Application

I had the chance to go to a ministry conference last week with some of the other staff and an elder from Crosswater. In fact, in my short time as a pastor I have been fortunate enough to attend several conferences (of varying quality). Do you know what the worst thing is about these conferences? Time away from the office? Time away from the people we are supposed to minister to? The time it takes to get there and back? The amount of money it costs to attend? No. For me, the worst thing about these conferences is the application of what I have learned, or should I say lack of application. I do a pretty good job of paying attention and a pretty good job of taking notes, but, I don't usually do a very good job of applying what I learned.

I have the same problem with books that I read. I don't particularly enjoy reading but I try to make it a point to read in order to learn new things and to expand my skills. In fact, last year, I had a goal of reading an average of 1 book per month. I was successful in meeting that goal because the goal was to read 12 books, nothing more. You might have guessed that I frequently have the same problem with books that I have with conferences. While I am pretty diligent in highlighting the books (if they are mine) and my assistant does a great job of writing up the highlighted portions to make it easier for me to reference the things that stood out, applying what I read does not happen naturally for me.

I can attend all of the best conferences and read all of the best books, but without application, am I really learning anything? It is good to have the knowledge but unless I am going on a game show or playing board games, the knowledge by itself isn't enough.

Why do I talk about all of this? First, it is a reminder to myself to apply what I learned at last week's conference. Second, I think that reading the Bible is a lot like this for many people (including me sometimes). Reading God's word is always a good thing, but sometimes that's all we do with it. There are a ton of people in the world that can tell you all sorts of things about the Bible. They can quote scripture, tell you the stories, give you context/background, yet they are far from God. I do a pretty good job of reading God's word, but lately I have had some moments where I have struggled to apply it. What about you? Let's work together this week to read God's word and then to live it out!