It has been said that every faithful member of the Church — every true disciple of Christ, for that matter — is called to be a teacher.

Virtually every calling in the Church in some way involves teaching. Church members in leadership capacities, to be effective, must teach. It is unavoidable. Leaders teach those under their watchcare to understand and fulfill their own duties and responsibilities in the Church and Kingdom of God. They teach them the doctrines of the Kingdom and how to apply those doctrines in their own lives and, in turn, to teach them to others.

While leaders in the Church are teachers, the converse of that statement is also true: Effective teachers, in a very real way, are also leaders.

Consider, for example, one with a formal calling to teach. Whether it be in priesthood meeting, Relief Society, Sunday School or one of the other auxiliary organizations of the Church, a teacher leads by guiding a class discussion. While providing ample opportunity for questions, comments, insights and testimony from students, the effective teacher gently and tactfully directs the discussion into productive channels, ensuring that what is said and done is consistent with the doctrines and teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ and of His anointed servants.

Even in less formal settings, a teacher, through effective methods of instruction, leads learners into paths of righteousness, occasionally, as inspired by the Holy Ghost, grasping moments from life and extracting from them their instructional value, or using memorable object lessons and parallels, as the Master Teacher Himself did.

Truly, teaching and leading are inseparably intertwined. This is clear from the scriptures, which are replete with useful exhortation and instruction for teachers and leaders. Thus, in one of his pastoral epistles, Paul counseled Timothy: "But continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

"That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works" (2 Timothy 3:14-17).

Finding ourselves in the role of teacher, we might profit in our scripture study by occasionally asking ourselves the question: "What can I gain from this particular passage that would help me as a teacher?"

Scriptural instruction to teachers might be placed in one of at least three categories identified by words that begin with p: preparation, presentation and prudence.

Preparation. One who would be a teacher must first be a learner. This is made clear in such scriptural passages as this: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and; my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men" (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21).

Such learning entails not just a conceptual but a spiritual understanding, as reflected in this passage: "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach" (Doctrine and Covenants 42:14).

The period of preparation does not end when one begins to teach but is continual, constant and relentless. "Incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding," said the writer of Proverbs. "Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

"If thou seekest after her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God" (Proverbs 2:2-5).

Presentation. Imparting the word of God to His children is a duty that brings blessings to both giver and receiver. In performing it, we must be mindful of both content and method in what is presented, taking care not to supplant the pure word of God with personal opinion or inclination.

"Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question — unto what were ye ordained?" the Lord said to early Church leaders. "To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.

"Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

"And if it be by some other way it is not of God" (Doctrine and Covenants 50:13-14, 17-18).

While much can be conveyed and gained through the written word, Nephi lamented the inherent incapacity of writing to carry the same power as the spoken word (see 2 Nephi 33:1).

We are blessed to live in an age when teaching, both written and spoken, can have a worldwide reach through the Internet and other means. At the same time, there will always be a need for pure spirit-to-spirit contact of personal one-on-one interaction.

Prudence. Closely aligned with presentation is prudence in deciding what to present and how to present it. The apostle Paul gave the famous analogy of nourishing one with milk first until the learner is able to receive meat (see 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:13). It illustrates the necessity of prerequisite knowledge and prioritizing concepts.

"It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God;" Alma said, "nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him" (Alma 12:9).

In teaching and leading others to Christ, let us remember to take counsel from the rich instruction available to us in the scriptures.