Tiffany

I’m going to venture in here and be the dissenting voice….

I think you are right, that looking at what the Bible does say to do vs. just focusing on what not to do is extrememly important. Afterall, we haven’t simply been redeemed to sit in place with our hands folded- we are all called (men and women) to do something with what we have been given.

What you ended up doing here though is equating the call to give an answer for the hope that is in us (ie: knowing our faith, knowing the word, knowing our Lord, being able to explain to someone who doesn’t know Him how it is we are the way we are) to being called to teach anyone anywhere anything. I do not see the two as the same calling. The calling to be a pastor (elder/bishop) of a church and the instruction to know our faith and be prepared to answer those who challenge us are two completely different things. Yes, some of the knowledge (intamicy with the Word for example) is going to overlap. But being responsible for a group of believers (a local church) simple can not be made out to be the same thing as the sort of evangelism that is being talked about in this passage.