6 Christian Places to Visit in Rome You Should Know About
Rome is famous for its standard tourist sites: The Trevi Fountain, the Forum, Piazza Navona, the Colosseum, the Pantheon—and many other historic...
3 min read
Wayne Stiles
:
Feb 25, 2018 10:00:42 PM
Years ago I devoured the massive autobiography of Billy Graham, entitled, Just As I Am. Near the end of the book, Billy wrote one sentence about training for ministry I’ll never forget.
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
In a section of the book where he lists his regrets, he wrote:
I would do many things differently. For one thing, I would speak less and study more. —Billy Graham
When I was young in the ministry, I resisted furthering my training. After all, I already had a ministry position. So why would I pursue more education and training? I’m done, I thought. Better to get busy making a difference.
Then one verse in the Bible hit me square between the eyes.
I see many young pastors, Christian leaders, and even laypeople serving God far less effectively than they could. Somehow they think their giftedness is all they need, or that the Holy Spirit will somehow give them what they lack.
Neither is true.
The two primary excuses for not getting good training for ministry?
I swallowed these excuses for years until I read a verse that pulled the slats from my thin justifications:
If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success. —Ecclesiastes 10:10
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
Wisdom gives us the advantage of a sharper edge in ministry. Without it, we hack at stumps with a dull axe. A dull blade requires more strength, more time, and more money.
That is not effective, efficient, or good stewardship.
Sharp tools make all the difference.
Donald Barnhouse made a statement I’ve never forgotten:
If I had only had three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying and preparing. — Donald Barnhouse
We see the wisdom of his statement modeled in the Bible:
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
When I told a fellow pastor I planned to return to seminary and further my training for ministry, he looked at me sideways and asked why. I said, “To learn to read Hebrew, for starters.”
“You don’t need Hebrew to do this job,” he said. (Of course, this pastor didn’t know Hebrew.)
Turns out, he had no clue. After I learned to read biblical Hebrew (and Greek) I found tremendous value in it. (Amazingly, I found even more value in learning the significance of Bible lands.)
Every Christian is in the ministry. The question is, how effective do you want your ministry to be?
I challenge you to sharpen your axe. Razor sharp.
Tell me what you think: Do you think training for ministry is important? To leave a comment, just click here.
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