Perparation (Matt Corbitt)
I believe in dreaming big. I also know that it is not sufficient to dream big if one never takes the appropriate steps to actualize this dream. Dreaming in itself is void if one fails to “do”.
There is a drawing of the famous “thinker” statue in which there is a second pedestal with footprints leading away from that pedestal. The inscription on the other statue is called the “doer”. The point the artist is attempting to make is that doing is greater than thinking.
Many people tout this as a great example of what men and women should do and the majority of modern American society would agree. More than anything else today, we price action, we prize busy-ness.
As age creeps up on me, I have begun to notice a vast gap between the thinkers of society and the doers of society. For all intents and purposes the doers consistently outshine their counterparts in flamboyance and flare. They have astonishing skills to get things done and should be justly honored for their achievements. They have erected many new monuments and have torn many ancient walls down.
There is, however, a problem with the doer, one that would require more than just a casual observation to uncover. Busy-ness isn’t necessarily progress and flamboyance and quick action doesn’t always bear good fruit.
Observing my peers with whom I graduated Bible School, there were many “doers” who graduated in my era. Men and women who were very busy “making things happen”. They would be considered the movers and the shakers, the elite of elite of my day. These “doers” having understood the mission that God has called them to, have launched out and attempted to do great things for the kingdom.
Due to the nature of their flare, many have not yet come across what can only be called an axiom, a pillar of understanding, and the key to successful launch: Preparation. To build anything lasting, for anything to bear good fruit, much thinking and consequently preparation must be done beforehand.
Understanding the call of God on your life is not be beginning of ministry per se, it is rather a call for begin spiritual preparation and formation. Much as any endeavor in life, those who blindly launch out eventually create destruction unless there is proper preparation. To begin to act upon a call, without taking the necessary steps in laying the proper foundation will only result in lackluster results and frustration at best.
I know of no successful men in life or ministry that had not had some form of higher education. Now for the record, I separate higher education in general with traditional higher education. Higher education may not take place in a class room, but it does take place, it must take place for success. Proverbs repeatedly tells us to get knowledge, to get wisdom, and to get understanding. It praises all those who do so wile at the same time chastising those who neglect it.
Countless stories have been told when I was a child of my father spending hours and hours on saturdays with wise businessmen, learning their ways. For him, it was his higher education. The richest man I have yet to meet went to the school of hard knocks and didn’t graduate until he was in his 60’s. He was a student of proverbs. My road has been chosen as one of traditional higher education. Methods vary, but education and preparation does not.
So what does all of this education have to do with the “doer” vs the “thinker”? Let me tell you as a dear Jamaican friend of mine once told me when I was attempting to become a “doer” and leave IBC 2 years into my 4 year tenure.
“If you go now, you will do good things, but you will need to come back. If you stay, you will start later, but you will do better things and have no need of return.” - Jeff Watkis
The answer can be found in the fruit of the “doer” and the “thinker”. This fruit can take years before harvest. How frustrating to spend a lifetime with expectation that God will perform that which He has promised you and when the time comes, you are overwhelmed because you have not prepared yourself. Preparation gives the ability to be instant, knowledgeable, and not a novice.
Be a “Thinker” long before you are a “doer”. Have you been called to preach? Go to Bible School. Yes, you can learn through the school of hard knocks, but remember you are going to be leading people and you will have to give an account. A little folly has lasting earthly and eternal consequence.
Are you called to business? (I firmly believe there are many who are.) Go to school. Learn how to! This may mean that you go to school at night, learn from a successful man, but by all means GO! The best of both worlds is to do all at once. Start a business, go to school, learn from successful men.
So why I do believe in dreaming big, I know that without the proper foundation, both apostasy and bankruptcy are the probable outcomes. Your life’s path will have twists and turns, but what can never be substituted for is a rock solid foundation.
The foundation of one generation rests upon the roof top of the next. Before you launch out into what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life, Stop. Think. Prepare. Your success or failure, your Isaac or Ishmael, will effect not only your future, but that of generations to come.
