Continuing Education for Ministers
I am for continuing education for ministers. Continuing education can do wonders for a
sense of personal growth for a pastor, associate pastor, missionary, youth
pastor and any other leadership role that one may serve in at the local church
level. But for effective continuing
education to take place, resources, relationships, and disciplined time
management will be paramount among all the other priorities that we have to
juggle. A commitment to continuing
education will help the pace of ministry to adjust itself. The ministry is a
marathon and far too often the sprinters who start out so rapidly are also
among the first to cave in to their spiritual fatigue and unreasonable
expectations of what they may have thought their calling was all about.
For the next several posts on the Barnabas Blog I am going
to give you some of my own trade secrets that have been largely beneficial and
helpful for me along the way. I do not
regret the time factor that has been involved and required to move me in this
particular direction. I have never
forgotten the advice that John Maxwell said his father gave to him. He told him, “John, you can pay now and play
later or you can play now and play later.
But never forget that one way or another you are going to pay.” Maxwell also noted that when you are willing
to make the commitments early they aren’t nearly has challenging as they are if
you choose to make them later. Often when
we are paying early, our habits, personality, thought patterns, and
relationships haven’t gotten so brittle that there is no flexibility with
them. The older you get the more
difficult it is to be flexible and to shift your thinking about the whole
process of change. I have come to
discover that it is crucial that you have a willingness to rethink some areas
of your behavior and mindset that you have held on to for years. Don’t read into what is not here by thinking
that we must change our message or doctrinal views, those have been settled
long ago and we cannot afford to make those changes. On the other hand, we must entertain ways to
think about how we can become far more effective.
Before we really settle in to some of the resources that I want
to share with you, I am going to spend this post in an effort to encourage you
toward a continuing education mindset.
You can get better, you can do better, and you can be better! Oftentimes there are small adjustments that
once they are made can propel you forward into a greater scope of ministry. I also know that if you are willing to make
the sacrifice that comes with the process of continuing education that you are
going to find a niche that will set you apart in an area of expertise. I believe that every minister ought to have
some unique area of expertise that he is known for. With that in mind, I give you some following
reasons that you should branch out and develop.
1.
Don’t be afraid to work on weaknesses or in an
area that you may think is too hard to learn.
The main job of a pastor is to preach.
I have heard people make the statement before about how they had an
awesome pastor but they ended the statement by saying that he wasn’t much of a
preacher. You’ve got to be kidding
me! God has called shepherds to take
care of His flock and that is done primarily by the feeding of the flock. In John 21, Jesus told Peter that he was to
feed the flock. I find it very
compelling that Peter would give this declaration in 1 Peter 5 when he noted
that we are to feed the flock. I can
only wonder if Peter was remembering his encounter with the Lord when he wrote
that. As pastors we ought to develop our
souls, minds, and words to be able to preach the Word. Studying doctrine and theology is hard work
but it puts a great foundation under you as you preach. Make the commitment to move away from your
tendency to preach topical sermons.
Invest in the process to move away from the superficial and decide to go
deep with your own preaching. I have
discovered that God literally speaks through His Word but you have to read it
and study it to find out what is in it.
2.
Continuing education is a conscious plan to go
into an area that you would probably not normally go. To really boil down continuing education, it
is very much a personal growth plan that will move you from Point A to Point B. In the process there is an aspect of learning
new material that will help you to be more effective. Most continuing education venues will have
plan that creates assignments for you to do.
Whether you are paying for the class or if you are simply learning for
the sake of personal improvement the involvement in doing the work will take
you to places you would not normally have gone except for your plan to learn.
3.
Continuing education will help you to
change. The world of medicine is
constantly upgrading and changing its treatment protocols, drugs, and procedures. For instance, when I finished RN school in
1986, a gallbladder removal was a huge surgery.
The incision would extend across and around the right side of the abdomen
and it took 12 weeks for recovery. But
newer technology came along and now a gallbladder can be removed with a laparoscope
leaving only three small incisions that are really more puncture wounds than an
incision. Recovery time is a week or so
and for the most part there are relatively little complications. Change has caused surgeons to be able to get
better and offer a plan of care that is much better than it used to be. This is the whole process of learning. It moves you into a place of
effectiveness.
4.
Continuing education opens up my relationships. By virtue of getting involved with professors,
teachers, instructors, and other students you will find that you learn by
observing others who are learners also.
I have found that learning takes place when you are sitting in a seat
hearing a lecture but it also takes place afterwards when you are with a
peer-based group who are working through and processing the information that
was given. The internet is one of the most
incredible educational tools that has ever made it to our planet. I have had the benefit of being able to
listen to lectures that even 10 years ago would not have been available to
me.
5.
Continuing education opens up greater resource
areas that would not have been evident if I had not made some attempt to
grow. The effort puts you into a place
where you will discover books, e-books, websites, and podcasts that I would have
never discovered. One area that has been
extremely useful to me are internet forums.
Obviously there are some that you will find absolutely no benefit at all
from but there are others which have been intensely instructional for me.
I will be your encourager this year to move out of your
comfort zone a bit and try some new things with this concept of continuing
education.
Thanks for reading. . .
Comments
God Bless!
Great Job!