It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Church
I forget where I read it, but I’ve found it to be true: pastors tend to be either too busy or too lazy. That’s why I pay attention to pastors who work hard, but then know how to take time off. I haven’t found too many of them.
I had coffee with a pastor last year. I showed up late, having crammed my schedule too full with meetings. He waited patiently. “I don’t work too hard,” he said. He spoke of sloth or acedia, one of the seven deadly sins, not just as laziness but as an inclination to get involved in matters unrelated to one’s calling. Sloth reveals itself not just in the indolence of a pastor who stays at home, but in the schedule of a busy pastor who can’t say no to secondary things.
I was reminded of this again as I listened to Jared Wilson interview Zack Eswine. Eswine spoke of learning our limits and living at a sane pace:
Two out of ten, maybe two out of ten folks won’t like you. They’ll think you’re weak for saying that you want a sane pace in the gospel, a gospel page the way Jesus gives it. You might lose two people out of 10.
But I tell you, seven or eight people out of ten are just going to say, “Wow. Me too. I want my first love back.” And as you lead in that way in your weakness, in your weakness, the strength of Christ will be revealed.
I want that: a sane pace in the gospel that will repel some, but also attract others who also want to recover their sanity. I want to work hard, but also know when to stop.
It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work
That’s why I was interested to read a new book called It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work. It’s not written for pastors. It’s written by the creators of Basecamp, an online tech company. I’ve enjoyed some of their previous books, like Rework and Remote, as well.
“Sustained exhaustion is not a badge of honor, it’s a mark of stupidity,” the authors write. ” The book is a manifesto on resisting the hustle of always being on, never going home, and working on vacation. The authors aren’t against hard work; they’re against endless work. The conclusion: “A calm company is a choice. Make it yours.”
Not everything in the book is relevant to pastoring, but a lot of it is. If you sift through the principles, and some of the off-color language, you can find plenty of helpful principles and ideas:
- Work a solid 40 hours a week, but have a life.
- Don’t feel like you need to respond to every message instantly.
- Hold fewer meetings.
- Focus on gradual improvement rather than arbitrary goals.
- Don’t cheat on sleep.
We know a lot of the stuff in this book, but I still appreciate the way that they state ideas, like this passage on saying no:
No is easier to do, yes is easier to say. No is no to one thing. Yes is no to a thousand things … No is calm but hard. Yes is easy but a flurry. Knowing what you’ll say no to is better than knowing what you’ll say yes to. Know no.
This passage almost reads like a set of proverbs. I found it helpful.
Busy Pastors: Work Hard at Rest
I’m working at working hard, and then stopping. I want to be a pastor who avoids laziness, but I also want to take Sabbaths and maintain a sane gospel pace, one that allows me time with my wife and time resting. I want to sacrifice in a sustainable way.
I’m not there yet, but the title convicts me when I adapt it: It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Church. What would a calm church look like? What would it look like to live at a sane gospel pace? By God’s grace, I want to find out.
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