WHY BUSY IS NOT HEALTHY

“I cannot imagine how busy you are.” This was the first line in an email I received just last week. It’s a statement I’ve heard many times before.

My reply is always the same: “No, you probably cannot.”

My reply does not speak of my insane calendar, multiple appointments, demanding meetings or general busyness; rather is speaks of how busy I am not.

For some, not being busy is equated with laziness. Many assume staying busy shows strong work ethic or ambition or a drive to serve others well. However, what I’ve learned (and continue to learn) is that busyness and good work are not complimentary.

There are times when I am busy. In those times my world is hectic and even doing little things seems hard. My mind races to the next thing before I finish the thing I am doing. I am neither present nor pleasant in those times. When I do this I suffer, and I am not one who always suffers well.

Which is to say, when I suffer others suffer because my hurriedness, manic pace and frenetic activity leads to my ignoring others – even if they are right in front of me. I see this not only in myself, but in many of us.

We believe we have little time to do much of anything because we want (and are expected) to do everything. This expectation that we place on ourselves and that others place on us is especially true for pastors. We want our pastors to be available as much as possible, or, at the very least, anytime we need them.

And therein lies the problem.

If our pastors are constantly busy, there is a good chance they will not be available when they are needed. If they are available, there’s a good chance they will have little margin to be present when they are with us because … they are simply too busy.

Eugene Peterson wrote, “The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife, or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront.”

What is needed most is not busy pastors but healthy pastors. And, it almost goes without saying, that chronic busyness does not produce health. The best gift pastors can give to their congregations is not an extraordinary amount of time, but the constant pursuit of spiritual and emotional health. This may sound cold and unfeeling, and certainly may not sound like the heart of a pastor.

However, I have seen too many pastors burn out, give up, resent the very people they love, and quit altogether. Of course, some pastors bring unrealistic expectations on themselves. These are the pastors that are – you guessed it – busy.

Ask yourself: “Do I want a pastor who remains healthy or a pastor who remains busy?”

We can’t have both.

In a time when busyness is often considered a virtue we must eschew the call to remain busy. So what can be done? That’s a good question that we will wrestle with in my next blog.