Are You Still Growing
We can’t approach a new year without thinking about that old poem: “The New Leaf.”
We’re always thinking about how we can improve and about how we might help ministers both want to and then actually get better. I’ve noticed: “Great leaders never outgrow being taught, they are coachable.” They are always learning. They want to improve. They don’t think they have got it all together.
John Wooden is arguably the greatest coach in American sports history. He coached in 10 national championship games (oh, and he won them ALL). He said: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” It’s important to note he didn’t say that at the beginning of his coaching success but AFTER the championships, after the success. The man who coached more championship games than anyone else kept saying, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
His point was simple: The moment you believe you’ve arrived is the moment growth stops.
For ministers, this works. We preach every week. We study Scripture continually. People listen to us. And yet those who keep impacting others keep learning, keep listening, keep growing, and keep welcoming correction.
It’s really about humility. Being coachable isn’t showing weakness but it shows we still want to be better and that we can still learn. It’s confidence without ego. It means I’m aware that others may see what I miss. That suggestions for improvement are not to be treated as attacks.
The best ministers I know seek to improve and listen well. God is clear on this continued growth:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
“Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15).
“And we all… are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11).
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on…” (Philippians 3:12).
As we approach a new year, DON’T QUIT … GROW!