A third lesson I’ve learned afresh in
these early weeks of pastoral ministry is the need to keep the big picture in
view. It’s one thing to talk about a unifying vision as I did last week, but another
altogether to keep that vision in view. I find it easy to “fall out of the
tree” as it were – to lose the high vantage point that enables you to see the big
picture – and get lost in the bushes below.
That’s been a tendency I’ve suffered from
over the years. I’ve always been able to see things that belong to the big
picture (vision, goals, purpose, calling, strategies etc.), but very easily
fallen prey to over-absorption in the tasks involved in implementing it. The specialist
in me gets taken up in specific activities and before I know it, I feel as
though I am being sucked into what seems like the vortex of a whirlpool. I
become oblivious to everything but the thing I am working on. Other activities
get neglected, life becomes imbalanced, and everything (and everyone) suffers.
That’s tended to happen especially with
preaching. In the bigger picture, preaching – at least pastoral preaching – is
a means of caring for God’s flock. It’s not an end in itself but serves a
crucial role in building a healthy church. However, the intense effort required
to prepare sermons causes me to lose sight of this bigger perspective. I end up
getting absorbed in the world the Bible and, if I am not careful, produce messages
that are directed more at people rather than to them. I forget that I’m a
pastor feeding God’s flock and become instead a mere preacher of sermons. My
hearers suffer and so do I.
How can this tendency be overcome? I
confess I don’t have all the answers but here are some of the things I am finding
helpful at the moment to counteract it.
First, I’m trying to stay close to Christ
every day. He is the centre of my existence – not sermon preparation or any
other task. I begin the day with him, walk through it with him, and try to end
it with him. That keeps what I’m doing in perspective. Every task is part of my
service for him and is done in complete dependence upon him. Individual
activities don’t have a life of their own – they are all subordinate to Christ
– and consequently lose their power to dominate me.
Second, I’m deliberately reminding myself
each day of the vision that I believe the Lord wants us to pursue in the church
– in our case, the goal of becoming fully devoted followers of Christ. Keeping
that target or calling always before me is helping me keep everything in its
place.
Then thirdly, I’m making a point of
connecting every activity very specifically with this larger vision. Each feeds
into it in some way. For example, when it comes to preparing a message for
Sunday worship services, or for a mid-week Bible study, I’m asking myself, “How
does this serve the larger purpose of helping people become fully devoted
followers of Jesus?” That way, everything has an inbuilt orientation toward
what we are called to be doing.
Then finally, I’m making my weakness –
this tendency to over-absorption and loss of balance – known to others. My wife
has known about it for years – and has suffered most from it! She is my main
helper, but I’ve enlisted others as well. I want the congregation as a whole to
know that I struggle at this point so that they can watch over me and encourage
me when I’m about to topple. I want them to help me stay “up the tree” so I
don’t lose sight of the big picture in particular activities.