CAPACITY-BUILDING THROUGH LEARNING Pt.2

YOU NEED STRUCTURED LEARNING

One of the things I was introduced to early as a believer was to build a strong library and read good Christian literatures as one of the ways of building spiritual capacity. Those days, we also had a mobile tape player(walkman) to listen to messages. The books I read and the tapes I listened to helped me to grow and they influenced my preaching and teaching. It was not uncommon to see brethren in my category talk about what a man of God said in his books or message because primarily, we learnt most of what we knew through those books. It was our pride. One can easily distinguish a brother who has read through his messages and quotes. However, in the process of time, I discovered that if I am to be grounded in the faith I profess and to handle the word correctly, I need to learn scriptures in a structured system where I can relate with sound teachers of the word. That doesn't mean I won't read books again but my approach to scriptures will no longer be through what I read in the books only but through accurate interpretation of scriptures having learnt the "how" and the "what". That was how I became a seminarian. To me, that's one of the greatest ( if not the greatest) capacity any preacher&teacher of the word should build.

One of the senior pastors in my church asked to know what I needed a seminary education for since I've been preaching well in church and even outside the shores of my country. For me, it is no longer about preaching well but preaching&teaching right. I needed to build capacity for that through structured learning and will continue as God help. One of the ways you can build capacity is to be taught in a structured system. If you're in ministry, you don't deserve to teach if you have not been taught rightly. No one in his/ her right senses goes to a doctor who claims to have read medical books only but haven't passed through the medical school and certified fit to practice medicine. We love ourselves so much that we wouldn't take that risk yet we don't accord our spiritual lives and that of others with such a great importance. That's why our generation is filled with half-baked, unbaked and immature believers because those who should rightly divide the word of truth haven't learnt in a structured system so they can't give what they don't have. Show me a lawyer who became an advocate just because he can talk/argue without going to the law school. Everyone can talk or argue but to do same in the court, you'll need to learn the ropes through lecturers in a structured environment from the university and law school. That's capacity-building.

The deception of seeing results and being "big" often prevents people from submitting themselves for learning but it is possible for the biggest to be the wrongest. You must conquer that syndrome of "I am big" if you want to build capacity for true greatness in life and ministry. Can you swallow your pride for once and admit you don't know as you ought? My reference to ministry is simply because it is my primary constituency. In your area of divine purpose and calling, develop your capacity to do it better and right by learning. Almost all doctors can perform basic surgeries but when confronted with a complex case in need of surgery, a consultant surgeon will be called upon to perform the surgery. Why? The consultant has increased his capacity for such task through structured learning. Refusal to build your capacity for more through learning is stupidity. Proverbs1:7 says, "To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the LORD. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn." ( GNT).