Read Less, Think More

I don’t really have a hobby, but if you pushed me to pick one (and I couldn’t pick hanging out with my kids or going to the gym), I’d pick reading.  I love to read—magazines, articles, books, biographies, autobiographies, how-to manuals.  You name it, I’ll read it.

As I recently played a video of Dr. Howard Hendricks from Dallas Theological Seminary in my Youth Ministry Communication class at Fuller, I nodded my head in full agreement to Hendricks’ admonition that “leaders are readers and readers are leaders.”  Yup, I’ve heard that before and I agree.

But then he said something that I haven’t heard before but I think it’s even more true.  Hendricks encourages leaders who read to read less but think more.  If we have an hour devoted to reading, Hendricks invites us to read for half an hour and then reflect for half an hour.

If we read less and thought more, I’m guessing that the words on the page would penetrate our hearts.  Our minds would marinate in the principles and stories those pages contain.

So I’m trying to do that here and there.  I’m trying to jot notes about articles, and I’m even typing down the most significant quotes and insights from books (an old practice from my PhD studies that I’ve let slide).  I do miss the feeling of zipping through books and articles.  But I think they are changing me more.

©2008 Fuller Youth Institute