January 25, 2017

The Blessings and Curses of Hard Work

The Blessings and Curses of Being a Hard Worker in Ministry

Hi, my name is Heath and I am, by nature, a workaholic.  I grew up in rural SC, outside of Myrtle Beach, on a small farm.  Some of my earliest memories are picking butter beans out of the garden and my Granddaddy letting my drive the tractor while he and the rest of my family picked up hay bales for the cows.  Social services would be called on you if you did things like that in our culture (& I shouldn’t be old enough to say that!!!), but it was what I was accustomed to as a child.

My first summer job, where I actually got paid cash, I picked watermelons.  I also worked in tobacco fields as a teenager and I can assure you that picking watermelons all day long is a harder job than working in tobacco.  Here’s how my typical summer day would go: get up and be in the fields ready to work by the time it was daylight…work all day…come home and shower…and go to the high school and lift weights. 

At that point in my life, sports was everything to me and, honestly, I wasn’t a great athlete.  I wasn’t the biggest, fastest, or strongest, but I worked my butt off to be the best that I could be in football and baseball.  I was the guy that would pop out to 2nd base and still sprint to first because I didn’t believe in jogging to first base (and I still don’t!).  What my body lacked in athletic ability, I made up for in hard work, or at least I tried.   

When I went into pastoring full time almost 11 years ago, I had this idea that I was going to be the hardest working pastor I could be.  I knew the stigma attached to those in ministry.  I’ve heard the jokes about pastors only working 1 day per week and I was determined no one would say that about me.  So, when I became pastor at my first church, a rural church outside of Fayetteville, NC, I made it a point to let people know that I was a hard worker.  Even though the parsonage (yes, those are still in existence) had an office attached to it, I used the office at the church so that the members would at least see my car at the office and know that I wasn’t at home in the bed asleep. 

 It’s true that in ministry, you really do need to have a strong work ethic.  Being a lazy pastor is sinful and there are no excuses for that, but I am slowly learning that a strong work ethic can also be one of your worst enemies if you don’t learn where the proper channels to exert that work ethic are.  Imagine working all day plowing a field, only to find out at the end of the day that you have plowed the wrong field.  You have worked hard but accomplished nothing.  That happens all the time in ministry.

You’ve read the stories just like I have.  You know, the ones where the pastor works and works and works and then loses his family because of an affair or maybe his wife is just fed up and walks away.  He was a hard worker, but not in the right places.   Working hard in the right places is what will make the difference in your life and in your ministry.

As I am working through this in my own life, here are a couple of areas that the Lord is showing me where I should work the hardest.  I know there are more areas and I hope the Lord will be gracious to continue showing me where I fall short, but here’s what I’ve learned so far. 

I need to work hard to have quality time with Him.  I have always had a quiet time in my life, but I can’t say that I’ve always had quality time with God in my quiet times.  Maybe you have experienced the same thing.  Because I am by nature a hard worker, I find that when I try to slow down and spend quality time with God, my mind goes to all of the things I ‘need’ to do. 

The truth is, there is nothing I need to do more than spend time with Him.  It is absolutely the most critical thing that I will do everyday.  As a pastor, you are constantly giving yourself away, emotionally and spiritually.  Your quality time with Him is what replenishes you and allows you to go back and give more.  If you don’t have regular times of replenishment, you’re heading for burnout. 

Think of it like this.  You have a reservoir inside of you to give out what God has placed in you.  If you give out 10 gallons a day, and only replenish with 5 gallons a day, at some point, you will run dry and you will wake up one day wondering where you went wrong.  Peter Scazzero, in his book The Emotionally Healthy Leader, says this is lacking a ‘being with God’ sufficient to sustain our ‘doing for God.”  If we are going to work hard at anything, may it be said of us that we work hard at being with God.  It is, without a doubt, the most vital thing that we do on a daily basis.

I also need to work hard to guard my family time.  If you’re reading this, you know this isn’t new information.  We are always told that we need to protect our families and that they are our first area of ministry.  We know this, but we still fail to do it often times.  So, here’s my suggestion: work hard at guarding your calendar. 

You are the only person that has control over your calendar.  If you have to, write in family time on your calendar 3-4 nights per week and when someone asks to meet with you, you have the right to say no because you have a prior obligation.  If you don’t work to control your calendar, your calendar will control you.

Bill Hybles, in his book Simplify, says that when you set your calendar, don’t fill in everything based on what you think you have to do.  Rather, ask the question, “What kind of person do I want to become?”  Based upon that, make your calendar out so that you become that person.  If you want to be the best husband and father, schedule your calendar to allow yourself the time to do that.  Again, if you don’t control your calendar, your calendar will control you.  I have to work hard to guard my family time and I do that by controlling what gets placed on my calendar and what does not. 

Ministry is demanding.  There’s no other way to say that and hard work is required, but never think for a second that hard work is the only thing that is required.  If you work hard in the right areas, God will be honored, you’ll have a close walk with Him, and He’ll give you exactly what you need.  Nothing more, nothing less. 

God Bless