As I pastor I enjoyed using this time of the year to look back at the previous months. As I looked back I could tell if our church had been effective or if we had just been busy. There is a difference. Lots of churches have full calendars with plenty of activities to keep everyone busy. However, when they look at the results of all that activity they may find that nothing has really changed. The church hasn't grown. Few people came to faith in Christ. Church members continue to struggle with the same issues they've had since they became Christians. In fact, for some churches they only things that has changed is their ruts became even deeper.
We often equate busyness with effectiveness, but the two have little in common. Some of the busiest people I know accomplish little while others accomplish a great deal with what seems like minimal effort. The difference is the ones who are effective are focused on doing the things they need to be doing rather than allowing their calendars to fill up with busy work.
When I began the ministry I wanted to please everyone and do whatever I was asked. That is a dangerous approach to take as a bivocational minister. It took me awhile, but eventually I learned that I could not continue doing that. One of the four Spiritual Laws is that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. I learned that some have changed that to say God loves you and everybody has a wonderful plan for your life. I found out that if I tried to do everything people asked me to do I would not have time to do the things I needed to do. One of the greatest days in my life was when I learned it was OK to say no.
How does one know when to say yes and when to say no? It begins with a God-given vision. What is God's vision for your ministry or that of your church? Once you know that you can say yes to those things that will help bring that vision to fruition and no to those things that will detract from it.
It also helps to know your areas of giftedness. I want to work as much as possible in the areas where God has gifted me because that is where I am going to be most effective. I need to manage around the areas of ministry in which I am not gifted, and this often entails delegating those tasks to others. For example, nobody would want me to lead the music in a worship service! It is best to have someone with some musical talent take on that role, and that would not describe me!
We hear a lot about minister burnout. I am convinced much of that is self-inflicted. We try to do too much that we have no business doing because we don't want to say no to people. Some think having a full calendar is a sign of spirituality. It's probably more a sign of being dependent upon the approval of others. Spend time discerning God's vision for your ministry and learning the areas of ministry in which you are gifted and focus as much of your ministry in those areas as possible. You'll find at the end of 2019 your ministry was much more effective, and you'll probably feel less stressed as well.
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