A Week to Wield

Pray, Meet, Read

As best I can tell, I usually spend about 25 hours a week in preparing a sermon. And this week is one in which I am not scheduled to preach.

I am thus left to consider how to best wield those 25 hours as a weapon for God’s glory. The normal battle plan on weeks like these is to deploy three regiments named Pray, Meet, and Read.

THE TEMPTER TALKS

I have discovered that Satan loves to scheme in two particular – and paradoxical – areas on the weeks when I don’t preach. First, he tempts unto laziness. “Take a break. Indulge yourself and have a rest,” he says. It is true that I must find ways to rest this week so my soul can be sustained over the long-haul. But the Worm’s deceitful distortion is to turn Sabbath-like rest into slothfulness.

Second, and here’s where the paradox comes in, he tempts unto labor. “Get everything done that you’ve placed on the back burner. Redo the church website. Finish the first draft of that book. Edit that research paper for seminary. Complete Bavinck’s fourth volume in Reformed Dogmatics. And, oh yeah, repair the fence while your at it.” There is a very real temptation to take all this extra time, pour my energy out in labor, only to find myself completely spent and disillusioned when the next week begins.

Sometimes the temptation flies from one area more than the other, but many weeks I find the snares to be dialectically tense; it seems like his fiery darts of laziness and labor come simultaneously.

So what is a pastor to do?

3 WAYS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR TIME OUT OF THE PULPIT

Pastors are stewards, and “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” Stewardship means faithfulness in the ministry of word, prayer, and care. Thus, on weeks out of the pulpit I want to labor diligently in those three areas of faithfulness. Hence the deployment of Pray, Meet, Read.

Pray.I try to use the extra hours on hand for extended prayer on particular issues. I delineate a few things pressing in life and ministry, carve out time for the prayer closest, and then try to take hold of God in those areas. For example, I aim aiming to “get through” to God on the future leaders of IDC, future location of IDC, and cultivation of godliness in my young boys.

Meet. In the days leading up to my “off” week I purpose to schedule 6-10 different meetings with people in our church. This is on top of the regularly recurring church meetings and discipleship gatherings. Usually, I meet with members I just want to connect with or members whom I need to speak with about something upcoming in the life of our church. I have meetings this week with almost all our small group leaders to talk about a small adjustment we are making to group life this fall.

Read. Finally, I select a couple of books that I want to plow through over the course of five days. These are books that either speak to a theological issue needing attention in my ministry, an upcoming sermon series, or are ones I trust will simply fuel joy and maturity in ministry. I have four books on tap this week:

RESTING BY WORKING

As I fix my eyes on the week ahead, I expect the Serpent’s paradoxical temptations to laziness and labor to be constantly present. So I combat it with a paradox of my own: resting by working. Remember, this isn’t a sabbatical or vacation. Although I am not preaching, I am still working. And so  I confront the snares named Laziness and Labor with “Pray, Meet, Read.” Not only do these three areas summarize faithful ministry, they also are the ways in which I ordinarily best rest. Communion with God and His people refuel my soul, and so I pour my energy into them to get His energy from them.

Maybe there are other ways that you can rest in the work. Find them. Hone them. Then wield them the next time you are scheduled to be out of the pulpit.

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Categories: Pastoral Ministry, Prayer