The Busy Christian... Conclusion

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Conclusion: Finding rest in the midst of busyness

The answer to our busyness is not in routines, organisation or doing more.

The answer to our busyness is theological. Our busyness turns on how we view God.

As Christians we should expect to be busy. We give our lives to Christ and no longer claim our time as our own. But we can find rest in our busyness and joy in our labour.

More often that not, those who complain about their busyness are those who are not finding joy in God. And those who rejoice in God as the Saviour, Master, Provider, Refuge, Joy and Hope do not find their busyness a burden. (p170)

Chester suggests that at the end of the day we could pray: “God, you have been with me all day. Have I spent my time well today?”

Taking God with you into the busyness of life means:

• resting on God our Saviour when we fell the need to prove ourselves
• serving God our Master when we worry about other people’s expectations
• trusting God our Provider when we worry about things getting out of control
• making God our Refuge when we want to escape from busyness or through busyness
• enjoying God our Joy when we feel the attraction of over-working for more money
• waiting for God our Hope when we fell we have to make the most of life now (p170-1)

As we finish this series on busyness and you have a chance to reflect on your life and the way you live it, remember these words of Jesus:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

The Busy Christian... Chapter 12

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness,
Chapter 12: I’m busy because I want to make the most out of life - the liberating hope of God

It’s so easy to get caught on the treadmill thinking: I have to make the most out of this life. I have to give my children every opportunity. I have to see the world.

As God has been mostly been removed from general life, our lives have become purely focussed on this life, now. No longer to people look forward to eternity or outward to see the bigger picture of God in control. Now, the focus is all me, now:

Life is no longer a brief interval in eternity. People’s horizons are entirely focused on this world. Goals have to be fulfilled in this lifetime and so each day time must be used intensively. We have secularized time. It is no longer time in eternity. It’s just time. (p156)

The truth: an eternal future

For Christians it would do us well to remember that the days will never end, there is infinite time.

In addition, we need to remember that we are sinful people living in a sinful world. Sickness, suffering, and death are a reality. Sometimes, rather than wanting to search to get more out of life, we need to accept the life that we have:

That’s the way it is. Get used to it. And don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about missing out. Some of your friends may be out late partying, jetting round the world, climbing the corporate ladder. But this is the life God has given you – and he is always wise and always good. (p159)

The truth: a better future

a better world is coming for the children of God. You don’t need to rush around having every experience going. You don’t need to ‘realise your potential’. You just need to glorify God and enjoy him for ever. You don’t need to give yourself and breakdown trying to create a perfect life. Christ has already given himself to create a perfect life. Your role is to wait patiently. What should we do about our busyness? We should wait. Wait for the eternal rest of God. (p162)

A wise heart

The Psalm for this chapter is Psalm 90 – a meditation on a wise heart.

4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning—
6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered…
12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Some things to think about:

• Do you fall into the trap of wanting all the experiences or opportunities of this life? Is that the message you are giving to your children?
• How does remembering your eternal and better future help?
• Do you trust God that he has given you a good life?

Next week – Conclusion

The Busy Christian... Chapter 11

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness,
Chapter 11: I’m busy because I need the money – the liberating joy of God

The lie: material possessions can satisfy

Our culture says that wealth, possessions and shopping are the route to satisfaction and fulfilment. But it’s a lie. (p139)

And so easily we buy the lie. We replace “I want” or “I desire” with “I need”. I need more money. I need the latest iPhone. I need a new TV. Do we really?

Our culture is characterized by the question: ‘How can I get more?’ Christian culture should be asking the opposite question: ‘How can I give up more?’ Think about the possessions you own and the activities you are involved in. Which could you give up to release time, space and money for God’s kingdom? How could you declutter your life and your home?... We need to think of luxury as the carefreeness of having too little rather than the burden of having too much. (p143, my emphasis)

With consumerism, Christians often ask ‘What is it OK to have?’ Why instead don’t we ask ‘What’s the least I can manage with?’

