Busyness Hurts Ministry

I have a confession. Today I did something that I almost never do. It is not that I have a philosophical problem with doing this or believe that doing this is counterproductive. It is something that I have done in the past, just not something that I typically do. And I think I know the reason why.

As I was driving through Baltimore on my way to a meeting, I rolled down my window and motioned over a man standing with a sign so that I could give him some coins. I didn't have much on me, but he was thankful for what he got. The light turned green and I rolled my window back up and drove on my way.

I didn't judge him for his condition. I didn't assume that he would just take the few dollars in coins that I gave him and go buy alcohol with it (probably costs more than that anyway). I didn't insist that he let me tell him about Jesus if I was going to give him money. There wasn't enough time between lights to even get to know his name or hear his story.

I didn't even know where I was. I was simply following my GPS to a destination in a part of Baltimore that I didn't know. I could see all of the boarded up or iron-barred windows so typical of inner-city Baltimore. I could see the corner liquor stores that serve as landmarks for locals. I knew I would never be able to find that place again or to check in on this guy, but I felt compelled to give what I could and leave it at that.

Later I pondered why this has not been something that I have done very often. Many thoughts could have come to mind, most of them based on skepticism and mistrust, but the one thought that was so glaringly obvious stuck: I have always been too busy to care.

For most of my 30+ years in the ministry, I have served churches that were mostly comprised of Middle Class people. I typically spent 70+ hours a week doing ministry for those members. I am not saying this to brag or gain sympathy from my church members, because there are currently no members of our church. I am just stating a fact about ministry conditions in most established churches.

My attention was always on the ministry that I was "called/hired/expected" to do. I was evaluated yearly on how well I did my job based on their expectations of what that entailed. None of the churches that I have served have ever listed helping the needy as part of my job description. Even though that is part of the religion that God accepts as pure and faultless (James 1:27), it is not something that most churches expect or want their ministers to spend their time doing.

Our busyness in church actually hurts our ministry to those who need it most. Those who really appreciate it most. I spent virtually 100% of those 70+ hours each week working with people who more than likely had attended church all of their lives, yet still wanted a minister to look after their needs. A minister to plan things for them, to organize their ministries, to visit them in the hospitals, to care for the buildings, to oversee the budget, to lead the worship, to teach bible study, to care for their children and youth, etc.

Since I left the established church life, I have had the opportunity to be out in the community every day rather than inside the church grounds all the time. I really notice people in the community now and I have time to get to know them. To hear their stories and to share mine with them. No longer am I running from one meeting to another, planning the work and working the plan.

This is not just a problem for pastors. There are many church volunteers that spend all of their time at work, home, and church. They rarely ever get out into the community, yet God has called us to go out into all the world. We need to stop walling ourselves in and expecting the world to come to us.

What do you think? Does your busy life prevent you from noticing the needs of others? Does it effect the way you think about others? Does it discourage you from spending time with people outside of your church?