Matthew the Poor writes:
We need to understand the significant different between a religious teacher and a spiritual servant. The first relays information; the second builds souls. The first extracts knowledge from books and places it before the student on paper. The second feeds the ones he serves from his own fullness: he shares the inner riches of his faith, his love, his self-sacrifice, and his humility. He provides genuine experiences and a living example to those he serves, for it is himself that he gives, and it is his own life that he offers. The first transmits words and concepts that he has heard externally. The second brings forth words and concepts from within, an outpouring that rises from his depths, like lava erupting from the depths of the earth. The first prepares a lesson to convince his listeners; the second labors to give birth to children in Christ.
Matthew the Poor, in If You Love Me: Serving Christ and the Church in Spirit and Truth
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