So what?
This question is both the most scary and important a teacher can be asked at the end of the lesson. If we don't have a good answer - why was what we taught so important to our lives - it is good cause for embarrassment. Yet this question is essential because it cuts through the veneer of style and personality and lays bare the substance of what has been taught. Has everything that has been said fluff - impressive quotes, interesting facts, intriguing statistics, etc. - but nothing that speaks to any real life change I must make as a result of this lesson?
It is not enough to understand the cultural and historical background of the scripture, even though this is important. It is not enough to understand the roots of various Hebrew or Greek words, although this could shed light on the text. Simply, without a bridge made from the ancient text to our contemporary situation, the teacher's work is incomplete.