A Quiz: Are You a Teachable Person?

I recognize that I’m not always teachable, so I hesitate to write this post. At the same time, humility is to be a mark of the Christian (James 4:6) – and humility is characterized by teachability. Use these questions to determine how teachable you are, especially if you are a church leader: 

1. Are you quickly defensive when someone disagrees with you? If your first response is to defend yourself and your position, you’re not very teachable.
2. Do you go out of your way to be right? I’ve known some people who never let an argument die until they’ve shown they’re right.   
3. Do you avoid listening to, reading from, or talking with others who differ from you? A closed mind is evidence of an unteachable heart.  
4. Do you blame everyone else for your failures? When everyone else is at fault, you never have any reason to learn.
5. Do you talk more than you listen? Listeners usually learn; talkers often talk because they want their “wise” voice to be heard.
6. Do you tend to find fault with others? One of the easiest ways to show a lack of teachability is to continually find the specks in somebody else’s eye while not seeing the log in your own (Matt 7:3).
7. Have you made it thus far on your charisma more than your efforts? People who live on their charisma have little reason to keep learning. Why do you need to learn when everybody loves hanging out with you anyway? 
8. Do you pray and then act, or do you act and then ask God to bless it? If it’s the latter, you’re not even asking God to teach you; you’re expecting Him to agree with you.  
9. What have you learned that’s changed your life in the last year? The last six months? If you’ve not learned anything that’s made a difference in your life, it might be because you’ve seen no need to learn.
10. Would your family and co-workers say you’re unteachable? If so, you probably are – regardless of how you answered the previous nine questions.

If you recognize that you need to be more teachable, ask God to make you humble today. If, on the other hand, you see yourself as thoroughly teachable, you might still need to ask God to humble you . . . .