Lewis is grateful for the rain
Finally saw Oppenheimer. Great film - my attention never wavered.
from the cover of James Rebanks' book
Finished reading: Freedom for Ministry by Richard John Neuhaus 📚
A masterpiece. Hands down the best book on ministry I’ve read.
In ministry, as in life, we never arrive, for our ministries and our lives point beyond themselves. It is true, as they say in the abortion debate, that the fetus is merely a potential human being; but it is wrong to say “merely,” for we are all potential human beings, growing into the fullness of humanity that is Christ. This note of preparation, of anticipation, of potentiality, should mark the whole of our ministry. This too is what Jesus meant by the necessity of being born again and becoming like a little child. The illusions of completeness and of having arrived must die, so that each day we begin anew the life of Christian hope. The pursuit of holiness means that our ministries are ever in process of formation.
Currently reading: How to Work with (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier 📚
Many pastors report that they do not have time for serious study at all. Or they count the hours dawdled over news magazines and professional manuals as study. Frequently it is the same pastors who say they do not have time for prayer. It is to be feared that the person who does not have time for study and prayer does not have time for Christian ministry. A great temptation of ministry is hollow activism. One tries to convince others, and oneself, that one is doing something important because one is always so busy. A suburban pastor confessed to me that he recently caught himself quickly putting aside a theological book he was reading when a parishioner came into the office. He hastily began working on some parochial reports that were on his desk, remarking that they had to be in that day, and, of course, impressing the member with the burdens of ministry. To his credit, he recognized this as a charade to be confessed. Others are less fortunate. “Is the pastor busy?” asks the caller. “No,” says the church secretary, “he’s just reading.” No, he’s not busy, he’s just thinking. No, he’s not busy, he’s just praying. […]
Reflection, study, and prayer have always had to compete against the imperious claims of other activities. The imperiousness of the claims is reinforced by the fact that such activities are usually more visible, often more immediately satisfying, and almost certainly more likely to be applauded by others. Church officialdom is more likely to take note of a pastor mighty in raising money than of a pastor mighty in prayer. We complain that we do not have enough time. One answer is to learn to do expeditiously what has to be done in order to get on to what must be done. What must be done is largely determined by our own setting of priorities. When as a young priest, Archbishop William Temple deplored the fact that there was so much to do and so little time in which to do it all, his wise father responded, “William, you have all the time there is.” You have all the time there is—it is a thought worthy of more than a moment’s reflection. Finally, before God, we are responsible for what we do with all the time there is.
As Neuhaus makes plain, the pastor who claims he doesn’t have time for study or prayer is, at least in many cases, really saying that such things are not priorities. He does not conceive of those activities as what must be done. He would like to do them; he gives lip service to their importance; he hopes that in a few weeks, after the busy season has died down, that he’ll be able to focus more on them. But, in reality, such things are not integral to the ministry.
Part of the problem, as Neuhaus indicates at the end of the quote above, is that of viewing one’s time as a scarce resource (Michael Sacasas has written perceptively about this here). It is actually quite radical to start from the assumption that you have all the time you need. We have so many inputs that we can’t help but feel overloaded and inadequate to all the demands upon our attention. But, the truth of the matter is, as the wise father put it, you have all the time there is. The pastor, like everyone else, will not be condemned for failing to accomplish ten lives in the course of one. He is finally responsible for how he answers the call issued by the Lord himself—a call easy to miss in the roar of competing demands and urgent requests.