For those in full-time ministry, these can just as easily be our issues. With our up-to-date gadgets, nice clothes and houses full of pretty things, sometimes we hardly look different from the pagans around us. Or, sometimes it works the other way. We justify what we have and do, knowing that it’s less than others around us – yet fail to see our own materialism. Perhaps we even tend to pride that we are “not like them”. Or do we whinge that we don’t have what they do? Yet, we are still incredibly wealthy.

Do we ask ourselves “What is the least I can manage with?”
Do you compare yourself with others (to justify yourself), or do you ask what God wants of you?


The truth: the liberating joy of God

Perhaps our problem is not that we have desires we want to satisfy, bit that we are too easily satisfied. We are far too easily satisfied with the things of this world, instead we need to believe “that we find fulfilment, satisfaction, joy and identity in knowing God, and nowhere else.” (p143)

The antidote to materialism is the promise that our true treasure is in heaven. Materialism seeks to find meaning in this world. True faith has hope in the world to come.

Some of us fall into the trap of thinking if we have more, we will be happy. Others want security, to whom God will say “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you (Luke 12:20).

And we Christians fall into both camps – we look forward to treasure on heaven, yet we also like the treasures of this world too. So we are even busier, chasing after both.

Chester issues a challenge to think about having less. This may mean choosing to work less hours or not take the promotion, in order to have more time outside of work. It may be choosing the smaller house over the larger one, so that we don’t have to work so hard to pay for that larger mortgage. It may mean no longer reading “Better Homes and Gardens” or similar, and learning to be satisfied with the home that you have.

I think this is something that those of us in ministry should be striving to model. Consumerism is so rife we hardly notice it anymore. But we need to find ways to model it that are honest. If people think we have less because we cannot afford it, we are sending the wrong message. Ministers (at least those in the Western world) are generally not poor, we are paid enough to live on (and often much more than that). We need to be able to explain why we choose to spend less on some things, it’s a choice. Most ministry families who cry “poor me” have little understanding of true poverty.

How do you explain your financial choices to others?
How do you explain your financial choices to your children? (ie. We can’t afford it, or we choose to spend our money on other things?)
How can you remind yourself that our true riches are in heaven? Do you truly believe it?


A pure heart

The Psalm for this chapter is Psalm 73 – a meditation on a pure heart.

1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
3 For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked...
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me
17 till I entered the sanctuary of God;
then I understood their final destiny...
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Next week – Chapter 12: I’m busy because I want to make the most out of life

The Busy Christian... Chapter 10

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 10: I’m busy because I prefer being under pressure – the liberating refuge of God

The lie: I work better under pressure

Do you tend to operate under this assumption? “I need the deadline to get motivated, I do my best work at the last minute.” Yes, sometimes, there’s a crisis and we just have to attend to it, but most of the time, we work to the last minute because we procrastinate.

Sometimes our procrastination is obvious like when we play solitaire on the computer. And sometimes we spend our time doing good things. We answer letters. Visit friends. It looks like we’re being diligent. We note all the important things we’re getting done. But if we would only be honest with ourselves, they’re all ways of putting off the task before us. (p127)

Procrastination tends to have three stages:

1. It’s not due yet – I have plenty of time
2. It’s crunch time – I have a right to neglect all my other responsibilities
3. I’ve finished the job – I have a right to reward myself

Do you recognise this pattern in yourself?

One of the things that adds to procrastination is that we tend to confuse urgency with importance. We deal with things according to urgency rather than importance. An ability to judge between the two will mean that important tasks are prioritised over unimportant urgent ones. I do like his point here:

Spend your time contributing to God’s kingdom the things God has equipped you to do. At the same time, be servant-hearted. Just because something is unimportant to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter to other people. (p129)

The common excuse of “I work better under pressure” ignores the reality that we have no problem doing the tasks we enjoy.

