As a pastor and as someone convicted of serving the Lord full-time, some choices I have to make in regards to scheduling are easy - yet requires wisdom. There are church wide events that I must attend without a doubt. There are fellowships that I must attend most of the time. There are meetings that I must also attend. Funerals, no doubt. Weddings, a time to celebrate with the new couple. It is all part of visible leadership. If these events happens to be on Tuesday to Friday or Sundays, I'll schedule my regular prep work around it. If it happens on a Saturday, oh well, even less time for final prep work on Saturday. If it is on a Monday, I'll reschedule another time off if I can. It is all serving the Lord - and learning from our Lord Jesus, if he can serve us by washing the disciples' feet, I need to learn to serve with joy.
As for the people I am learning to serve, they have some much harder decisions to make. In general, they work Monday to Friday. For most of them, Sunday morning is non-negotiable - it's church. However, the choices comes in the form of prayer meetings, fellowships, cell groups, church events, meetings, and etc. Unlike myself, they "volunteer" their time to come, they "volunteer" their time to serve. If someone cannot set the time aside to volunteer the work, the task either ultimately falls on my shoulders or it does not get done at all.
As a pastor, and I've said this many times before, one of my greatest fears is having all my volunteers walk out on me. Because if that happens, my ministry becomes merely getting things done, and not about influencing lives with the Gospel and my witness.
Lord, give me the wisdom the teach and examplify (I think I just made up a word) servant-leadership.
1 comment:
I'll be praying for you.
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