The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
The verse means that a follower becomes like the one who leads him, and seldom rises in spirituality above the level and standard the teacher has reached. Converts generally rise no higher than those from whom they learned the truth, for a teacher cannot lead others to a higher spiritual standard than the one the teacher has reached. A leader who cherishes a mischievous disposition and an unsanctified tongue and indulges criticism and talebearing lives in darkness under Satan's power and spreads the darkness surrounding his soul so that many others are affected, and leader and followers fall together. The same lack that marks the teacher's course is seen in the converts. Unproven and unqualified ministers who scatter and confuse rather than gather in and build up cannot lift their few converts above their own low level, so success does not come from having a large number of ministers; a few self-sacrificing, godly men do a greater amount of good.
Those who teach must therefore be spiritual-minded men in constant communion with heaven, walking with God, with hearts filled with the Saviour's love. They are to make the Redeemer's boundless love the theme of conversation and to carry the earnestness and unselfishness that marked the work of Christ into their efforts, so that prejudice is removed from the minds of those who listen. To move the church forward in piety and holiness, a minister must advance in those qualities himself. This lesson must be marked closely, received without offense as the instruction of One who cannot err, and obeyed because it applies to every follower of Christ.
The verse means that a follower becomes like the one who leads him, and seldom rises in spirituality above the level and standard the teacher has reached. Converts generally rise no higher than those from whom they learned the truth, for a teacher cannot lead others to a higher spiritual standard than the one the teacher has reached. A leader who cherishes a mischievous disposition and an unsanctified tongue and indulges criticism and talebearing lives in darkness under Satan's power and spreads the darkness surrounding his soul so that many others are affected, and leader and followers fall together. The same lack that marks the teacher's course is seen in the converts. Unproven and unqualified ministers who scatter and confuse rather than gather in and build up cannot lift their few converts above their own low level, so success does not come from having a large number of ministers; a few self-sacrificing, godly men do a greater amount of good.
Those who teach must therefore be spiritual-minded men in constant communion with heaven, walking with God, with hearts filled with the Saviour's love. They are to make the Redeemer's boundless love the theme of conversation and to carry the earnestness and unselfishness that marked the work of Christ into their efforts, so that prejudice is removed from the minds of those who listen. To move the church forward in piety and holiness, a minister must advance in those qualities himself. This lesson must be marked closely, received without offense as the instruction of One who cannot err, and obeyed because it applies to every follower of Christ.