More importantly, it ignores the harmful impacts of our procrastination. Children go without parents, wives without husbands. Corners are cut. Co-workers are stressed. Others pick up our responsibilities. Our bodies are strained. And tired minds make us more susceptible to anger, resentment, jealousy and frustration. (p129)

There are two underlying causes of procrastination:

1. My pleasure – we procrastinate because we prioritise our pleasure. We avoid doing what we don’t want to do.
2. My pride – we procrastinate because our pride is threatened. Faced with a difficult task, we avoid it and to easier things to bolster our self-confidence. So procrastination can be a form of escapism.

Do you tend towards procrastination? What do you do when you procrastinate?
Is it your pride or your pleasure that tends to cause procrastination?
Do you tend to confuse urgent with important?
Is this an issue in your ministry? Does sermon preparation in your home always happen on Saturday nights? Do you always miss days off because tasks have not been completed earlier in the week? Can you address this issue with your husband?


The truth: God is my refuge

What should we do:

1. Repent “Acknowledge procrastination for what it is: self-deception, selfishness, escapism, pride...Turn from self back to God. Accept your responsibilities as he has given them to you” (p131)
2. Place your faith in God as your refuge. “We take refuge in all the things that make up our procrastination when we should take refuge in God.” (p131)

Another lie: Busyness is a refuge

We can be busy in one area of our lives as a way of hiding from problems in another area... We fill our lives with commitment and activities to avoid facing issues. (p132)

More work can seem attractive when life at home is hard. We can have a very-full diary to avoid having that difficult conversation. We need to make sure we are not using our inherent busyness to avoid things in our lives.

Are you using the excuse of busyness to avoid dealing with other issues?


An unshaken heart

The Psalm for this chapter is Psalm 62 – a meditation on an unshaken heart.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge. (v5-8)

Next week – Chapter 11: I’m busy because I need the money

The Busy Christian... Chapter 9

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 9: I’m busy because otherwise things get out of control – the liberating rule of God

The lie: I can be in control

In this modern age, we tend to believe we are in control. We control nature – managing crops, healing diseases, the date of our baby’s arrival. We control our time – with planners and schedules.

The lie we fall for is that we can do everything and solve every problem, we just need to squeeze it all in. Yet,

The reality is that we are finite. Only God is infinite. Only God is truly in control. We think the solution is a course on time management. But the solution is recognizing that we are human and God is God. (p113)

The truth: the liberating rule of God

Why do some people get work so out of perspective? It could be because deep down they think that God either cannot or will not provide. Jesus warns of the same lack of faith in Luke 12, where he says the lilies do not work, yet God clothes them.

Labour is good, but labour which betrays a lack of trust in God’s ability to provide for his children is idolatrous. (p114)

Are you busy because you worry life will get out of control? Jesus says “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Luke 12:25)

Constant work is the behaviour of someone who things everything depends on them. Rest is the behaviour of someone who looks to God to provide. (p115)

A note about sleep

Chester challenges the assumption in Christian circles that it is more godly to get up early to pray that it is to sleep. He rightly asserts that we want to be prayerful people and those who turn to God’s word. However, why is it that we have decided that sleep is what should be sacrificed for prayer? When you lose sleep regularly, you are tired and when you are tired, you are grumpy, irritable and less patient – in essence, more sinful. A little suggestion from Chester – if you want to pray, turn off the TV.

I found this point extremely helpful. For years I have felt I should get early up every morning to pray, and have tried it from time to time. However, I cannot sustain it and I just feel guilty. Thanks to this book, I have embraced my need for sleep, and yet still found time in the day to pray. What do you think?


Trusting God for others

Another version of I’m busy because otherwise things get out of control is this: I’m busy because people need me. However, the reality is, we cannot solve everyone’s problem, nor are we indispensable. The simple fact is – I am not the Messiah and I am not anyone’s Saviour.

We do have a responsibility to serve and love others. We are to give until there is nothing left to give. But, then we are to stop. We cannot do more than we can do. And, we must remember that conversion is God’s job. Yes, we preach the message and we do it faithfully and wholeheartedly, but salvation and judgment are God’s work.


