Productivity Begins with Clarity

It has been an odd couple of weeks. I have had to do most of the secretarial work which is fine, but there have been PC hardware problems. I’m a MAC guy. It has been a while since I have had to be the primary support person for a Windows PC. Finally, our treasurer brought in the new Keyboard and Mouse and we are back in business. Seems like a lot of the day has been kind of wasted. I needed a blog post and was not really feeling what was scheduled. I decided to write a bit about one of my favorite topics. Pastoral productivity. 

For me, Pastoral productivity begins with absolute clarity regarding what is most important. I am a preacher. My job is defined by preaching. There are other urgent things which come up during the course of the week. My task is, in keeping with Acts 6.4, to preach:

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”” (Acts 6:4 ESV)

I am a little disheartened when I hear preachers say they are too busy to prepare to preach. That is the primary job. Everything else is secondary. Productivity in ministry begins with clarity of purpose. My areas of responsibility in ministry are set in stone. They are color-coded in my calendar. They are the major areas of responsibility in Things 3 (my task manager.) They are noted in my pocket notebook when entries are written there. Furthermore, they are the 5 areas I report on to my board. These five (5, V) areas and nothing more. In this order.

• Preaching
• Pastoral
• Planing/Leading
• Professional Development
• Programming

That’s it. That is what I do. Let me discuss each of those areas in a little bit more detail.

Preaching

Everything involved in preparation to preach, teach, write, present. All of my studies. All of the digging for resources. Reading. Taking notes. Soliciting feedback. Nothing I do in ministry is ever given a #1 priority if it is not involved in preaching. Some of you scoff! What if someone goes to the hospital? What if someone dies? What about a crisis? You are mistaking urgency for importance. Those things are urgent. They must be done in a timely fashion-often immediately. They are not, in the long-term scheme of things, important. Preaching is. Preaching comes up every week. 

Most of those who lack the time to prepare adequately have succumbed to the tyranny of the urgent. The best way to keep this from happening is to be absolutely maniacal in defining and protecting preaching as the central focus of your calling. 

Pastoral

Anything involving the interface of individuals, families, groups, and gatherings. Evangelistic calling. Pastoral visitation. Counseling of all kinds. It has been common, really since the twentieth century, to think of these tasks (particularly counseling) as something separate and different from the task of being a Pastor/Preacher. This dichotomy is illegitimate and creates all kinds of problems. You are a preacher first. Pastoral care (shepherding) is a part of that process. To conceive of your interactions with the hurting, questing, or questioning as anything other than Pastoral robs you of the authority of your call to preach. 

Planning/Leading

This is the work with Elders & Deacons. Interfacing and training volunteers. It includes administration, caring and scheduling the use of the physical plant, Planning entails the long-term work of putting together the seasonal work of the congregation,. Planning and leading means including other congregational leaders in resolving issues and considering the needs of the congregation. 

Contemporary Pastors, largely trained by the WorshipIndustrial complex often make this the heart of their ministry creating the lack of time for their true calling of preaching and teaching. The Church of Jesus Christ is primarily an organism. It needs shepherded, taught, and led. The history of the Church teaches us that the primary locus of this leadership is the pulpit. 

Professional (Development)

You will be asked to do funerals simply because you are a preacher. The same with weddings. You have the opportunity to leverage these situations for the cause of Christ. You need to be ready to do these things with professional, biblical integrity. 

We also need to be constantly improving our ministry skills. There are workshops and seminars we can attend. There are online tutorials and streaming events. If you can afford to, it's convenient, and feel the need you can participate in formal graduate training. 

I want a doctor who is up on his reading and who is trying to improve. People have the right to expect their preacher to do everything in his power to be the best at what God has called him to do. 

Programming

The Church needs to have some kind of programming. Generally, you are not the guy who needs to plan it. When you have a great idea there is a pretty good chance that there is someone in your congregation who 1) Does not have to preach every week, 2) Will execute the program better than you will. Again—clarity, purpose, planning. And relentless cutting away the things that keep you from your primary calling to preach the word. 

I know that some of you (many, all) will object. My advice seems archaic, old-fashioned, naive, backward. What I know is this. In my years in ministry, I have witnessed this shift away from the pulpit, away from the centrality of preaching towards a focus on peripherals. Some churches have grown larger, but no more mature. Some churches have grown wealthy, but are not rich. Some churches have cast wide visions; building a name but not the Kingdom of God. Some have expanded their boundaries, but are miles wide and inches deep. 

Every congregation deserves good preaching. Every church needs a Pastor/Preacher. Every Church, who hears the Master’s voice in the words coming from the pulpit will be blessed. Let’s give that a shot.