Ever notice how easy it is to become complacent…about any area of life?  Work.  Marriage.  Fitness.  Diet.  Even faith.

The key to sustained vitality is simple: Continue to learn.  It’s been said that, “the best leaders are insatiable learners.”

Maybe you’ve seen this in your relationships.  Those who keep learning about each other and keep asking questions are the ones who are fascinating, faithful, and fun to be around.  Those who think they’ve arrived begin the slide into the relationship graveyard.

You probably have seen this at work.  Those who are curious and who keep asking questions and expanding their knowledge…are the ones who excel and advance.  And coincidentally, they are usually the most interesting and engaging people to be with.

One of the most influential speeches ever given in the history of American business was delivered by John Gardner almost 24 years ago.  As a recent HBR blog pointed out,

“…his focus that day was on neither money nor power. It was on what he called “Personal Renewal,” the urgent need for leaders who wish to make a difference and stay effective to commit themselves to continue learning and growing…

What was his message? “We have to face the fact that most men and women out there in the world of work are more stale than they know, more bored than they would care to admit,” he said. “Boredom is the secret ailment of large-scale organizations. Someone said to me the other day ‘How can I be so bored when I’m so busy?’ I said ‘Let me count the ways.’ Look around you. How many people whom you know well — people even younger than yourselves—are already trapped in fixed attitudes and habits?”

To quote a wise proverb: It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

This phenomenon is absolutely true in our faith journey.  If we stop learning, stop exploring, stop discovering the infinite wonders of God and his ways and his world, we become complacent.  We lose our vitality.  We get stale, bored, and lifeless.  We cease to make a difference.

This weekend, we’re going to offer a solution.  I hope you can join us Saturday at 6 pm, or Sunday at 9:15 or 11 am.  It’s going to be a great year!  Don’t miss it…don’t let complacency sideline your life.

-Pastor Mark