Why Pastors Should Read Audio Books

So many books, so little time. Do you ever feel this way?I firmly believe that all good leaders are readers. Leaders must constantly be learning and reading in order to grow and stay current.

If you are a pastor, you need to be reading even more to keep your sermons from continually recycling stale content.

But, in today’s busy world, the problem is that there are more books than ever and seemingly less time in my day than ever to read. It can be overwhelming.

That’s why a few months ago, I started experimenting with audio books.

I signed up with a free trial of Audible. Audible is a service by Amazon, so they have every audio book you could imagine. They have a great app, so I always have the books with my on my iPhone. Plus, they give you two free books just for signing up for a free trial!

I’m loving it.

I have found that I can “read” an extra book or two a month simply by listening while doing other activities in my daily life that do not engage my brain.

1. I listen while driving to the office.
2. I listen while working out.
3. I listen while doing work around the house.

Since subscribing to Audible, I have doubled the amount of books I read. If I continue this over a few years, imagine how many more books I will read!

This has been highly beneficial for my preaching, because there is nothing worse than sitting down to write a sermon from an empty well. Pastors need to constantly study God’s Word and read books in order to deliver fresh content every week.

Some books I have listened to so far:

• Church History in Plain Language by Bruce L. Shelley
• Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
• Radical by David Platt
• The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren
• The ONE Thing by Gary Keller
• Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
• Everyone’s a Theologian by R.C. Sproul
• Be a People Person by John C. Maxwell
• Forgotten God by Francis Chan

I  had read some of the books above years ago, but listening to the audio versions has been a great way to enjoy them again. You notice different things when you hear someone read it, than when you read it yourself.

I also downloaded the entire NIV audio Bible and started listening to pieces of it as part of my devotional routine to keep things fresh. Normally this would cost around $30, but I got it for free with the free trial.

Listening to audio books will never replace reading books for me, but it is has been a great and refreshing addition to my continual spiritual and intellectual growth.

This is especially helpful if you are an auditory learning like me. But don’t take my word for it. Go get two free audio books and try it for yourself.

Never stop learning so that you never stop leading.