Commit to committing differently

There are two problems in the Church today that I don’t think get enough air time and because of this I reckon it causes a lot of burn out and leaves individuals feeling purposeless.

People overcommitting themselves , and committing ourselves to the wrong things.

We all know a person or people in our Christian circles that are involved in just about every aspect of the congregation. Behind the scene’s, on the welcoming team, the prayer team and the 20 other ministries. They are there with bells on. I am not suggesting that they shouldn’t be serving, but show me a person who is forever on the run from one ministry to another, and I will show you a person who more than likely doesn’t even realise how many people they have overlooked while they were “serving the Lord”. I would also suggest that their physical, mental and spiritual health are being impacted as well.

The second problem is really easy to miss and usually can be avoided if invested in a healthy Christian community. But because some believers avoid that type of vulnerability, and others don’t like to seek counsel,  they often end up committing to things and ministries that are not connected to where they should be headed. Unfortunately doing this can  remove them from the direction God wants them to be on. I don’t think people deliberately do this to sabotage the journey they are on, some commitments are made with all good intentions, but without much deep thought.

Filling our time up with commitments is inevitable, so it makes sense to slow down, be intentional and tactical. Especially when it comes to our faith walk.

Have you seen these things in the people around you or through reading this can recognize one of these traits in yourself? Recently I found myself making a commitment that on one hand was in line with my values, and I was pretty sure it would be the right thing to do, but after thinking and praying about it, I realised that following through would have taken me away from what I really wanted to invest my time in. Next time I will think and pray about it first!

Jesus didn’t overcommit and he was pretty intentional about how and where he used his time. If it was good enough for him then I want some of that wisdom!

I have been reading the Gospel of Mark and in chapter one there is a great example of Jesus not overcommitting or committing to the wrong thing. I would say from looking at this passage that he is being very intentional about his movements. We should take note as it could save us a lot of time and heart ache.

1. Stop – Jesus went and prayed. He removed himself from distraction and noise and went to a place where he could be still and listen. Its imperative that Christians make this a spiritual discipline, especially when it comes to working out what to invest your time in.
2. Go with confidence – When Simon and others turned up letting him know it was time to go, ( to meet the expectations of the crowd no doubt!) it doesn’t look like Jesus felt the need to meet every ones needs by staying. And while hanging around wouldn’t have been a bad thing, clearly the decision to leave came from hearing Gods purpose for his direction.  We can move forward with confidence as well when we are intentional about stopping, listening and discerning. We need to stop keeping busy filling gaps, meeting the needs of disorganised people start being more tactical with what we are saying yes to.

Thanks for reading and as always, if you found anything helpful from this post or want to add anything, please leave a comment.