When I began studying journalism in college, all I knew were the things I learned as a staff writer for the high school paper.
That meant one thing: I could only operate at that level within what I understood AND within my high school skill level. Studying in college advanced that understanding, combined with working on the school paper.
A Closer Look at Capacity
I knew what I knew. It elevated me from a HIGH SCHOOL mindset to an academic one… coupled with eventually becoming a staff writer and then editor of my college paper. (EVEN THEN… I could STILL only operate within the capacity of my HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE COMPREHENSION.) There was yet MORE I could attain to.
I would eventually combine everything I’d learned up to that point with the experience I would gain as a staff writer for a local paper, then regional, then national publications… then some international. I was able to extend my capacity with REAL WORLD experience, as well as understanding the craft from an academic AND PROFESSIONAL perspective.
I was light years away from my HIGH SCHOOL MIND. While I had learned and was now gaining experience, it was time for the real-life lessons that could never be found in a textbook.
Increasing Capacity
I combined EVERYTHING I’d learned from that point into working as a beat reporter, political reporter, federal court reporter, crime reporter, obituary writer, etc…. into 18+ years of learning. THAT brought me into mastery in my field because of the consistent experience overtime that pulled on my academic education… and extended my capacity beyond anything I could ever have imagined.
Eventually, I would hit the recognition and reward zone multiple times in my career.
THE POINT: Capacity is about growing and stretching in realistic, practical ways. We can’t be the best scribe WE CAN BE if we never move beyond what we already know.
Scribal ministry is as much skill as it is prophetic. What you filter it through DOES MATTER. Let’s talk plainly: We can filter it through skill, or we can filter it through “I don’t care.”
Avoiding Hindrances
What hinders many prophetic people is that they reject knowledge and skills that could significantly enhance their scribal capacity. God loves BLOWING ON EXCELLENCE!
While the spiritual is a priority, there are PROFESSIONAL and practical skills that are often needed and can open up the SPIRITUAL REALM…. and releasing us into NEW HEIGHTS. Then there’s that old thing called consistency and TIME… that brings us into TRUE, MEASURABLE experience.
Understanding your scribal capacity is about RECOGNIZING THE NEED TO BE TAUGHT and the need TO GROW.
It is about STRETCHING beyond what YOU think you need… to recognizing what really might be needed.
We owe it to ourselves to expand the capacity WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN.
Changing Our Thinking
A poetry WRITING class will not destroy your calling or your voice, it will enhance it.
Learning about book cover design will not kill your vision for it…. it will help you understand what’s needed for an effective design.
Learning to properly lay out a book is not abandoning what YOU BELIEVE God showed you. Rather, it is putting a correct framework around it, so it can be seen clearly.
Taking writing classes will never KILL your creativity. It will, however, help you be a better communicator.
The word for prophetic scribes in this next season is this: STRETCH YOUR CAPACITY! BE TEACHABLE!
Originally written, Sept. 14, 2021
