Attainable and Accurate

We have already written about the complexity of the content of our training as a potential obstacle. This was concerning the level of education received by the leaders we develop, (Is it accessible?) and the improbability that rigorous content can be successfully transferred to others regularly in a local church context (Is it aligned with church-based training?). However, complex content and processes can present another, very practical obstacle by being so demanding that few can achieve it.

Are the expectations of the training attainable?

Oftentimes, the methods of biblical study that are used to train church leaders seem almost idealistic. Even here in the States, where pastors generally serve full-time, we often realize that the expectations set in our seminary courses on hermeneutics and biblical exposition can seem impractically lofty. We can dedicate ourselves to the text as a scholar might, but we often feel we cannot fully complete what we were taught without neglecting some other needs of the flock. Regardless of how we personally resolve this ministerial tension in our own lives, it is important to recognize that the tension is even more intense when training pastors around the globe. Therefore, we cannot simply try to pass on the lofty expectations as we have learned them. The demands of the process are not reasonable for bi-vocational pastors or leaders who are juggling time between church ministry and other employment. When the process is too complex or requires more time than they can possibly dedicate, these brothers may feel defeated before they even attempt to learn it.  They might still attend the training sessions, sitting quietly and dutifully through hours of “training” out of deference to a Western missionary or a visiting pastor. But to truly learn the process and apply it in their personal study is something that seems utterly unattainable to them, and they will fail to embrace it. Many a missionary has realized, after years of investment, that this was the case and that the time had not been well spent.

Are the techniques effective and accurate?

On the other hand, we must admit that there is no quick and easy way to carefully examine a text and accurately distill its intended message. This fact makes us realize there is also an inherent danger in trying to simplify the process of biblical study to make it practically attainable for brothers with heavy time constraints. Oversimplification will lead to missing important clues in the text, making the method ineffective and resulting in preaching that misses the mark. Some try to resolve this tension by leveraging notes in study Bibles, textbooks, or commentaries to get a sense of a passage, and this is a useful, short-term solution. However, such a method trains the pastors to depend on the summaries of others and fails to equip them to understand and proclaim God’s Word with confidence. It can also create a potential “bottleneck” by relying on copyrighted resources, as was mentioned in a previous article.

So, what is needed for training church leaders in developing nations is an effective method of biblical study that can be somewhat “scalable” to the time and skill available to those who are doing the work of the ministry. There will always be a “base level” of time involved in the study of God’s Word if one is to get a good sense of what a passage teaches. This is unavoidable, and it is something that should be communicated with urgency to everyone who takes on the responsibility to “feed the flock of God.” Nevertheless, it is important that our training be designed to balance this tension of time required and time available. We should equip them with a study process in which the assumed “base level” of time invested is practically attainable while still yielding an accurate result (even if it is not exhaustive). To use an analogy, we should teach techniques that will train brothers to properly aim at the target regardless of what type of rifle they currently own. Truly, they may often be less accurate than those who have a scope and a high-powered rifle. Still, they will be learning basic techniques that will improve their marksmanship in the short term and remain useful throughout their ministries — techniques they will continue to utilize even when they have more time and other tools to apply to the process.