Early in my career, I read many books and attended several seminars on time management. I gleaned tips that were helpful that I continue to employ to this day, but quite a lot of what I read and heard simply did not fit that well.
The books and seminars attempted to provide tools that would aid pastors in scheduling their work week in a precise, detailed fashion to achieve the greatest possible efficiency. One of the primary ways to achieve this efficiency was to eliminate, or at least limit interruptions.
However, I discovered early on in my pastoral experience that this approach was not for me. I was becoming more efficient, but was I being effective?
Efficiency requires rigidity and itinerary, but effectiveness requires flexibility and availability.
A few hints alerted … even alarmed me in this area. First, people would say things like, “I was going to call you, but I know how busy you are …” My response to this has been to tell those whom I minister to that they may call me anytime, day or night … and I mean it!
Second, a family member phoned the office one day and a staff member said that I could not be interrupted. I subsequently explained that family members are never an interruption and their calls may suspend any of my activities at any time if necessary.
Third, I noticed that without the interruptions I was more professional, but less pastoral. The interruptions don’t get in the way of my ministry. They are my ministry!
G. Marling wrote that the Gospels reveal that “... Jesus gave some of His greatest teachings in circumstances where he had simply been interrupted. How different this is from us; we hate to be interrupted. To Jesus, the importance seemed to lie in the person whose path had crossed His own.”
Jesus used interruptions as opportunities rather than treating them as annoyances. He was interrupted by a demon possessed man while teaching in a synagogue in Mark 1:21-26. In Luke 5:17-26 a man was actually lowered through the roof so that Jesus could minister to him. In Mark 3:7-9 a great crowd followed Him … so many that precautions had to be taken so Jesus would not be crushed! His love for people turned interruptions into occasions for ministry.
Well, that’s the pastoral spin…but the application is general in nature. Simply ask yourself if people are an annoyance or an opportunity? Is their presence an interruption or a possibility for interaction and communication?
I’ll close with a quote from “Before Burnout” by Frank Minirth. “Learning to handle interruptions in a Christ like fashion will take us a significant distance down the road of handling life’s circumstances.”
Pastor Ross Helgeton is senior pastor at Erskine Evangelical Free Church.
— Faith & Reflection