A restful heart

The Psalm for this chapter is Psalm 127 – a meditation on a restful heart. I’ll leave you with verses 1-2:

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Things to think about:

• My guess is that this is a prevalent reason amongst ministry wives – the feeling that ‘If I don’t do it, it won’t get done’. Do you feel this way?
• Do you try to be other people’s saviour?
• Do you truly believe that you are not indispensable?
• Do you find it hard to trust that God really is in control?

Next week – Chapter 10: I’m busy because I prefer being under pressure

The Busy Christian... Chapter 8

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 8: I’m busy because of other people’s expectations – the liberating fear of God

We feel expectations from other people – our bosses, our friends, our family, our church. We have a mental list of all the things we should be doing, and we feel either guilty or too busy (and most likely both).

Chester refers to the 80/20 rule – that is, we get 80% of our output from 20% of our input. Why not settle for most things being 80% fine, instead of spending a lot more time increasing things to 90 or 100%.

He issues a challenge for the preachers amongst us. Let’s say you take 4 hours to get a sermon 80% as good as it could be. Yes, more time will be a better sermon, but it make take another 4 hours to get it to 90%, and even longer to get to 100% (if you could get there!).

Why not settle for 80% and spend those hour hours doing something else? We should give God 100% of our lives, but that doesn’t mean every sermon has to be 100%. We need to view the ministry as a whole and think about how our time is best used. The point is we are finite and cannot do everything at 100%.... So, why don’t we settle for 80%? Because we fear other people’s disapproval. And so we become perfectionists and perfectionism makes you very busy. (p102)

What do you think about this? I’m not sure I fully agree, but I do see his point. I would not be keen for my husband or the other preachers at our church to consistently think that 80% good is good enough. Not all the time anyway. But note he only say 80% as good as it can be, not 80% as true or biblical as it can be! I suspect each would have to analyse your own reaction to this. If one tends to perfectionism, this could be exactly what they need to hear. If one tends toward under-preparing sermons, this would not be for them!


The lie: other people matter more than God

If I am doing more that I can to meet other people’s expectations then we are saying that other people’s approval matters more to me than God’s.

The bible calls this the fear of man.

Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe. (Prov 29:25)

Fear of man can have many symptoms including susceptibility to peer pressure, a concern with self-esteem, comparing yourself to others, fear of being exposed and telling small lies to make yourself look good. But another symptom can be over-commitment and finding it hard to say ‘no’ when wisdom suggests you should.

What is the real lie here? The underlying idol is self – when we need approval and affirmation from other people, in effect we are wanting them to worship us.

Do you worry about what others think about you?
Do you say ‘yes’ because people expect you to? Do you do so that that people might like you, respect you and trust you? Do you do it to feel important?


The truth: God alone is my master

The answer is repent of our idolatry and turn to God… We need to fear God… To hear God is to respect, worship, trust and submit to God. The fear of God is the response to his glory, holiness, power and wrath. The fear of the Lord is recognising that he is so awesome, powerful, holy and good that we should serve and worship him more than anything else or anyone. (p104)

The fear of God is actually liberating:

1. When faced with a choice between pleasing a person and pleasing God, we know that we will want to please God. (Matthew 10:28). We are no longer controlled by other’s expectations, but the expectation of God. Of course we still serve other people, but we are not slaves to them.
2. God promises to care for those who fear him (Psalm 34:7-9, Psalm 27:1-3). No one is bigger than God.

A victorious heart

The Psalm for this chapter is Psalm 18 – a meditation on a victorious heart. This Psalm helps to remind us that the Lord is our rock (v1-3), that God is a powerful and amazing (v6-15) and he cares for us (v16-19), and that, in the end, we are on the side of victory (v28-50).

God can set you free from the tyranny of other people’s expectations. He can set you free to live with him alone as your Master. (p111)

Do you fear men more than you fear God?


Next week – Chapter 9: I’m busy because otherwise things get out of control.

The Busy Christian... Chapter 7

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 7: I’m busy because I need to prove myself – the liberating rest of God

The lie: justification by work

In removing God from society, we have forgotten grace. We no longer work (and rest) to glorify God, rather we work, and find value in, the work itself.

