Often, churches are stuck because the leader doesn’t feel the need to learn new skills, which is the height of arrogance. We must be learning new skills continually because we live in an ever-changing world. Rick Warren is famous for saying, “The day we stop growing, we’re dead in the water.” There are myriad places for us to gain new skills, but it begins with a decision to stop “doing what we’re doing” and get serious about our growth.

Think about these statistics from the American Booksellers Association:

80 percent of all Americans did not read a book this year.

70 percent of American adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

58 percent of Americans never read a book after high school.

42 percent of university graduates never read another book.

Another study reports that only 14 percent of people go into a bookstore and leave with a book in their hands. Shockingly, only 10 percent of those people read past the first chapter. 

What do these statistics tell you? They tell me that most people aren’t concerned with improving themselves. Instead, they’re concerned with comfort and ease. People who read spend about two hours reading a week. Yet, the average American spends 2,000 hours a year watching television. Here’s my point: I have a saying that I tell my staff all the time—“I’ve never had a problem that I couldn’t read my way out of.” A lack of education and learning new skills are primary reasons churches today are stuck.