Able to teach (1317) (didaktikos from didaktos = pertains to that which is taught or instructed from didasko [from dáo= know or teach; see study of related noun didaskalia]) means to provide instruction or information in a formal or informal setting. = provide instruction in a formal or informal setting by imparting positive truth; English = didactic = designed or intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive) (Click word study on related word didaskalía) is one who is highly skilled in teaching and able to communicate truth. Heresy flourishes where sound Christian teaching lags. Inherent in didaktikós is the intent to influence understanding of the person taught, shaping their will and doing so by communication of knowledge and/or by the content of what is taught Didaktikós does not refer so much to possessing vast knowledge as to one who has the ability to communicate effectively whatever knowledge and understanding they might have. Though truth can seem harsh, carrying with it conviction or judgment of sin, it must be delivered with compassion and kindness because God always works for the restoration or repentance of the sinner. This is a specific requirement for overseers (episkopon) and elders (presbuteron). Paul writes in his first epistle that An overseer, then, must be (dei = an obligation out of intrinsic necessity) above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. (didaktikós) (1Ti 3:2) An overseer or elder who is not able to teach is like a surgeon who can’t use a scalpel. Are the elders in your church able to teach and are they actively utilizing this gift to edify and equip your local body? Again Paul instructs Titus that the overseer must be (again this is obligatory not merely a suggestion) holding fast (strongly clinging or adhering to) the faithful word (committed to the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word as the only source of moral and spiritual truth) which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort (giving the saints a balanced diet of healthy encouraging, edifying teaching) in sound (healthy, wholesome) doctrine and to refute those who contradict (literally speak against)." (see note Titus 1:9) A bond-servant of God must instruct those who oppose him, for this is the only way he can rescue them from Satan’s captivity. Satan "does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44) and he captures people by his lying promises, just as he did Eve telling her "You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Ge3:4-5) Paul spoke of Satan's craftiness writing to the saints at Corinth "I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." (2Cor 11:3) Warren Wiersbe quotes... Phillips Brooks, famous American bishop of the 1800s, said, Apt to teach—it is not something to which one comes by accident or by any sudden burst of fiery zeal. A pastor must be a careful student of the Word of God, and of all that assists him in knowing and teaching that Word. The pastor who is lazy in his study is a disgrace in the pulpit. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor or Logos) Ray Stedman describes one "able to teach" as ... "skillfully dealing with the facts involved, not with feelings, not with fantasies, but with the facts of Scripture. There is where we must always return. It is so easy for an argument to slide off the facts and onto feelings, experiences, and reactions to things. The Lord's servant must call people back to facts." (2 Timothy 2:23-26 Guidelines for Controversies) The bondservant who is able to teach does not have as his main purpose to win arguments but to win the souls of those he is teaching or talking with. He needs to speak truth to counter the enemies lies so that the deceived person is brought to repentance and exhibits a godly sorrow for his or her sin, turning around and going in the opposite direction (which is genuine repentance), and acknowledging the Truth. Vine has some practical thoughts on "able to teach" writing that... For this quality our great source must be the holy Scriptures. As to the mode of teaching, we cannot do better than observe the characteristics of Christ’s teaching. An outstanding feature of this was His presentation of even the profoundest truths in the simplest language. Instead of being mysterious and incomprehensible, He imparted the great lessons for His hearers by means of illustrations and details drawn from the most familiar facts of nature and from the treasury of our household affections. Jewish teachers and philosophers (like the Stoics) also advised patience in instructing others, but they carried this out in the power of their flesh not the power of the Spirit (and His fruit gentleness). Bond-servants must not just expose error and refute it; but must also teach positive truths and establish the saints in faith. We are not to be moralists, like the Cynics, who verbally abused passersby with their “wisdom.” The sharp edge of the sword of truth requires the skilled hand of one who relates compassionately with others. PATIENT WHEN WRONGED: anexikakon: (Eph 4:2; Col 3:13) Guzik comments that... God’s work often takes time. Sometimes we can see why it takes so much time, sometimes we can’t - but God is not in a hurry, and wants us to learn how to patiently trust Him.