2. How to be a Learner
Twenties are for Training • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Handout
Why focus on getting Training in your Twenties?
Why focus on getting Training in your Twenties?
It will enhance your effectiveness.
You have the most time to learn now.
It will protect you from making costly mistakes.
It will benefit those around you.
In the following decades, you will need to focus on other things.
Project: 10 years from now:
Project: 10 years from now:
Make a list: “Imagine yourself in ten years. What types of things do you hope to have in your life?”
Spouse (1 hour)
Children (1 hour)
Church
Job (8 hours): Dad
Home with Kids: mom
Own a house (30 mins)
Now go back and place an estimated amount of time you think you should give to each of those things each day.
What about chores
preparing meals for those kids
Laundry for the family
Grocery shopping
Managing income:
Budgeting
Finances
Point: Ten years from now, you will need to be focusing on different things. You will be in your building phase of life. And the opportunity to focus in on your training will have passed. While you should strive to be a lifelong learning, your twenties are your years of concentrated training.
I’m not talking just talking about school here.
Spiritual growth
Leadership development
How to deal with people
How to minister to people
Finding your spiritual gifts
Pursuing wisdom
How to manage income
How you are going to make a living.
School kindof deals with this one.
Harold Bullock: “The only shortcut in life is teachablility.”
Teachability flows from humility.
Teachability flows from humility.
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
A humble person realizes they have much to learn. But a proud person thinks they already have it figured out.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
If you think you don’t have much to learn, you aren’t going to be teachable, and you’re gonna miss out.
Realize that there is so much wisdom to learn, and seek it out.
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
“Fools prefer venting to researching. They enjoy hearing themselves talk more than listening to people who actually know what they are talking about. “ -David Worcester
Fools don’t think they need to understand.
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.
Fools feed on folly.
What are you feeding on? What is taking up your time?
It’s not just the obviously obscene things that waste our life.
It’s often the innocent diversions that keep us from pursuing wisdom.
L - Listen to Correction
L - Listen to Correction
The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
Listening = heeding.
Leads you down a certain path.
Path to being amongst the wise.
You will be one of them.
Harold “What is success biblically?” What he found was that success was obtained through wisdom.
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.
Most people hate it, unless they realize what it’s good for.
Hudson, “I don’t want to grow up to be undicsiplined.”
Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
Story: Worship team leader tried to correct me. In my heart, I scoffed.
Challenge, shifted. I had to be taught to appreciate instruction.
A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise.
Where doesn’t he go? to the wise.
He is ok going to his buddies, who won’t correct him.
If there is something in your life you don’t want the wise people to know about, you should probably bring it up to them and ask for some feedback.
Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
You want to allow others to give you honest correction.
Flattery isn’t gonna be what helps you, it’s the corrective feedback.
He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
I’d say, “Don’t be that guy,” but truely, most of us are naturally that guy.
What stands out, is the person who is humble enough to listen to correction.
Get someone to Disciple you give them permission to speak into your life.
L is for… Listen to correction.
E - Evaluate Experiences
E - Evaluate Experiences
Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
“Experience is not the best teacher, evaluated experience is the best teacher. Practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect. The more you do something a certain way the more it becomes a habit.” -David Worcester
In sports:
athletes who have a coach tend to perform much better than those who don’t.
Why?
The coach is able to help them evaluate and make minor adjustments.
They are able to improve quickly.
It is the same for life:
Opportunities to lead -> evaluate
Speak -> Evaluate
Evangelism -> Evaluate
Discipleship meeting with a student -> evaluate
Dating relationship -> Evaluate
Evaluation can be done on your own, but it can be even more beneficial if you can do it with a coach.
Campus ministries are great opportunities to find mentors who will be like coaches.
A - Ask wise Questions
A - Ask wise Questions
I need to get better at this.
Some of you are really good at this.
John Worcester recruited a young man named Andy Wood to start a church.
Sought out mentors
Asked questions.
Leading one of the most influential churches in the World. Saddleback Church. Took over for Rick Warren.
David Worcester: Andy asked for feedback
The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.
Lets say you are making a decision on whether or not you should begin a romantic relationship with a certain person.
Ask one friend: They might give you bad advice, they might give you good advice.
Ask Christians who know that person.
Ask your mentors.
Ask her friends who know her about her character.
Each time serves adds strength the the safety net to help you make a wise decision about whether you move forward with that relationship.
We also see Jesus asking good questions.
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
Also, just to add to the point that 20’s are for training, who knows how old Jesus likely was when he started his ministry?
Most of the apostles were likely in their late teens or early twenties.
R - Read God’s Word (and other good books)
R - Read God’s Word (and other good books)
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
There is no command that you need to personally read the Bible.
people were not able to have their own scrolls.
What would they do? Memorize large portions of it. It was part of their education.
What we do see is a strong emphasis on getting the Bible into our lives, cherishing it, meditating on it, applying it.
In our context, we are all literate and we all have access to the Bible!
Most of us didn’t have the luxury of memorizing large portions of the Bible as part of our schooling.
But the luxury we have that they didn’t have, is that we can have our own copy of the Bible and read it.
Before the printing press 10 months to 2 years to produce.
Completely unaffordable.
A copy of the Bible would belong to a church.
After the printing press, post 1450’s: 6 months to a few years of wages.
As part of your life training, consume the Scriptures:
Daily time with God.
Apply it.
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Meditate on it: Think deeply about it.
Read other good books:
Christian podcasts and sermons are good.
Books are better.
“One book is a compilation of thousands of hours of an author’s best work, often on their most important subject! A lifetime of wisdom can be gained in a few hours! Why not capitalize on the blood, sweat, and tears of others?” -David Worcester
“But I am short on money, I can’t afford it.”
How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Library —> Libby
Borrow from friends
People read at different speeds:
Multiple books a week: Harold Bullock for a season.
Intentional: A book a week.
Most: A book a month.
“Life is too short to spend it reading inferior books.” -James Bryce
All books are not created equal. Some are a waste of your time, others are going to offer bad advice.
Get good recommendations from wise people who have sifted through books.
Key: Make it a habit.
Audio books: Learn as you exercise, do chores, walk to class, commute, etc.
Scheduled reading time each day.
I have a list of good books to read as part of your training during college.
It goes over:
Ministry Training
Biblical theology
Life skills
Personal spiritual growth
Come see me after and I will let you look at the list.
N - Never stop learning
N - Never stop learning
While your twenties are going to be the time when you can concentrate on getting training, you don’t ever want to stop learning.
Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.
We won’t be perfected until we get to heaven.
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Key words: Acquires and seeks.
You go after it.
For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”
In Proverbs 1, wisdom is personified as a woman calling out.
Will you answer the call?
What are you going to implement from this?