“The pressure of time in everyday life is not primarily the result of the development of clocks and watches. More significant were changes in world-view leading to a less God-centred and grace-based approach to life in favour of a more man-centred and work-justifying attitude.” (quoting Robert Banks). This creates the drive to work and work and work. Your identity depends on it. And so we work on, even though it is harming our health, our families and our relationships. (p90)

The concept of the purpose of work has also changed, one used to be able to measure work by the service it brought to God and others. No more, it is now measured by the self-fulfilment it brings, the satisfaction I get from it:

Work is judged not by the service it renders to others, but by the service it renders to me, the worker. (p91)

We are supposed to seek jobs that satisfy us and meet our needs. We are somehow driven to feel that unless we are busy, our lives are not worthwhile or important enough.

Chester then makes some helpful points for those of us in ministry. He notes that those who work the longest hours are often the most insecure, they feel the need to prove themselves. He also gives a warning:

Don’t tell people you are busy. If you tell people you’re busy what they will hear is, ‘I don’t have time for you.’ (p94).

How true that is. Do you find people say to you, “I didn’t want to bother you because I know you are busy.” Partially it’s a misguided assumption that you are important, so you must be busy (which Chester talks about on p93). However, some of it is our own fault – we project busyness, we look busy, we tell people how tired we are, and we struggle to fit them into our diary for 2-3 weeks.

How do you manage this? Do you find yourself hinting to people just how busy you are? Why – do you want to look important? Do you want people to think you are doing your job properly?
What risks are there in this lie for those of us in ministry?


The truth: justification by grace

Jesus offers rest from the burden of self-justification:

We are accepted by God… I am a sinner saved by grace and all I contribute to that identity is the sin bit. (p95)

A still heart

Chester goes on to examine what a still heart looks like in Psalms 130 and 131. At the end of each of these chapters, he turns to a Psalm and applies it to the passage. They are very helpful and I recommend you read them yourself to get the full value.

…with the Lord is unfailing love and full redemption (see Ps 130:7). Unfailing and complete. His love never runs out and his salvation is wholly adequate. Every act of self-justification is a denial that with the Lord there is full redemption. We act as if Christ’s death goes so far, but we somehow need to be busy completing the job with our petty attempts to self-atone. We act as if God’s love will fail if we are not busy proving ourselves worthy. Unfailing love and full redemption set us free from self-justifying busyness. (p97)

I leave you with Psalm 131 to reflect on:

1 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

Next week – Chapter 8: I’m busy because of other people’s expectations

The Busy Christian... Chapter 6

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 6: Getting to the heart of busyness

People do not feel stressed simply because they have a lot on. Most of us enjoy doing lots of things. We only feel busy when we try to do more that we can. The problem is not expecting to do a lot, but expecting to do more than is possible. (p77)

Yet, the simple truth is God does not expect me to do more than I can. We all have limitations, be they time, energy, circumstances. So, if God does not expect me to do more than I can, the question for us is: Why am I trying to do more than I can?

The answer to that is comes from the answer to this: what are the desires of your heart? The most important step in dealing with busyness is: Identify the desires of your heart that make you try to do more than God expects of you.

The question all of us need to ask ourselves is – is our busyness rooted in sin? It is really idolatry?

We can spot idolatrous busyness because it will eventually cause harm – in our bodies, our families, our churches and our relationship with God. If your health, marriage, friendships, Christian service or relationship with God is suffering because of your busyness then you need to address the idols in your life. (p84)

For the next 6 chapters, Chester will look at some of the lies promoted by the world and the devil that lead people to be too busy. In each, he explores the counter truth – the liberating promise of God which repudiates each lie.

Our struggle with busyness is the struggle to believe God’s liberating promises for ourselves so that they shape our attitudes and actions. We may feel enslaved by our busyness and our schedules. But at the root of that slavery are the lies of Satan which are perpetrated by our culture. If we are to be set free, we must expose those lies and counter them with God’s word. More important than managing time is managing our hearts. (p86).

