How to Overcome Overload - Christianity Today

As we slipped into the booth for lunch, the young pastor of a growing Gen-X ministry dumped his frustration. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel buried by all the stuff of ministry. I went into ministry to teach the Word—that’s my passion—but I’m not getting to my sermon prep until Friday at best, sometimes Saturday. I never seem to have time to plan ahead, meet with my key leaders, or envision our next steps.”

God was blessing this man’s efforts, but he was frustrated, not fulfilled. His Sundays were exciting, but Monday through Friday quickly filled with appointments, counseling sessions, phone calls, and administration. His inbox overflowed with e-mail and voice mail, some from fans and others from critics. His week flew by before he knew what had happened.

He could tell it also frustrated his wife. She was committed to their ministry, but the routine was growing old. They both began to wonder, Is this the way ministry will be for the rest of our lives? Could we find a way to juggle the demands of ministry and family, so that both stay healthy, growing, and fun?

He was experiencing the downside of success. Success can kill you.

Any leader who experiences the blessing of success will soon feel buried unless he learns how to manage the growing demands on his time and to protect the important from the urgent.

Most leaders respond by praying harder, working harder, then staying longer to get it all done. But that doesn’t solve the problem. I am convinced there is a better way. God desires healthy servant-leaders to lead healthy ministries.

Our epitaph should never read,
Died … buried and behind,
with a widow, some kids and grandkids,
who love and miss him,
but not the life he lived.

As I listened to my young friend, I remembered my first pastorate, a church plant in southern Ohio. I was a solo pastor, with a wife and three kids, trying to do it all. I remember the frustration I felt as I juggled, and often dropped, the demands of our growing church.

In 23 years as pastor, of small, then medium, now a large church, I’ve found a better way to juggle and not lose the joy.

The four R’s

Every leader must learn the art of juggling. The dream of handling only one ball never becomes reality, unless that one ball is unemployment.

Even the best jugglers begin by choosing what to juggle. They may toss handkerchiefs, batons, or torches, but they never juggle everything people throw their way. Likewise, healthy leaders learn to juggle selectively.

By grouping all my activities into four major categories (see Figure 1), and setting aside time for each one, I can better keep my work balanced with my family and my spiritual life. Fewer things get dropped.

I call the categories my “Four R’s”:

Rest time —focusing on my spiritual and marital health.
Results time —focusing on the main things God has for me personally in advancing his mission.
Response time —focusing on “stuff,” administration and follow up with others who need my input.
Refocus time —focusing on evaluating what my priorities should be.

When a juggler gets in the rhythm, he stays there for a while, concentrating on his routine until it flows naturally. He would never think of taking a phone call or checking his e-mail while flipping knives over his head. Likewise, I focus on one objective at a time and allow enough time to do it well.

I plan my week in large chunks of time, full or half-day units, each devoted to one of the four R’s. When I try to fit more than one of these needs into one block of time, I experience frustration and defeat. My stress goes up and my productivity goes down.

When I rest, I really, truly rest. When I’m in results mode, I don’t let distractions intrude on the time I’ve dedicated to my primary mission. When it’s response time, I give myself away as a humble servant. And when I go away to refocus, I allow myself time to listen to God, reflect, and rethink how to approach the future.

The key is separating what falls into each category and keeping them separate.

Start with day seven

Rest time is when I focus on my health, especially on my spiritual life, marriage, and family. God built into creation a universal need for rest, and he recommends, even commands, one day per week.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work” (Ex. 20:8-10).

God designed all his creation, of which you and I are a part, around the principle of Sabbath rest. We are healthier and more productive when we don’t work 24/7. I know corporate coaches who advise their sales staffs: “Take one day a week for rest. In the long run, you will make more money, not less.”

Pastors are some of the worst violators of this divine principle. We work constantly, proclaiming, “We’re serving God.”

