“Jesus only had three and a half years of ministry, yet He was never in a hurry.” Howard Hendricks

I preached a sermon a couple of weeks ago asking the question “do you know what time it is?”  As iv continued to ponder the question in my own heart, I have been challenged by the gravity of its implications. Scripture admonishes us to “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:15-16)  In other words consider how you use your time, because the days are evil and the time is short.  The scripture also talks about the Sons of Issachar being “men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.”  (1 Chron. 12:32)  Such men are a valuable asset to the church in any age, and particularly needed in ours.

People who know what time it is, have an advantage over those who don’t.  They have the advantage of being able to set priorities in line with Gods schedule.  People who are oblivious to the time, rarely have proper priorities in place.  Howard Hendricks who taught at Dallas Seminary for many years said that “Jesus only had three and a half years to minister, yet He was never in a hurry.”  Jesus would not alow himself to be anointed Messiah by the people because his “time had not yet come.”  (John 7:6)  Dr. Hendricks pointed out that this demonstrates the difference between “priority and urgency.”  The fact that time is short, and it is, means that we must set priorities in our work and learn to redeem the time.  Often we run about trying to take care of urgent but not so significant business, while leaving undone the areas the demand greater priority but may not be pressing.

In ministry this is particularly common, and Pastors are particularly prone to the trap.  I read recently about a Pastor who was asked to unclog the toilet just minutes before the Sunday morning service began.  True story!  Ill grant you that an over flowing toilet is an urgent matter on a Sunday morning.  But the priority for that man of God is to be ready to deliver the Word of God, to the people of God.  Was there no one else in the church who knew how to operate a plunger?  I know that’s a crass and uncommon story, but I hope I have your attention.

Far to often urgent things take the place of priorities at the expense of the Kingdoms Agenda.  I want to share with you four ways that we can redeem the time and still make sure that the urgent matters are dealt with.

Planning

It’s been said that “one hour of planning is equal to ten hours of execution.”  Planning is the number one time saver, because it pays big dividends.  The more you plan and plan in advance, the greater opportunity you have to use down times to handle priority issues.  Planning saves time, and money.  Planning allows you to set priorities and use your time in a priority way.  As is sometimes said “we don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan.”  Because this is true, we ought to be diligent in planning.  Not only should we plan our days or weeks. But we should also practice strategic planning.  This is the type of planning the looks long-term, sets priorities, focuses energy and resources, sharpens systems, ensures that the team is working toward common goals, establishes unity of desired outcomes, and evaluates the organization’s progress toward set goals.  When I was a student at DBU, I walked into an office one day that had a giant drawing of the campus.  The only problem was that the picture looked nothing like the campus I was acquainted with.  There where building in locations where not building existed, and roads in places where no roads existed.  I discovered quickly, that his picture was the “plan” for future growth.  I went back ten years later, and saw many of those buildings had been built, in the very locations where thy have been planned.  I learned a lot from that picture.  Great things don’t happen by accident, they happen on purpose.  They happen through careful planning, and planning saves time, but also resources.  The scripture sums it up like this “the plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage.” (Proverbs 21:5)

Train, Train, Train

Did you know that the more time you take to train people, the more time you save?  I know its sounds odd, but it’s absolutely true.  Lack of training is the greatest cause of wasted time.  Any project that has to be done twice, is the result of improper training.  The more time we take to train someone, the more time we will save in the long run.  Not to mention saving in money and other resources.  Aside from savings, it is the only way to insure an improving product over time.  If you want to have a top-notch Christian education department, you will need to spend time training your teachers.  If you want a hospitality team that welcomes guests with enthusiasm, you will need to train your volunteers.  If you want to be able to spend time on priority items like prayer, preaching preparation, and strategic thinking; then train others to handle the rest.  I served eight years as a full-time missionary evangelist.  Often I visited a church where the Pastor was the one who opened the church, turned on the lights and A/C, tuned the guitar, started the service, preached the sermon, raised the offering, closed the service, counted the offering, turned off the lights, and locked the door.  I’m quite sure that there where at least a half-dozen people in that church who could have handled those responsibilities with ease and satisfaction.  All they needed was to be asked to take a responsibility, trained to do the task, and given an opportunity to serve.  People who look around and say “I don’t have any help” have created the world they live in, through lack of training.

Delegate

Delegation is the next time saver I want to talk about.  There are things a leader cannot delegate.  Prayer, preaching prep, board meetings, planning, leadership, etc are essential things a leader cannot delegate.  But then there are non-essential things like data entry, house keeping, paying bills, answering phones, etc that trained people can and should do.  So here is a criteria I was taught that might help you decide when to delegate non-essential items.

If someone can do the job better than you, give it away.

If someone can do the job as good as you, give it away.

If someone can do the job 80% as well as you, then train them, and then give it away.

If there is no one who can do the job 80% or better, then train them till they can, and then give it away.

I am convinced that God has designed the church such that the members of the body make up every necessary part.  The more you delegate the non essential items, the more you can focus on the priorities.  But by the same token the more you delegate to others, the more they are empowered to grow and serve.

 

Rest

Finally you can save time by resting.  Don’t ever feel guilty about rest.  Rest is a natural human need.  In fact God set aside an entire day of the week for rest, and He did that prior to the fall of man.  Rest is a divine idea.  It is Gods way of renewing our faith and communion with him, as well as renewing our physical and emotional health.  When leaders don’t take time to rest, they lose time.  I know that sounds backwards.  But in my experience, when I am rested I make better decisions, think more clearly about future plans, and do things more effectively.  Iv never had a great idea or strategy session while I was exhausted.  When you are tired, it’s very hard to think about anything other than the urgent.  More costly still is the fact that when I am tired, I don’t have much vision.  Who has time to think about the future, when putting out organizational fires?  Therefor rest is crucial for your health, but also the health of your organization.  I heard once that “a change of pace, change of place, creates a change of perspective.”  You see rest isn’t just about sleeping.   It’s about refreshing.  I like to take a drive in the country every once in a while, just to change my pace and place.  Sometimes i’ll read a book about something unrelated to ministry or theology.  When I can, I take my nephews fishing, and just enjoy doing something other than writing, reading, planning, training, etc.  Its amazing how a simple break from the routine can increase your level of productivity when you get back.  Not to mention the way it can breath new life into your prayers.  Jesus was the master of this principle.  The Gospel of Luke states that “Jesus, often withdrew to a lonely place to pray.”  How often do you withdraw?  I dare say if Jesus, the perfect Son of God needed to withdraw often, you and I will profit much from the exercise.