A dozen ways ministers can give some direction to their ministry rather than be driven by it …

A couple months ago I sent a text to a fellow minister asking if he would be available to meet over lunch to discuss something pertaining to ministry. He was happy to and said he could pencil me in … the following month!

It’s not uncommon for ministers to have calendars so overflowing it’s difficult to get any time with them, or for them to have adequate time for everything filling their calendars.

That isn’t always by design.

Many ministers feel like ministry demands drive them … because often they do. It can be easy to become so wrapped up in all the things that need to be done, along with all the things people want you to do, plus the things you think you should do, that ministry seems to sweep you away. Ministers in particular seem susceptible to the “Butterfly Effect,” something explained in this story from the Los Angeles Times …

In 1961, meteorologist Edward Lorenz developed a computer program to predict weather patterns. One day he was in a hurry and set a computer calculation that was supposed to be .506127 to .506. He figured a thousandth of a percent would be irrelevant. Later in the day, he restarted the program and found a radically different prediction in weather patterns. He produced a paper stating that a very small change in initial conditions could have a radical change in results. A fellow scientist said that if Lorenz was correct, a single flap of a seagull’s wing could change the course of the weather forever.

In 1972, Lorenz presented a paper called, “Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wing in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?” The idea that a little change somewhere in the world could produce huge changes somewhere else became known as the “Butterfly Effect.”

You probably know several fellow ministers who are so busy that a simple little interruption to their schedule ignites potential chaos. Yet, the “Butterfly Effect” doesn’t always have to work in the negative; sometimes, making small changes, or a change, can improve a person’s situation. For example, let’s look at a dozen ways ministers can find themselves driven by ministry, and a change they can make for each one to regain direction:

Broad v. Narrow – Some ministers think they need to be involved in EVERYTHING, or their congregations or elders think they do. It’s easy to spread yourself so broadly that you quickly become ineffective. Tightening that to a more narrow area of activity you’re personally involved in allows for greater opportunity to be more effective.

Big v. Simple – Long ago ministers bought into the myth that “big” is the goal, so their calendars are full of one “big” program after another. But big is not always best, or even beneficial. Making one change to a “simple church” concept means you and the church you lead focuses on keeping ministry simple by committing time and resources to primary ministry that achieves the church’s mission and vision of ministry. To learn more about the “simple church” concept, I recommend the book, “Simple Church,” by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger (you can find it on Amazon by clicking here).

Multi-tasking v. Focused – For years, it was taught that great leaders were great multi-taskers, and “being good at” multi-tasking was something boasted about on resumes and during interviews. After all that push to get people to do as much as possible at once, multiple studies have shown that people actually accomplish more, and produce higher quality work, by NOT multi-tasking but focusing on one thing at a time. This takes greater discipline and effective time management, but you can choose to accomplish a lot of things with mediocrity, or focus on specific things to do them well.

Harried v. Helped – It’s generally thought that ministers “burn out” by doing too much. But sometimes the root cause for burn out is being overtly harried because they don’t have any help. Making sure you have help changes things dramatically. Elders who are engaged in serving the congregation and community with ministerial staff contribute to a less harried ministry. Making sure your church has deacons in place to serve the needs of the church also makes ministry less harried for the minister. Make time to work with your fellow leaders to make sure you have adequate help in place so that you’re not so harried you cannot serve well.

Hurried v. Paced – When you know you’re demanding of yourself more than properly fits into the time allotted, everything you do will be hurried. Hurried ministry is sloppy ministry. At some point, you have to come to terms with the fact there’s only so much time in a day, and embrace delegating that time as wisely as possible – and have peace about doing so. It’s irrational, and anxiety-producing, to expect too much with too little time and/or resources.

Pushing v. Resting – Ministers easily fall into the trap of expecting immediate results from their actions in everything they do — forgetting that ministry is a supernatural work that is fueled by the Holy Spirit, with God producing the fruit. Instead of constantly pushing for some kind of result from yourself, change your perspective to that of knowing you’re a tool in the hand of God; do what you’re capable of, and rest in the knowledge that God produces the fruit, and on His time table!

Locked v. Flexible – It wasn’t a problem for me to wait a month to meet with my minister friend, but it could be a problem if members of the flock you shepherd can’t gain reasonable access to you or other church leaders because you’re overbooked. You’ll need to be able to have some flexibility to minister to needs as they arise, rather than important new matters being neglected because of locked schedules.

Stuffed v. Margin – The above problem occurs when we tell ourselves that every moment of every day must be scheduled to the hilt. Not everything can be anticipated or scheduled, so making a change to leave some margin in your calendar for the “unexpected,” as well as for some “breathing room” will make a big impact in your effectiveness and enjoyment of ministry.

Urgent v. Important – Ministering in the 21st century, most things “feel” urgent, but not everything is both urgent and important. President Dwight Eisenhower popularized a decision-making guide by prioritizing urgency and importance – see the table to the right. Not everything is urgent and shouldn’t be treated as if it is, but some things we do should be done with a sense of urgency. Not everything is important but treating everything like it is will complicate your life. Those things that are both urgent and important should be leading priorities. Study the chart and see how you compare in prioritizing what you do.

Surprised v. Anticipate – While working with a group of business managers, I noted one weakness in their leadership was a failure of basic anticipation. There were some things these managers could anticipate could go wrong or troubles that were likely to come up, but because they simply failed to anticipate them, they were always surprised when such things occurred. As a minister, there are some things you can anticipate about your week or month, etc., and doing so will help you be prepared so that you won’t be surprised by such occurrences.

Demands v. Priorities – The great tension in ministry is the push of demands — made by self and/or others — versus true priorities. “True priorities” include adequate time to study the Word, for sermon preparation, and for prayer. These essential elements to spiritual leadership are often the first we begin to minimize because of other demands. Sometimes you must insist priorities be kept rather than reducing what is most important in an attempt to meet other demands.

Short View v. Long View – Things like fudging on priorities to try to meet other demands can happen because we so often work from a short view of what we’re aiming for rather than the long view. The more you take a short view approach to ministry, the greater possibility you’ll miss achieving the long view.

Sometimes making a little change, or a change (it might not be so little or so easy), can have a huge impact on the quality and enjoyment of your ministry. Is there a change or two that you’ve identified would improve your experience and effectiveness of ministry?

Scotty