For as long as I can remember I have been brought up to love books. I was blessed with parents who loved to read and who passed that love on to their children. On leaving school my first jobs were in libraries and Christian bookshops. I cannot imagine a world without books. Through many years in Christian ministry I have become more and more grateful for the amazing resources that are available to serious readers and students of God’s word in the way of books.
Some time ago I came across this quote though I don’t know the source of it:
“My books are my tools, and I use them. I cannot afford to be a book collector; neither the budget nor the diminishing shelf space . . . permits such a luxury. . . . I enjoy my library. Each book is a friend that converses with and teaches me. Better to have fewer of the best books than to clutter your shelves with volumes that cannot serve you well. Above all, love your books, use them, and dedicate all you learn to the service of Jesus Christ.“
I cannot comprehend how any serious student of God’s Word, any Bible teacher or preacher, could not be an avid reader of good books and indeed believe it is a crucial discipline that we need to build into our lifestyle.
As John Piper has said,
“For your own soul and for the life of your church, fight for time to feed your soul with rich reading. Almost all the forces in our culture are trivialising. If you want to stay alive to what is great and glorious and beautiful and eternal, you will have to fight for time to look through the eyes of others who were in touch with God.”[1]
Here is some advice that I hope will be helpful. I would love to get your comments and recommendations.
If reading and study is so important –
- make time for it, you won’t find time for it
- start good disciplines of reading early in your ministry experience
- educate and encourage family, colleagues and church members to help safe-guard times for study
- block out times for reading; John Stott’s practice is a great model: one hour every day; one morning, afternoon or evening every week; one day every month and one week every year.
- always have books at hand so that you can make the most of every opportunity – by the bed, in the car, on the coffee table; have a small book always in your pocket so that you can make the most of what would otherwise be fruitless and unproductive times in the day
- write in and mark your books extensively – but, of course, only yours and not those that are really valuable
What should we be reading?
- commentaries to help with our teaching and preaching ministry
- books on theology and doctrine
- church history
- sermons
- Christian biographies
- world mission facts, figures and biographies
- secular issues and biographies
I would encourage:
- the reading of one ‘old’ book’ for every ‘newer’ book read
- choose one writer, preacher, theologian and make it your life’s task to read everything about and by that person
[1] Piper, J Brothers, we are not Professionals Fearn: Christian Focus, 2003 p66
I would only add that you can “redeem” a lot of driving time by listening to MP3s of books, classes and conferences which are available all over the web (many excellent ones at no cost). I rarely travel anywhere (even short trips in town) without a CD going in my car.
For example, I just finished listening to Christopher Hitchen’s “God Is Not Great.” It’s not a book that I would have cared to take the time to read through in print, but it was a fairly “painless” experience to listen to it as I drove around.