Stop. Think. Prepare.
There is a drawing of the famous “thinker” statue in which there is a second pedestal with footprints leading away from that pedestal. The inscription on the other statue is called the “doer”. The point the artist is attempting to make is that doing is greater than thinking.
Many people tout this as a great example of what men and women should do and the majority of modern American society would agree. More than anything else today, we price action, we prize busy-ness.
As age creeps up on me, I have begun to notice a vast gap between the thinkers of society and the doers of society. For all intents and purposes the doers consistently outshine their counterparts in flamboyance and flare. They have astonishing skills to get things done and should be justly honored for their achievements. They have erected many new monuments and have torn many ancient walls down.
There is, however, a problem with the doer, one that would require more than just a casual observation to uncover. Busy-ness isn’t necessarily progress and flamboyance and quick action doesn’t always bear good fruit.
Observing my peers with whom I graduated Bible School, there were many “doers” who graduated in my era. Men and women who were very busy “making things happen”. They would be considered the movers and the shakers, the elite of elite of my day. These “doers” having understood the mission that God has called them to, have launched out and attempted to do great things for the kingdom.
Due to the nature of their flare, many have not yet come across what can only be called an axiom, a pillar of understanding, and the key to successful launch: Preparation. To build anything lasting, for anything to bear good fruit, much thinking and consequently preparation must be done beforehand.
Understanding the call of God on your life is not be beginning of ministry per se, it is rather a call for begin spiritual preparation and formation. Much as any endeavor in life, those who blindly launch out eventually create destruction unless there is proper preparation. To begin to act upon a call, without taking the necessary steps in laying the proper foundation will only result in lackluster results and frustration at best.
I know of no successful men in life or ministry that had not had some form of higher education. Now for the record, I separate higher education in general with traditional higher education. Higher education may not take place in a class room, but it does take place, it must take place for success. Proverbs repeatedly tells us to get knowledge, to get wisdom, and to get understanding. It praises all those who do so wile at the same time chastising those who neglect it.
Countless stories have been told when I was a child of my father spending hours and hours on saturdays with wise businessmen, learning their ways. For him, it was his higher education. The richest man I have yet to meet went to the school of hard knocks and didn’t graduate until he was in his 60’s. He was a student of proverbs. My road has been chosen as one of traditional higher education. Methods vary, but education and preparation does not.
So what does all of this education have to do with the “doer” vs the “thinker”? Let me tell you as a dear Jamaican friend of mine once told me when I was attempting to become a “doer” and leave IBC 2 years into my 4 year tenure.
“If you go now, you will do good things, but you will need to come back. If you stay, you will start later, but you will do better things and have no need of return.” - Jeff Watkis
The answer can be found in the fruit of the “doer” and the “thinker”. This fruit can take years before harvest. How frustrating to spend a lifetime with expectation that God will perform that which He has promised you and when the time comes, you are overwhelmed because you have not prepared yourself. Preparation gives the ability to be instant, knowledgeable, and not a novice.
Be a “Thinker” long before you are a “doer”. Have you been called to preach? Go to Bible School. Yes, you can learn through the school of hard knocks, but remember you are going to be leading people and you will have to give an account. A little folly has lasting earthly and eternal consequence.
Are you called to business? (I firmly believe there are many who are.) Go to school. Learn how to! This may mean that you go to school at night, learn from a successful man, but by all means GO! The best of both worlds is to do all at once. Start a business, go to school, learn from successful men.
So why I do believe in dreaming big, I know that without the proper foundation, both apostasy and bankruptcy are the probable outcomes. Your life’s path will have twists and turns, but what can never be substituted for is a rock solid foundation.
The foundation of one generation rests upon the roof top of the next. Before you launch out into what you are going to be doing for the rest of your life, Stop. Think. Prepare. Your success or failure, your Isaac or Ishmael, will effect not only your future, but that of generations to come.
Stop. Think. Prepare.