Yet God says, “Slow down and take a day off.” God still loves an overly busy pastor, but he must get frustrated with our work habits. I imagine him saying, “Can they not read? I put this early on in the book. I even made it part of the top ten list to Moses, so they wouldn’t miss it.” Then he shakes his head as we sacrifice our day off for him and complain about our workload.

On a quality day of rest, we do absolutely nothing related to the job. Nothing. No phone calls, no e-mail, no job-related reading, no quick stops at the church “just to check on one thing.”

One Christian businessman declared, “By that standard, I don’t think I’ve taken a day off in 20 years!”

My three churches have ranged from a 28-member plant to my current church of over 5,000. In each setting, one of the best disciplines I’ve kept has been taking Mondays as a Sabbath rest for my wife and me. It’s done more to keep me sane and happy under the pressure of ministry than any other thing I do.

My goal is to dedicate the day to refreshing my soul and my marriage. For me, my spiritual life includes my relationship with my wife, and I’ve never regretted the investment.

Protect priority one

Results time I dedicate to doing my “main thing.” These priorities may change as our churches grow, or if our job descriptions change, or as God begins new things. But whatever they are at a given time, main things are defined by three characteristics.

First, my main thing is mission critical, essential to the health and growth of the ministry. It must be done well if the mission is to move forward.

Second, my main thing is top priority. Though a church’s top priorities will change as the needs of ministry shift over time, it is important to prayerfully set priorities and have them affirmed by the leadership team or board.

I’ve known some pastors who, in retreat with God, have decided to change their priorities, and then they implemented the changes without consulting their leadership. There is a word for such leaders, unemployed.

I have learned to ask the church leadership to affirm priority adjustments. They serve as a buffer between me and the member who thinks my adjustments are out of line. Then with integrity, I can say (for example), “My priority right now is preaching and leadership. The board has asked me to limit my counseling in light of the growing needs and to use our referral network instead.”

Third, main things grow out of unique abilities. Over time, I have reduced the scope of my responsibilities to focus on my zone of unique abilities. That zone can be found by identifying and concentrating on three areas: God-given gifts, passions, and experiences. The convergence of these three areas is a leader’s “unique ability zone.” (See Figure 2.)

It’s important to structure our schedule around our “main things.” When we serve in this zone, and give our best, most creative part of the day and week to it, we will produce our best stuff. Apart from an occasional crisis, there really is no excuse for pushing our main things into our least productive times.

It is crucial that you look at the week before it begins, and set aside sufficient chunks of time—preferably half-day segments—in order to do the main things with excellence.

For me, sermon prep is one of my main things. I take most of the day Wednesday, Thursday morning, and Friday morning for prayer, study, and prep time. It’s blocked out on my schedule every week from now till forevermore, amen.

Knowing that these large chunks are protected and dedicated to my main thing allows me to be more productive during the other times of the week. I don’t stress out on Tuesday when I’m busy with meetings and administrative demands. Knowing my results time is coming allows me to relax and enjoy the other stuff that also needs my touch.

Main thing, different place

The church office may not be the best place to do the main thing. This isn’t true for everyone, but many pastors do a better job if they have separate places for sermon preparation and church administration.

Just being at the office often kicks me into response time, because I am surrounded by so many attractive interruptions. I’m not planning to look at those unread magazines and catalogues, and I’m certainly not planning to spend an hour and a half talking with the custodian or a drop-in visitor, but sometimes I do, and the morning is gone!

I’m twice as productive and creative when I maintain a place away from distraction to knock out my main thing. Even when the interruption from study is only five minutes, it takes twenty minutes to get refocused to the same level of creativity and concentration.

Some pastors keep their study at home. Others find a quiet place to work at the church, a different room where there is no phone, no Internet access, no stack of unread books.

When I was in my first church, a young plant with no office, and I had three small kids at home, I’d go to a restaurant, sit in a corner booth and get to work. I got more done than you can imagine because I wasn’t surrounded by distractions and unfinished business. Yes, there was noise in the room, but none of that noise had to do with me. I could tune it out, get creative, and get it done.

