Continuing Ed

Church Relevance - Issue 11
September 2006
by Kent Shaffer

According to Writer’s Market Companion, “Every thirty seconds, a new book is published, and even if you were able to read one book per day, you would neglect four thousand others published that same day.” So how do you choose the right book? Better yet, in this world full of information, how do you know what is worth learning?

No matter how hard some people try to stop learning, life is one big continual education process. In fact, I believe that the measure of a great leader is largely based on the quantity and the quality of his or her learned knowledge. And for those in ministry, this means having a good depth and scope of understanding not only of God’s Word but also the world He created. With that said, let’s look first at how to increase the quantity of your education and then explore how to enrich its quality.

Quantity

The first step to increasing your knowledge is making an effort. ParaPublishing.com reports that 58% of the adult population never reads another book after high school. If you are included in that statistic, change it. And if books are not your thing, there are plenty of other learning channels that may be better for you.

Second, increase your depth of knowledge. This will add credibility to your words and enable you to become an expert on particular topics. One advantage of being an expert is that people want to hear your opinion. Nobody is interested in hearing something they have heard ten times before. Most importantly, depth of knowledge equips you to do things with excellence.

Third, increase the scope of your knowledge by learning new areas of information. Doing so will allow you to become more versatile, all-around useful, and innovative. The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson makes the point that breakthrough insights are found at the intersection of ideas, concepts, and cultures. If you want to be innovative, study an entirely new area of information. Recycling the same thoughts and ideas will never get you anything but average. Consider socializing with churches outside of your denomination or usual network. Consider studying something that is not ministry related. Outside your usual bubble are a lot of ideas waiting for you to discover them.

Quality

But before you get carried away trying to learn everything that crosses your path, you need to know how to sort quality information out of the clutter. A good starting point is the following three steps:

First, identify the potential. There are many fun and entertaining things to learn in the world’s sea of knowledge, but many of them are useless. Narrow down the clutter by recognizing which fields of study offer the most practical advice and potential for your ministry.

Second, learn from the best and change your surroundings. Once you have found an area of study that you think is worthwhile, narrow your options down even further by discovering what are the best sources of information. Identify the experts in the field, and if possible, hang out with them. The benefit of actually spending physical time with someone is that you become more like them. If you want to be a great communicator, surround yourself with great communicators. If you want to be a great designer, surround yourself with great designers. And if spending time with these experts is not an option, at the very least, get referrals from them to find out what books and blogs they read, what podcasts they listen to, what websites they visit, and anything else that has contributed to their knowledge.

Third, use personal judgment. There are only so many referred books you can read and experts you can spend time with. Narrowing your options down to a manageable list requires good personal judgment. Ask yourself, “What would be most enjoyable to learn? What is the most essential thing I need to learn at the moment? If you still can’t decide, just pick something. At this point, it will still most likely be a quality decision.

The Art of Continuing Ed

A good learner is disciplined in maximizing his quantity or intake of knowledge while at the same time managing its quality. The art of being a good learner will aid you in your quest to better understand the Bible and in your endeavors to create a more effective ministry. As the world continues to become more interwoven with and accessible to huge caches of knowledge, being a good learner will become a necessity of success and not just an enhancement.

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