Have you ever heard it said of someone, “they don’t know what they don’t know”? It actually expresses a leadership training model called the Four Stages of Competence.

In the beginning, we are unconsciously incompetent. We don’t know how to do something, but sadly we don’t realize how incompetent we are.

H.B. Charles

The next stage is so vitally important. For when we move from being unconsciously incompetent to being CONSCIOUSLY incompetent, the possibility for improvement emerges. At this point, since we are aware of our need to grow in whatever skill is in view, we are now in the proper frame of mind to get better and see improvement.

One arena in which this is crucial is the area of preaching. When Paul asks the Colossians to pray for him in his proclamation of the message of the Gospel “that I might make it clear” (Col. 4:3-4), there was an assumption in this request. He assumed that the possibility existed that he might fail to make it clear. He was conscious of his own human limitations.

Stephen Rummage

One attitude that every preacher of the Gospel should possess is conscious incompetence. It is vital for every one of us who declares the unsearchable riches of Christ each week to know that we could get better at this all-important task.

That is why the Priority of Preaching (POP) Conference is a part of the ministry of Oklahoma Baptists. It is for the preacher who, regardless of whatever progress he has already made in his preaching ministry (1 Tim. 4:15), knows that he can make even more improvement in this most important task. From the novice to the seasoned veteran, the POP Conference will help every preacher improve in his ministry.

The 2024 Priority of Preaching Conference will be held on Feb. 5, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Oklahoma City, Quail Springs (14613 North May Avenue). The cost to register is $40 and can be done at oklahomabaptists.org/pop2024.

Our speakers will be Stephen Rummage, pastor of Quail Springs, and H.B. Charles, pastor of Jacksonville, Fla., Shiloh Metropolitan. All those who register will receive a book by either Rummage or Charles. Both of these men are adjunct professors at Midwestern Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri, our partnering Southern Baptist seminary for this event.

We look forward to seeing you on Feb. 5 at 10 a.m. at Quail Springs.