A significant challenge for Bible teachers and church leaders today is keeping up with what's going on.
Of course, just keeping up today isn't good enough.
In addition to regular, deep time in the Word of God, teachers, pastors, and leaders need to be students of life.
I believe one of the reasons why the Church is not leading the way today as it could and should is that the leaders are poor learners.
If you study who takes the lead in the culture, in businesses, in civic organizations, and even in governments, there is a strong correlation with the people who are the fastest and best learners.
Now I strongly believe that Christians should be the best learners and thinkers on the planet -- we have the Mind of Christ! But it is often not so.
My own reputation is that I'm a terrific learner. In addition to my full-time job (not in a church), family and church leadership responsibilities, and running Brooke Associates, I'm constantly in learning mode.
For example, I will read through the whole Bible 4 times this year, as I did last year. I read 131 books last year and plan to finish over 110 this year. I'm consistently reading sixteen magazines and trade publications, plus following the text, audio, and video content on 72 blogs. My friends, fellow church leaders, and students will tell you that I can remember a huge amount. "Being around you, Glenn, is like sipping from a fire hose of knowledge and insight," says one.
Am I superman, or the bionic man? No. Do I sleep and exercise and eat? Yes. Do I have some super-high IQ that lets me do this? I'm a reasonably smart guy, but know plenty of people much smarter than me. Are these extraordinary, superhuman accomplishments? Absolutely not! They are well within the range of most adults.
What sets great teachers, pastors, and leaders apart on the learning scale is
* they know what they need to learn, and why
* they understand what learning really is, and have mastered the practices of learning
* they apply what they learn (because the point of learning is not knowing, it's doing)
In a few days I'll write again about this issue, because I think it's extremely important.
1 comment:
Great post, Glenn.
I have a hard time finding the proper balance between reading fast because there is so much I need to know, and reading slowly because I want to really understand what I am reading. Any advice on this?
I'm looking forward to what else you have to say.
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