{"id":32621,"date":"2022-09-10T16:16:41","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-it-takes-to-get-important-things-done-in-ministry\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:16:41","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:16:41","slug":"what-it-takes-to-get-important-things-done-in-ministry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-it-takes-to-get-important-things-done-in-ministry\/","title":{"rendered":"What it Takes to Get Important Things Done in Ministry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Staff<\/p>\n

There is no shortage of activity in the pastor\u2019s office these days. Everyone is busier than ever, pastors included.<\/p>\n

But being active does not mean you are impacting the lives of your people. Entire mornings slip away as you process email, dabble in your sermon text, and have a couple conversations with church coworkers. All of a sudden it\u2019s lunchtime and you haven\u2019t gotten anything important done.<\/p>\n

Why does that happen? What will keep us focused on the ministry work that matters?<\/p>\n

The difference between activity and action<\/h3>\n

We need to recognize the difference between activity and action. By mere activity I mean the kind of piddling around and paper pushing that gives you the immediate gratification of being organized, but leaves you just as far from achieving your vision and goals.<\/p>\n

It feels productive to empty your email inbox and sign your credit card receipts. But if you haven\u2019t started planning this week\u2019s service and have yet to work on that new ministry your church is rolling out soon, can you claim to have accomplished anything important?<\/p>\n

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Action, on the other hand, involves taking decisive steps toward what impacts the people under your pastoral care. Action requires us to be intentional and thoughtful. It is the place where the big picture and the nitty gritty details meet.<\/p>\n

Why do we opt for activity over action? There are many reasons, but ultimately it is because activity is easy, but action is hard. It makes us feel secure and productive while we avoid the difficult but important tasks, which also happen to reveal our vulnerabilities. Things like following up with the member who makes us feel awkward, or getting to work on a sermon text that is filled with exegetical landmines.<\/p>\n

A bias toward action<\/h3>\n

Since the distractions of busy work compete with our attentiveness to what really matters in ministry, we need to cultivate a bias toward action. This simply means that you are most often drawn to the work that is most important, even though it is probably your hardest work.<\/p>\n

In their managerial classic In Search of Excellence<\/em>, Thomas Peters and Robert Waterman noted that the most important characteristic that separated average companies from the best companies was that the best companies had a bias toward action. More recently, Scott Belsky has resurrected the phrase in his productivity book Making Ideas Happen. Instead of batting ideas around ad nauseum, move quickly toward the first steps it takes to get those things going, even if you don\u2019t know every step of the way. This mindset will help you get the important things done in ministry.<\/p>\n

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Am I saying that pastors should act just like managers? No, not exactly. Pastors need to be theologians, heralds, and shepherds. But the fact of the matter is there are many aspects to ministry that are vital, yet we avoid them. The idea of bias toward action will help you be more faithful and fruitful in ministry. It will drive you toward the most important priorities of your ministry, like sermon prep, prayer, and visitation.<\/p>\n

How you can obtain a bias toward action<\/h3>\n

Before you think this is a \u201ctry harder to get the more things done\u201d article, let me tell you were a bias toward action comes from. The only way we will be able to lean into the difficult, yet important, parts of our ministry is by God\u2019s grace. This article\u2014for all of its focus on the things we need to do in ministry\u2014is really about relying on God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

Notice how Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 15:10, \u201cBut by God\u2019s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God\u2019s grace that was with me.\u201d Paul had a bias toward action, but the source of it was not a \u201cdo better\u201d attitude, it was God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

Has God\u2019s grace been effective in saving you? Then let it also be effective in you to work hard in ministry. When you feel distracted, rely on his grace. When you want to avoid the work that is most vital to your calling, pray for God\u2019s grace. Let us labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in us (Col. 1:29).<\/p>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Staff There is no shortage of activity in the pastor\u2019s office these days. Everyone is busier than ever, pastors included. But being active does not mean you are impacting the lives of your people. Entire mornings slip away as you process email, dabble in your sermon text, and have a couple conversations with church … Continue reading “What it Takes to Get Important Things Done in Ministry”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}