Tenacity

Tenacity

Galatians 6:9 (ESV)
⁹  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Some weeks are harder for us than others.  Sometimes even those in ministry get tired once in a while.  I taught an adult Bible class for over 35 years every week.  I probably averaged fewer than two Sundays off per year.  I have to confess I sometimes had taken on too much and didn’t feel like preparing a lesson or even getting up to teach that lesson.  We can just get burned out at times.

Once in the classroom, though, I was energized and thrilled to see the happy faces of my friends learning the concepts I was presenting.

Certainly those in ministry need a break.  God created a day of rest for us for just that reason. Tenacity is something that needs recharging.

The years I served on the elder board of a church, I got to see the job of a pastor.  I’ve seen it, and I don’t want it.  Pastors spend long hours preparing their messages for mid-week and Sunday.  A pastor friend of mine told me he spent an hour of study for every minute of his sermon.  That means a typical 45 minute sermon took more than an average workweek.  And that’s just Sunday’s message.  For many churches, there is also a mid-week service and other duties on top of that.

A few years ago I asked my pastor how many hours he spent preparing for Passion Week.  He had a Wednesday study to do, a Good Friday service, plus Easter Sunday’s message to prepare for.  In addition to those hours of preparation, he had the sick to visit, marriages to counsel, and home life to attend to.  As I’ve said, I’ve seen the job, and I don’t want it.

The pastors I’ve had over the years have all understood the value of taking time from the pulpit.  They need to unwind.  They need time away. This isn’t a sign of weakness. It provides energy to pursue the ministry with vigor.

This goes for the average ministry volunteer as well.

Back when I was a pretty new Christian, my wife and I volunteered for anything we were asked.  After a few years, this became so burdensome we left the church to get out from under the pressure.  Though we loved our church and the people there, I thought it unspiritual to just say “no.”  I was so wrong.

My wife and I discussed the issue and resolved to take it slower. We returned to that church a year or so later with a new attitude.  We had made a pact that we would only volunteer for things after prayer and then only if we felt God leading us to that ministry.  What a total relief!  Our whole view of ministry changed and so did our effectiveness.

Why is this important?

Bruce Wilkinson in his book The Seven Laws of the Learner tells a story of a time when he needed to fire an employee.  He figured the woman was fully aware she wasn’t fulfilling her duties and could be easily persuaded to “fire herself” if he just asked her about how her job was going.

He did that, and the woman enthusiastically recited a series of duties she was performing and loved every minute of it.  Wilkinson said he wanted to give her a raise after hearing her.  He snapped back to reality, though, and explained to her that he was glad she was doing all those things, but it wasn’t what she was hired to do.

Do we really want to stand before God with a list of things we’ve done for Him that doesn’t match the list He had for us?

Christians who want to please God and others in the church, might take on too much.  We want to do all we can to serve God, but are we taking regular breaks and doing only what we should?  We could be robbing someone of a blessing if we do their job. We could even be neglecting the ministry God has called us to do.  We need to be careful we do only what God has asked of us and leave the rest for those God has called for the other tasks.  That way, we can continue to do our jobs effectively, consistently, and tenaciously.