Next week – Chapter 7: I’m busy because I need to prove myself

The Busy Christian... Chapter 5

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 5: Glorify God all the time

Sometimes we ask - how can we serve God when our lives are already so busy? We need to question the validity of such a question,

in the biblical worldview all of life – ‘ordinary life’ can and should be lived for God’s glory. We struggle to find time for God when in fact all of our time can be lived with him and for him. We feel guilty about not doing more as Christians when we are already spending 24 hours a day as Christians. (p61)

Glorifying God does not mean withdrawing from society to only read the bible and pray in quiet. It means glorifying God in all of the normal things of life:

the goal of biblical spiritual is conformity to Christ. It is to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow him. And the cross was not a place of serenity. It was a place of selflessness and sacrificial love in the midst of hate and violence. Even client, every customer, every colleague presents us with an opportunity to show love. (p63)

We should take delight in our work just as God takes delight in his work. We exist because God is a worker and continues to work today. Work is commended in the bible as a good thing. We do not need to separate work from more spiritual things, all things can glorify God:

the path of Christian discipleship is not away from the world. We can serve God as we change nappies, write emails, lay bricks, spread plaster, research essays and so on. If we do these things ‘in faith, love and holiness with propriety’ we will persevere in our salvation. (p67)

But, it is also true that we can find work frustrating, oppressive and idolatrous. Sin has affected our work, just like all other parts of life on earth. Work involves toil, it can be frustrating, workers can be exploited and people can use it to bring glory to themselves.

However, Christians find a renewed commitment to working for the glory of God. The attitude of Christians to their work, as well as their conduct, is to commend the gospel.

Chester finishes by challenging us to stop compartmentalising our lives. Our mission field can be at work, our leisure can be spent with work people, and we can have church friends and non-Christians over at the same time. When we seek to glorify God all the time, the boundaries between work, church, family and ministry become blurred and we are less concerned about separating them.


Some things to think about:

• Does it help to realise that you already live 24 hours a day as Christian?
• In what areas do you need to grow in godliness as you glorify God all the time? At work? As a spouse? As a parent?
• In full-time ministry, work and ministry/mission are combined. Does that make it easier or harder for you to see the value in your work?
• Do you feel you understand the pulls on your congregation members who have to manage work as well as ministry, yet still give time to their families? Are you sympathetic to their challenges?

We’ve seen that what we do & how we do it matters more than how much we do. Next we begin to turn to why we do it – getting to the heart of our busyness. Chapter 6 – next week.

The Busy Christian... Chapter 4

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 4: Sort out your priorities

Paul exhorts his readers to ‘redeem the time’ or ‘make the most of every opportunity’ (Col 4:5 and Eph 5:16). Does that mean we always need to be busy? We can’t relax or take a break? No. Paul is not talking about the minutes and hours of our days, but the ‘times’ we live in and the opportunities we have.

To redeem the time is not to fill our days with activity. It’s a call to live as children of light. We are to live in a way appropriate for the time in which we live, and the time in which Christians live is the coming new age that is breaking into the darkness. It is about what we do, not how much we do. (p50)

To get our priorities right, we seek to put the kingdom of God first. We are to be gospel-centred. Paul and Jesus at the end of their lives could say they had completed the job they were given. They did not have long lives, they did not finish the to-do list yet,

Jesus and Paul could speak of speak of completing the work not because they had completed a defined task, but because they had worked faithfully throughout their lives… The ‘success’ of our lives will be measured not in what we have ‘achieved’ but in our faithfulness. (p52)

Chester suggests that most people order their lives in this way:

lifestyle => job => home => church => ministry

That is, you choose the lifestyle you want, then the job to fund it, then the home nearby, then a church that works, then a ministry we might do. He calls this leftover discipleship – the time for Christian community comes from what is leftover at the end of the week.

To put the kingdom of God first is to reverse it so that church and ministry are first:

ministry =>church => home => job => lifestyle

Once you have thought through your church and ministry, keeping service (not just my gifts) at the forefront of our decision making, then we can consider when we may live which assists our ministry, followed by a job that allows us to do our ministry and a standard of living that allows us to serve God. “Discipleship means living for Jesus and letting everything else fit around that.” (p57)

For many of us in full-time ministry, we may feel like we have already made this decision. So, the question may become – do you find contentment in this, or do you wish for more? Have you decided to work to enable an increase in lifestyle? Do you resent those in your congregation who have the home or lifestyle you would like?

