One thing I have learned from preaching and pastoring is that it’s time consuming; that is, if you want to be effective. Regarding preaching, I hear some ministers say, “I just show up and open my mouth and the Holy Spirit speaks through me.” Yeah, right. I can tell the ones who do that after they open their mouth.
I will say it again–effective ministry takes time.
These days, we must be careful to not become too busy to be effective in the ministry. That is so easy to do in this twenty-first century. We have so many things that can occupy our time. For instance, social media, countless digital gadgets we can buy and become addicted to, other worldly dreams we feel compelled to pursue, to name a few.
As ministers of the gospel, our main goal is to be messengers of God to His people. We must never forget that. What manner of honor has God bestowed upon us that He has entrusted us with the ministry of feeding His flock?
We must maintain diligence to stay focused. If we are not careful, even the ministry work we do can snowball to the point that we become too busy to be effective in the ministry. Some ministers seem to think that every new opportunity for ministry that comes their way is God calling them to do that. God has not called us to be busy but to be effective. By effective, I mean to have Kingdom-impact on the lives of others.
A Model from the Early New Testament Church
In the early days of the New Testament church, the church grew quickly. With church growth came more challenges. One problem was that the needs of some of the widows were being neglected in the daily ministry. When this complaint came to the attention of the apostles, they said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables” (Acts 6:2, NASB).
The apostles were not downplaying the importance of providing for the widows in the church. But they knew it would be unwise for them to take on this work. They did not want to become distracted from their main purpose in life. They responded by appointing seven godly men to address the problem at hand.
“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word,” the apostles said (verse 4). As a result, the Word of God continued to grow, and the number of disciples continued to increase (verse 7).
As ministers of the gospel, we must be committed to studying the Word, prayer, staying attuned to the Holy Spirit—week after week, year after year. It is when we bring that kind of commitment to what God has called us to do that He can bless us to be effective in the ministry.
Perhaps you have not been called to be a preacher or pastor in the strict sense of those offices. But what I say above also applies to other areas of ministry such as Bible teachers, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, missionaries, praise and worship leaders, etc.
What about you? Are you too busy to be effective in the ministry?