LIFE-LONG LEARNING FOR MINISTERS
AUGUST 2022
“Study to show yourself approved by God,
a workman who need not be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15 (Modern English Version)
Lifelong Learning – the ongoing process of constantly studying and keeping up with the latest developments for one’s career or expertise may seem to be a modern innovation but actually, it’s as old as the hills.
In our text for the month, which we will look at in more detail later, we see the apostle Paul 2,000 years ago, encouraging Timothy to study and divide God’s word in an accurate way.
And even before that, Solomon said,
“I applied my mind to study
and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens.”
(Eccl 1:3)
Similarly, Ezra:
“Devoted himself to the study
and observance of the Law of the Lord,
and to teaching its decrees and laws in Israel”
(2 Ezra 7:10).
Note that, he didn't just study - he worked hard at keeping the law!
Ezra is an early example of what became a long tradition of Yeshiva study within Judaism, which is a lifelong project of learning for many orthodox Jews right up to the present time.
One of the reasons that John Wesley is my favourite ministry hero is because, although he had a Master's degree from the University of Oxford (which is the equivalent of a doctorate in today’s Academia), he continued to study all through his life.
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In the early years of his ministry, Wesley would famously be reading a book as he was travelling on horseback all over Britain to preach the gospel. Then as he got older, he travelled in a horse-drawn carriage that was fitted with bookshelves. He redeemed the time by studying his books on his way to preach in the next town or village. This was his habit for 50 years!
Wesley’s reading was very wide and open-minded and he produced shorter versions of what he considered to be books that would be helpful for ministry and had them printed and distributed to his growing band of Methodist preachers to help them in their studies.
On one occasion near the end of his life, Paul asked Timothy to bring to him his books and especially his parchments (manuscripts written on animal skins), which were possibly his personal notebooks (2 Timothy 4:13).
Paul encouraged Timothy to study, not just for the sake of study or even just to improve his knowledge, but to study in such a way as to get God’s approval. To study to gain further understanding in the things of God and to study in order to expound God’s Word in an accurate way to others.
Speaking personally, I do not regret taking the time to study for a degree when I was about 50 years old. I had been in the ministry for 25 years and although I always studied for each sermon I preached; I was feeling like I was hitting a ceiling. So, although I had a family and full-time ministry as a pastor, I spent my spare time studying at an academic level.
This was a challenge, to begin with, but it enabled me to break through that ceiling and think in a more analytical way, and go deeper in my understanding of the scriptures which eventually led to teaching at the Bible College.
So in closing, as I say to the students at the college: “You are here for two years to study, but this is just the beginning… if you want to be effective in the ministry you need to keep learning and studying all through your life.”
As Sidlow Baxter wisely said:
“No man’s education is complete if he does not know the Bible.
No Christian minister is really qualified for the ministry of the Christian church
without a thorough study of the Bible.
No Christian worker can be fully effective without a ready knowledge of the Bible.
No Christian believer can live the Christian life to the full without an adequate grasp of the Bible.”
So... if you will excuse me, I'm now on my way out to the local Christian bookshop to get a book which I know will be very helpful to me in my studies…!
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