I closed the office yesterday. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday is worthy of the office being closed. Especially for a church.
But normally Mondays aren’t a great day for pastors. Drained from Sunday, dealing with all the ‘what ifs’ and realizing that you get to start it all over again this week.
I remember Mondays being particular hard for Al – my senior pastor in Emporia. Especially in the winter. Al was the author of some of the greatest advice I’ve ever received. I asked once if he felt that bad, why didn’t he just take Monday off.
If I feel this bad, I might as well work.
I used to think – what’s so horrible about Mondays? I don’t get it. I think I’m getting it now.
It’s not the blank sheet of paper that represents next week’s sermon. At least for me it isn’t. I love that part of this calling – the studying, the crafting, the digging, the listening, the wrestling with God during the week. That’s the great part. I’m guessing that most teachers/pastors would agree.
It’s not the touches of ministry – grabbing coffee with someone who is struggling to hear God, grabbing face time with a leader who is trying to be more effective in ministry, praying with a family who is facing a health crisis, or listening to someone tell their story. Those can be time consuming but more often than not – it feeds your soul.
It’s the ‘organizational junk.’Â The nuts and bolts of the machine that we call ‘church.’Â The by-laws are out of date, need to be rewritten, our organizational structure needs changed, the processes of ‘said’ ministry needs to be revamped.
Every church I’ve ever been in has had it. So it’s not exactly this great big secret.
That is what looms so large on Monday mornings…or Tuesdays if you happen to have Monday off. Those things seem larger than what they really are on those mornings. If I’m not careful, I’ll let it consume me an steal me from what I’m really called and equipped to do. If we’re all not careful, they’ll take center stage and begin to define us instead of us defining them.
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4 Comments
thanks for the reminder to remember the ‘why’.
Sounds like you need a Church Business Administrator!
Planting church flowers. Someone needs to do it. Remember that it also takes a toll on the volunteers. Push back hard so more of the kingdom happens.
I appreciate you giving us a glimpse of your journey in your new position. Godspeed.
You challenge me in so many ways, Mark – all of them good.
Wish you were here with me.