Leaders are learners. That is a fact. If you are not learning, you are not leading. At least not in a good way. It is the blind leading the blind. You will be leading your followers to disaster.
I will make a bold statement. If you are a leader in your church, and you are not intentionally learning and growing in your faith, you should immediately resign your position. A good reason your church is not growing is because you are not growing. Strong churches are led by strong leaders who seek to follow God’s will and are empowered by his strength.
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. His face is carved on the side of Mt. Rushmore together with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. He is often regarded as one of the greatest presidents in our history. Roosevelt was a lifelong learner. When he died, they found a book underneath his pillow. He was learning all the way up to the end. It’s a great example that we are never too old to stop learning. We are never too accomplished to stop growing. We can always make a good thing better. If we look hard enough, we can always find areas of growth.
God’s Word states:
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God … Hebrews 5:11–6:1 (ESV)
One of the best ways to learn is through reading. Reading does not guarantee success, but those who are successful are almost assuredly readers.
When it comes to reading, nothing is more important than reading God’s Word. I would like to challenge you to make a goal to read through the Bible each year. Even if you don’t read through the Bible each year, make it a point to read it each day.
Outside the Bible, strive to be well read. I am not talking about reading the latest mystery book on the NY Best Times list at Barnes & Noble. Read for knowledge. Read for wisdom. Read books that challenge you. Read books that make you think. Read books that have divergent views, rather than just books that reinforce your world view. Read books that force you to defend or reconsider your assumptions. One year I made a goal to read no Christian books other than the Bible. It was one of the best things I ever did to help me grow in faith.
Reading builds discipline. It is easy to default to reading the latest on Facebook. One of the best ways I strive to be well read is to use the in-between moments in life. You are waiting at the checkout line at the grocery store, or you are waiting for a lunch appointment to arrive. Use these moments to get in a few minutes of reading. It is amazing how 2 minutes here and 2 minutes there adds up. I keep the Amazon Kindle App on the home screen of my iPhone where I can easily open it up at a moment’s notice. When I find myself challenged to be disciplined in my reading, I will delete the “distracting” apps from my phone (games, social media, sports apps) to spend time in more meaningful pursuits.
Learning and reading will look different for everyone depending upon their lifestyle. But if you find yourself stuck, and you are not growing in faith, consider if you need to make learning and reading a bigger priority.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you agree leaders are learners? Why or why not?
- How do you strive to be well read?
- How might you reconsider what you read?
- Share your comments.
JOAN says
I MUST keep it flowing – I cannot keep what I have unless I give it away. If it is not flowing, I become stagnant. After I share what I have, it becomes necessary to be refreshed with more of God’s word. Even a known scripture becomes new again as circumstances change. Thank you for refreshing me each day.
Cynthia Romeo (McGrane) says
I started reading when I started workng; I had a long commute. I love reading things that open my mind. Favorite author, God; 2nd favorite is C.S. Lewis. I’ve learned more from reading than I ever did while in school. You can always tell when someone is well read from someone that only reads the same type of material. I love to lose myself in a good story but I also love learning new things; reading books written by someone that has differnt views than myself has helped me be more understanding and challenges my way of thinking.
Leaders need to want to learn otherwise how can you lead? Life changes; offers new beginnings; new challenges. If we stop learning we stop growing. If we stop growing who will follow?
Its amazing how much information our brains can adsorb.