He concludes with some comments about ‘me-time’ and family time.

For me-time – we need to be careful that ‘me-time’ does not become an excuse to self-indulgence. “We are called to balance work and rest. But we are not called to balance service and self-indulgence.” (p58)

As for family time, consider your aspirations for your children, for that is where our true values surface. ‘Do you hope your children will be comfortable and well-paid? Or do you hope they will be radical, risk-taking gospel workers?’ (p59) He challenges us to think about making service the thing that unites us as families, doing something together for the good of others.


Things to think about:

• Are you able to view your success as a measure of faithfulness not achievement? How do you measure on that scale?
• How is your life ordered? Does some of the order need to change?
• Do you tend to overindulge in your me-time?
• What are your true dreams for your children?
• How do you talk to others in your congregation about these things?

We’ve seen that what you do matters more than how much you do. Next week we turn to how you do it matters more than how much you do. So, the next step is: Glorify God all the time. Chapter 5, next week.

The Busy Christian... Chapter 3

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 3: Use your time efficently

Chester suggests 4 key steps to addressing busyness:

1. Use your time efficiently
2. Sort out your priorities
3. Glorify God all the time
4. Identify the desires of your heart that make you try to do more than God expects of you.

We are going to look at #1 today, #2 and #3 in the next two weeks and then we’ll take 7 posts to look at #4 – which mirror his chapters. This is what I think is the real strength of this book. Chester talks about some practical strategies that may help, but in the end what we need to address is our hearts, what we think is important and what God actually counts as important.

So read the practical stuff with me over the next few posts, then be ready to be challenged in following weeks about what it is you really value and how that has impacted your busyness.

This week: use your time efficiently

A lot of this chapter is obvious stuff, if you are already reasonably organised, it won’t be anything new. If you struggle with time management – you also will know all about it, just perhaps struggle to implement it.

Basic tips here include: planning your time, using your diary wisely, managing people well, deal with paperwork and emails once only and tips for organising around your home.

One thing I found helpful in this section was to only read journals, magazines and newsgroups that actually provide you with information you need. To this I would add blogs and Facebook groups. Towards the end of last year I realised quite how much online information I was reading that added no value to my day in any way. I unsubscribed to quite a lot of things and it’s been remarkably freeing! (I also remove anyone from my Facebook feed that I have no real relationship with, why read their stuff when I never see them or talk to them?)

He ends the chapter with three helpful warnings, which I think those of us in ministry should especially heed.

1. People not schedules – don’t let your schedule stop you valuing people. You can run an efficient, on-time meeting by elimination all the chat and small talk. But it’s the chat and small talk that keep relationships going. We can also avoid dealing with people by using busyness as our excuse. Many of us in pastoral ministry know only too well of days when a schedule has been thrown out the window due to a personal crisis, as well it should be.

2. Servant not master – we control our schedule, it does not control us.

We can use our schedules to control our lives instead of bring ruled by God. We can trust our time management instead of trusting God’s care. We can turn the good desire for order into an idol. (p46)

3. Eternity not time – the danger of time management is that it focused our attention on the immediate. But the immediate is rarely the most important.

The Bible tells us to number our days, not schedule our minutes. And numbering our days means to live in the light of eternity. (p47).

Chester ends by saying that good time management does have a contribution to make to sorting out busyness. However, it’s the least important step. The second step is that what you do matters more than how much you do. That step is: sort out your priorities, and we come to it in chapter 4 next week.

The Busy Christian... Chapter 2

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 2: Is busy bad?

In chapter 2, Chester asks the question ‘is busy bad?’ – which is very helpful because we can swing from one extreme to the other – that work is good and leisure is bad (a work-centred ethic) or that leisure is good and work is bad (a leisure-centred ethic).

We know that the bible commends hard work and rejects laziness.

