unlike many people of his time, he would be well-educated and literate.

One would think that such qualities were sufficient to rightly interpret Scripture. Yet, despite possessing a physical copy of the Scriptures and the ability to read, he admitted that he could not understand it apart from someone guiding him.

In contrast to the Ethiopian eunuch, the Bible doesn’t tell us that Philip possessed any special skills or status. Instead, we first meet him in Acts 6, simply described as one of the 7 men chosen to care for the poor within the church in Jerusalem so that the apostles could “devote (themselves) to prayer and to the ministry of the word”(Acts 6:1-6).

Philip wasn’t one of the 12 Apostles – not to be confused with the other Philip, who was one of the original 12 – but was simply a servant in the early Church. Yet, after Philip fled the Jerusalem after a great persecution arose against Christians, he went about preaching the Gospel and was specially chosen by God to explain the Scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch.

To this day, he is known as “Philip the evangelist” because of his ministry.

Admittedly, the Great Commission is a demand that many of us, including myself, find difficult to obey. The Bible is a difficult book to be acquainted with, let alone to master. Yet, we must remember that what God requires, God will provide.

Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus promised the apostles that God will send the Holy Spirit to help them and guide them into all the truth (John 16:13). This promise is also extended to believers today. Each individual believer has been described as a “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Hence, the same Spirit who inspired the writings of Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16) dwells within us to help us interpret and understand Scripture.

But God in His grace has also created the Church – the physical gathering of God’s people – and dwells with them with His Spirit to hear and obey God’s Word. It’s not just individual persons that are described as the “temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19), but the Church is also described as “God’s temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

Hence, when believers come together to worship God, the Holy Spirit is present to help believers interpret and understand Scripture.

Right understanding and interpretation of Scripture is an essential component of the gathering of God’s people, and we must put in the hard work of studying it together. We see this in the early Church described in Acts, where Christians gathered and “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship,” with awe coming upon every person present (Acts 2:42).

Therefore, when Paul listed out the qualifications of an overseer, he insisted on their ability to teach (1 Timothy 3:2). Paul understood that they must be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9) in order to lead God’s people faithfully. 

For those of you who are struggling with interpreting and applying God’s Word, I encourage you to seek out the overseers in your local church and seek their guidance. As we hear God’s Word rightly taught and applied to our lives, we become “equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17), which includes helping us to fulfil Christ’s command in the Great Commission.

Every believer has the responsibility to read and interpret the Bible for ourselves, but God has graciously given us a community so that we do not have to do it by ourselves. God’s Word creates and sustains His people (Romans 10:17). Sharing His Word is a great privilege, but it is also of great necessity in this world.