Time for others

Response time is defined by two terms: clean-up and follow-up. It tackles all the stuff that is still important, just not critical to the mission.

As a servant-leader, I realize that the people I serve have their own agendas, their own needs. I want to be responsive to them, as long as I first protect the rest and results times.

In ministry, stuff happens. It’s a lot like debris. We may be tempted to pick up a little here or there, but if we sweep it together into larger piles, then attack the piles in a good-sized block of response time, we’ll knock it out faster and more efficiently.

I set aside most of three afternoons per week for responding to e-mail, voice mail, staff issues, counseling, and the other work that flows from the well of ministry.

Serving the needs of others is always important, even vital, to humble servant-leadership. Meeting those needs, however, is not a leader’s main thing. It is important that we never allow them to control those all-important rest, results, and refocus times.

Sometimes it’s best to institute new structures or ministries to cover these response needs. The selection of the first deacons in Acts 6 is a good example.

The needs of the widows were certainly important, but they were not the main thing for the apostles. So they established a new ministry, led by other gifted servants, in order to break free and restore quality time for the teaching of the Word.

If we first set aside blocks of uninterrupted time for rest and results, we can then give ourselves with joy to responding to other people’s stuff.

If I mix these categories, however, I feel frustrated and I begin to resent the people and projects that need my touch.

This job has no auto-focus

The final “R” is the most overlooked. People sometimes encourage the pastor to rest, they certainly demand results, and they regularly cry out for response, but they seldom think of a leader’s need to refocus. In fact, we rarely think of it ourselves.

Refocusing is working on the ministry, not just in the ministry—time to assess, adjust, and innovate for the future.

Life and leadership are dynamic, not static. Even if the organization appears stable, the world all around is in flux. When our priorities shift, our understanding of our unique abilities is refined, or we experience a tough month, it is time to refocus our plans for rest, results, and response.

Refocus time is usually not a complete change of direction. It is the opportunity to make the fine adjustments needed to keep life in balance. It is time to ask, “Am I getting the rest and results time I need for personal health and the advance of the mission?” and, “If not, what changes should I make?”

When I break away from my routine, ask God these questions, and reflect on my ministry, I always get fresh insight for maintaining the elusive equilibrium of servant-leadership.

But to provide adequate time and prayer for both the small and sweeping changes God wants to make, I’ve found it necessary to refocus on different segments of my life at different times.

Just as a camera uses different lenses for different distances, I use three types of refocus time to gain new perspective on my life and ministry.

Refocus weekly. Refocus time should happen routinely, at the beginning or end of every week. Even one to two hours per week of refocus time will vastly improve the future. We need honest assessment, by asking, “So, how is it going, really?” Each of the other “R’s” needs review: “Am I resting as I should, maintaining my marriage and family to the glory of God? “Am I protecting my prime time for my primary thing, my main thing? “Am I responding with a servant heart to those who need me most?”
Refocus monthly. I told our staff they can take a half-day every month, get away from the office, and go to the beach or park with a lawn chair, a yellow tablet, and their ministry plan. I said, “Reflect, dream, listen to God, and refocus. Come back with some fresh goals and adjustments to your priorities.” It really works!
Refocus annually. Some pastors schedule an annual retreat for sermon planning or perhaps spiritual refreshment. I recommend dividing the retreat into three parts, or perhaps three retreats. They can be cheap, they can be short, but to stay healthy, I recommend all three: Retreat once to work on the main things. Retreat once for personal growth and enrichment. Retreat once to refresh your relationship with your spouse. No matter the size of our ministry, church, or staff, people will throw more stuff our way than we can imagine. Some can be ignored and some delegated, but much of it will need to be juggled. Before you’re buried by dropped balls, get into the rhythm of rest, results, response, and refocus.

Dale Burke is pastor of First Evangelical Free Church of Fullerton, California.