Richard Foster, in his book The Celebration of Discipline, spends an entire chapter looking at the discipline of Study. It is a very needed discipline in our life and in the life of those we minister to. It is important to have a process of study so that we stay in touch with the Scriptures and so that we model biblical study for our congregation. Study is similar to the use of a muscle: if we stop using it, it will get weak. This is indeed a danger in ministry because our schedules get so full with other aspects of ministry that often our study time is limited to simply trying to get a sermon together for Sunday. Quite honestly, this is an area where I struggle.
Yet as ministers, we should be studying much more. We should be doing our own topical and chronological studies. We should be studying people to examine how people relate. We are semioticians and should study the signs of culture. We should be studying to be ahead of our people so that we can lead them in the direction God is leading us and the church in. The struggle occurs, quite honestly, when we are too far out in front of our church. If that is the case, we need to consider how to adapt our study time or consider if God may be preparing us for a move. It is so difficult as pastors to be so far ahead of your church, or as a staff member to be so far ahead of your senior pastor, that you are stifled and can’t implement what you have studied.
For the church member, they need to be disciplined to study so that they as well can stay in touch with God and have a grasp of His teaching. The ignorance of Christians is unsettling; we are so biblically illiterate that we cannot effectively engage in conversations with those who do not have a relationship with Christ. Not studying also leaves them dry relationally with God.
The purpose of this discipline is to move the mind in a certain direction. “The mind will always take on an order conforming to the order upon which it concentrates.” (Foster, 63) As Christians, we undertake the study process in order “to direct the mind repeatedly and regularly toward ceratin modes of thought about God and human relationships.(Foster, 63)” What we study will have a part in determine the kind of habits that are formed, which is why Paul argues us to focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and gracious.
Study is thus part of the transformational change process; it is not the complete part, but a highly necessary one. It gives us the ammunition to wage war with the enemy. It gives us the lasso whereby we can corral every thought. It gives us the pep talk that reminds us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, that we are His children and He is our Father.
One of the biggest issues surrounding the discipline of study is time. It’s so difficult, both as a minister and as a church member, to carve out the time to engage in this discipline. One of the ways I have found effective is to take a quarterly personal retreat. I try to quarterly take 3-4 days away from the house and study one book or topic. Often, it results in new insights, a refreshing encounter with God, and rest from the weariness of ministry. With my school load picking up and other things going on, it may be that I take 2 days per month for a time of study and reflections, just to keep centered and balanced. My spiritual formations professor in seminary noted in my journal that when finals time came, my journaling decreased. It is in these times, he reminded me, that our time with God in study, devotion, reflection and journalling was more important.
I have got to get that quarterly sabbatical thing in my schedule.