The Value of Writing Assignments
Jay Wegter
I want to challenge you to put your grasp of theology into language. Most of your theology at this point in your Christian life is a collection of ‘second hand convictions’—in other words you have built your understanding of doctrine on what you have been taught.
As Biblical Counseling majors you must strive to go further in your comprehension of Bible doctrine until through diligence in study you learn to build ‘first hand convictions.’
The development of ‘first hand convictions’ is the intent in all of our reading and writing assignments. Why are ‘first hand convictions’ so valuable? It is difficult to lay a theological foundation for all of life on ‘second hand convictions.’ It is ‘first hand convictions’ that are needed in order to construct a working foundation of doctrine that translates into spiritual wisdom in all of our daily life decisions.
Presently your theology is under construction so to speak. Your ‘first hand convictions’ are being fleshed out—these are the convictions from which you will teach, preach, disciple, defend, and counsel in your ministry.
The opportunity you have now at this Christian college is priceless. There are countless believers around the world who envy the privilege you have of gaining a Bible-based education. You ought to regularly think about how to maximize your educational experience here. As Biblical Counseling majors, you will be building a skill set for lay and vocational ministry. Central to this skill set is the art of learning to express yourself in writing and speaking. 75% of leadership in ministry is verbal communication. The ability to motivate others to obedience rests upon the skill of using verbal communication effectively. Those who are making the most impact in ministry today are those who are masterful in communication and who tend to surround themselves with those who are effective at articulation of truth—they have learned the skill of verbal communication.
Here is where your time in the CPS program will pay off. Effective communication is built, established, and honed through the process of learning to write well. Powerful writing skills lie just beneath the surface in the most effective ministries that involve the spoken word. Excellent writing is more than just filling pages with words—compelling writing is critical thinking in action. That means that the writer has learned to define his or her terms; draw correlations between concepts; demonstrate the consequences of ideas; produce understanding; and convince and persuade his or her readers of the value of what is being said. These abilities only come with time, patience, and practice.
Your ‘hire-ability’ depends in part upon your contribution as a team member in ministry. Those forming a ministry team are looking for the very qualities you will be developing here at The Master’s College. Those qualities may be summarized as follows:
- Analytical in thought
- Creative in problem solving
- Proactive about obstacles (solution oriented)
- Effective at writing
- Skilled in verbal communication
What may not have crossed your mind in the recent past is that your class assignments in the CPS program are designed to build these skills into your ministry ‘tool box.’ In fact, the three most difficult ‘dots to connect’ in your education experience here are these: (One) your assignments—(Two) which are intended to develop writing skills—(Three) are the means by which you will grow to be a spiritual influencer of others through effective communication.
This of course means that your assignments must not be viewed as busy work; but are to be viewed as a God-ordained ‘pathway’ to effective communication (which leads to greater potential for the spiritual influence of others—which is ministry!).
Maximizing your educational experience requires humility. Here’s the reason why—writing assignments are a humbling task! They expose our weaknesses in the area of communication. And, in order to grow from our writing assignments; we will have to admit how far we have to grow in order to become proficient at communication. Of course this is just the opposite of the ‘hamburger flipper’ mentality which says, “Hey, I showed up, where’s my grade?”
Now for students who have been away from academics for awhile; one of the most loathsome aspects of writing is outlining (as a preliminary stage to composition). But, as a pastor who has crafted and preached hundreds of sermons, I want to commend outlining to you as a skill indispensable to good writing.
Outlining before you write can be as simple as jotting down 5 or 6 lines in pencil on a piece of scratch paper—or it may be as complex as a typed formal outline with roman numerals and indents. The value of outlining must be stressed though, or many of you will never take the time to do it. The immediate value of outlining is as follows:
It provides the STRUCTURE for your paper
It provides the SEQUENCE of the thoughts you will communicate
It provides the CONTENT for the body of your paper
It provides the LOGIC for the argument of your thesis
It provides the APPLICATION of the truths you are explaining
It provides the CONCLUSION as the summation of your
thoughts
Without the benefits of outlining listed above, most attempts at writing are loosely joined ramblings at best that do not move purposefully from thesis to premise(s) to conclusion. Once you get a ‘taste’ of the writing success that comes through the discipline of outlining; you will never go back to a formless style.