Why It's My Responsibility

Photo credit: Ladyheart from morguefile.com

I am currently taking a class on Spiritual Formation.  It is difficult to take a week away from my family and appointment, but it is a productive retreat.

The professor mentioned that while he was a pastor, he was only asked a few times how healthy his spiritual life was.  That statement gave me a reason to think about how many times that question has been asked of me.  I can't really count them, but I know it doesn't happen very often.  

I suppose that hesitation comes for two reasons.  First, the person who asks the question makes himself vulnerable.  In other words, if my spiritual life is weak, what ground do I stand on to ask someone else?  Just to ask the question is a scary thing.  Second, I think that for people like me who are in ministry positions, it is assumed that I am doing the things necessary to stay healthy on my own.  To ask the question could imply that the other person is failing in some way.

However, at the same time, there seems to be inadequate instruction as to how to maintain and grow spiritual health.  We are told that it is important to have daily devotions, but few specifics are shared.

At an earlier point, I privately bemoaned this neglect that I experienced.  I wondered why someone did not take the time to walk me through the process, to show me the way and to encourage me along the way.  I guess perhaps an assumption was made (or I didn't speak up enough about my shortcomings) that I knew how to do it.

I am making a new determination to give these instructions to those under my care, but I have to realize that, like me, at some point, must move on without someone holding their hand.

After all, while I did (and still do) need help on my spiritual journey, I must take ownership of my own spiritual growth.  

I remember the first car Beth and I bought.  Taking care of it was easy at first - fuel, car washes and oil changes.  But at some point, I needed the help of a mechanic when things started to go wrong.  I didn't sit at the side of the road whining about the fact that no one was helping me.  It was my car - I needed to get it to someone who could fix it.  It was my car - I needed to pay the bill for parts and labor to make the car "healthy" again.

In a similar way, it is my spiritual life.  Sometimes I need help, but it is foolish to wait for someone to notice and whine until someone helps.  I need to know when to ask for help.  I need to be willing to take the time and spend the resources to help my spiritual engine run and run well.

Are you willing to take ownership of your own spiritual life? 

Making a Better Preacher Part 2 – Read, read, read

Like any good preacher, I am striving every day to get better.  In fact, I try to utilize as much of my day to improve in anticipation of the next time I’m in the pulpit.

Bill Hybels once said that a leader must spend 50% of his time leading himself.  If you fail to do this, there will be a time at which one of three things will happen:

1. Maybe your people will stop growing.  This is because you can only lead them as far as you have gone yourself.
2. Another possibility is that you will be placed somewhere else.  Your people start thinking, “We’ve heard all we are going to hear from this preacher.”
3. The third possibility is that your people – the hungry ones anyway – will find somewhere else to get nourishment.

One way that I make sure that I am learning and keeping myself  fresh is to read.  Harry Truman once said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”  Sure, like you, I have a hard time carving out reading time, and I have a couple of shelves of books that I have been meaning to read when I get the time.
When I think about reading to prepare myself for preaching, I have a few thoughts:

1. Make a plan.  Sure, there are lots of books on your shelf, but there are many great books that are being published constantly.  Make a list of books that you want to read, in order of priority.  In other words, I put the “most important” or “most urgent” books at the top of the list.  Now, if something new comes along, the list shakes up a lot.  But then I have a plan so that the list of titles doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
2. Keep a book with you.  You never know when you might have a couple of minutes – waiting for an appointment to come, being delayed in the airport, or any number of other situations.  If you have a book with you, you can maximize the use of that time.
3. Save your money.  I once had an obsession with new books.  I couldn’t go into a bookstore without buying something.  Then the new books sat gathering dust next to the old ones, adding to my self-imposed and paralyzing guilt about not reading enough.   Now I am a recovering book-a-holic, and the twelve steps have been good to me.  Here are a few tips:  Go to the library.  Share books with a friend.  Go to the thrift store.    Read a blog.
4. Clean out your bookshelf.  Like alluded to before, there are some titles on my shelf that I will never get to, nor should I.  My plan is to get rid of books that will not help me, or are less important than the ones I really should have time for.  Maybe there is a book that has meant a lot to you, but it’s time to pass it on and let it impact someone else.
5. Mix it up. I love leadership books, but they alone will not give me the depth I need for my preaching.  Sometimes some good current fiction will give you the inspiration you need for the next powerful illustration, and will keep you current with people in your congregation who read.  Don’t go nuts, but make sure you are getting a variety of reading.
6. Make notes.  As I read, my imagination gets jump-started, and typically I come up with a terrific analogy or sermon series idea.  Sometimes, a concept you have been wrestling with in your Bible reading is unlocked while reading something else.   If you have a pen and notebook handy, you will be more likely to capture that idea for future use.

So maybe I’ve given you some food for thought about reading.  But my encouragement to you is to turn the TV off and grab a book.  You will be a better preacher for it.