…make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. (1 Thess 4:11-12)

11 We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. (2 Thess 3:11-12)

And the bible also commends rest. In the bible there are two reasons for a Sabbath rest: because God rested (not because he was tired, but the job of creation was done, Exodus 20:8-11) and in order to remember that once they were slaves in Egypt, but now they have been redeemed (Deut 5:15). We are not still under the Mosaic law of Sabbath rest, but there is a good principle here.

We do not need to be legalistic about Sabbath observance, but why not do your work and chores in six days and spend one day resting? Why not set aside a day for rest and play, free from work, consumption and maybe even some forms of technology? Why not at least ensure your week includes all the rest you need? (p30)

Chester raises a very interesting point about holidays, or ‘binge resting’, noting that the time before and after holidays are often much more stressful than other times, and after a week back at work we often no longer feel rested.

We overwork for most of the year and then ‘binge rest’ for four weeks. But this was not the pattern for which we were made. We ‘need’ our holidays because our normal lives are so out of balance. The sustainable answer is not an annual holiday, but to get back to a biblical pattern of work and rest structured around a week. (p31)

We neither rest to work, nor do we work to rest. With God at the centre of our view on work and rest,

we work for the glory of God and we rest for the glory of God. The goal is not simply as balance between work and rest. The goal for both is the glory of God. This is liberating. It gives value to both work and rest. Neither is simply a means to the other. Both are to be relished, enjoyed and used for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). (p32-33)

Things to think about:

• What is your view of work? What is your view of rest? Do you value one more highly than the other?
• Do you have a day off? How do you manage it? Does work regularly encroach on your day off? Are you able to ‘disengage’ from work and church commitments on a day off, and actually rest?
• How do you view your annual holidays – are they the salve that gets you through the year, or do you also manage your weeks to include adequate rest?

The Busy Christian... Chapter 1

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
Chapter 1: Slow down, I want to get off!

Chester starts by pointing out all the ways we are busy, as if some of us needed convincing!

Today people are:

• busy at work – working longer hours and unable to separate work from out time at home
• busy at play – we don't just rest, we go to the gym, go hiking, go shopping – even leisure is something to do.
• too busy to be healthy – stress, overwork, no time to stop and eat properly, no time to recuperate from illness
• too busy to think – people cannot (or do not) take the time to think through issues, our minds are already too full. We confuse information with wisdom.
• too busy for relationships – little time for our marriages, our children, for sports teams, clubs, etc.
• too busy for Jesus – does your prayer life feel hurried? Does church involvement seem like an onerous task?

Chester points out that the clock has been a major influence in modern times. People are no longer governed by sunrise and sunset, but hours, minutes and seconds. Some professions charge clients by the minute. School children watch the clock for when the next lesson starts. We can watch 24 hour news cycles. You can view an email on your phone the second it arrives, making you feel you should check it immediately.

I have to agree with Chester’s final comment in chapter 1:

I used to think my busyness problem was temporary. I was busy just at that moment, but it wouldn’t last. Somewhere over the rainbow life would slow down… Things don’t change of their own accord… The fact is, if you want to tackle your busyness, you will need to make deliberate choices. (p20)

Things to think about:

• Do you feel permanently busy? Do you find yourself telling people how busy you are? Do people say they don’t approach you because you seem so busy?
• Do you let outside factors control your busyness – emails, SMSs, etc?
• Do you feel too busy to spend time in God’s word and in prayer to him?
• Are you willing to change?

Next week - Chapter 2

Book review series on Busyness

This series was originally posted on In Tandem, a blog for ministry wives

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness, Tim Chester

Welcome to our first book review series of the year. This term we are going to be looking at The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness, by Tim Chester.

I read this late last year, and I was struck by its relevance –for Christians (especially in the west), but particularly for those in Christian ministry. How many of us are chronically busy, but feel we are busy doing ‘good things’?

This books cuts at the core of our busyness, the reasons behind it and the false ideas that prop them up.

Interested?

We’ll be posting this series on Mondays. Next week – Chapter 1.