Reading for the soul

I recently heard a pastor talk about the times in his life and ministry when he had doubts about God, his call to the ministry, and even the genuineness of his faith. Readers should not be surprised that even ministers can sometimes have such doubts. In fact, my guess is that all of us do at some time in our ministries just as I believe that lay persons often have such doubts as well. This pastor said during such times one of the things he does is fast from reading church growth books. Good advice! He then went on to say that he now tries to read two dead guys for every live person he reads.

He was trying to explain that we in the ministry are prone to look for books and resources that will help us identify the one thing we need to do to grow our churches. After all, most pastors wish their churches were bigger. For some that may be an ego thing, but for most of us those bigger churches mean that our ministries are making a difference in people's lives, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. However, many of these books describe fads. I would encourage the pastors reading this posting to look at their bookshelves and see how many of their church growth and evangelism books describe a technique that worked at an earlier time or for a particular church. How many of them have you re-read in the past five years because of the timelessness of their truths? As I looked at my own bookshelves I found too many such books that are really outdated and of little use in this postmodern world in which we live.

How much better would it be to read material that would help nourish our own souls? It seems to me that a growing minister will often lead a growing church because there will be an inner spirituality that will attract others. I mentioned a book in my previous post that I'm currently reading during my devotional time each day. This book is challenging reading, and I certainly do not agree with everything the author says, but it is stretching me in new ways. I am forced to think about why I do not believe a section of the book or a sentence, and such thinking helps lead to growth. It is also making me rethink my own relationship with God and look at the relationship through new eyes. That too leads to growth. I have already found another book on my bookshelf that I will read next during my devotional times. The interesting thing about these two books is that they have been on my bookshelves for well over a decade, but I've never read them. During that time I have read hundreds of other books that were written to help me be a better minister, but I had continually by-passed these two books that were written to help grow me spiritually.

None of this means you should stop reading the other material designed to help you better lead your church. Certainly you should be reading the books I wrote!!!! I just want to encourage you today to balance out your reading between the books that will help you better lead your church with those that will help grow your soul.