Some Things I Did not Learn In Bible College
While I thank God for the education I received in Bible College, there are a few things that were not included in the curriculum. These are things I’m still learning after I graduation…
- How to love. Jesus is teaching me this by realizing how He loves me and loves others.
- I never knew how complicated peoples lives can be. Counseling hurting and broken lives is the hardest part of the ministry. Before every counseling session I need to pray to God for wisdom (James. 1:5).
- Seminary did not teach me leadership skills and how to manage people. I’m still learning this.
- While homiletics taught me the mechanics of preaching, it did not teach me how to preach. Preaching is more than an event. It is my life that preaches more effectively than any sermon from the pulpit.
- While I had my preacher “heroes” in college, I had to learn to let God make me into the preacher He wanted me to be and not try to be someone else.
- I do not recall much attention given to family matters. A pastor’s number one ministry is to his own family.
- How judgmental and mean-spirited some “Christians” (and other preachers) can be. Seminary did not prepare me for how some church members would betray you and gossip about you. This was something that “blindsided” me.
- Another truth I would have to learn on the fly, was that the church was God’s church … not mine. I am only God’s under-shepherd.
- I’ve learned pastoring is not for the faint of heart. I’m glad the ministry is a calling, and NOT a profession. If God hadn’t called me to preach, I’d probably would have quit long ago (as well I should have).
We never stop learning, do we?
