Life-Long learning

 In a survey I did in 2004 among bivocational pastors in the American Baptist Churches, USA I learned that there were a variety of educational backgrounds. Some had a college education, usually in the secular field in which they worked, a few had master's degrees and even fewer had doctorates. Many had no education beyond high school. That was my category when I began as a bivocational pastor.

Every so often in this blog I have an article about life-long learning because I believe it is essential for bivocational and fully-funded pastors as well. Even though I now have a masters degree and a doctorate, I do not necessarily believe they are required for ministry. But, even with such degrees I am convinced that every minister must be committed to life-long ministry.

Our world is constantly changing, and if a minister does not keep up with those changes he or she will soon find themselves irrelevant to the culture they are trying to reach. Exegeting Scripture is important, but so is exegeting our culture. I began my pastoral ministry in 1981, but if I was to try to repeat what I did then now my ministry would be mostly ineffective. Our world has changed, and our ministries must change as well if we hope to reach this current culture.

Please don't misunderstand. Our message does not change, but our methods must change. Some churches and denominations have decided they must become "woke" if they are going to be relevant to our culture. These churches and denominations are rapidly shrinking in size because they have abandoned the Word of God and substitutes the accepted politically correct views found in today's culture. I predict they will continue to decline until they no longer exist. God will write "Ichabod" (the glory of God has departed), and they will one day fade from existence.

Our methods of sharing the gospel must change. There was a time in my ministry when it was acceptable to go door to door inviting people to church. People today consider that an interruption. Quite honestly, so do I. I don't like people I don't know ringing my doorbell trying to sell me something I don't want. There was a time when churches held one or two revivals every year. The problem was few people after the 1960s ever got "revived." Churches still had their revival meetings because that was all they knew to do. Today, most churches understand such meetings are largely ineffective.

I could go on about the changes that have taken place since I began my ministry, but if we don't learn what doesn't work we will keep doing things that are not productive. Life-long learning is essential if we are to understand our generation.

I urge each reader to commit to being a life-long learner. Attend conferences. Read books. Find a mentor or coach who can help challenge you and answer your questions. Believe me, it will make a difference in your ministry.