.the great balance.

Years ago on a short term missions trip to downtown Chicago, I remember talking to my youth minister, Dwayne Curry, about how incredibly exhausted he was. As a husband, a father, a minister, a counselor, a preacher, a volunteer coordinator, a worship leader, an events planner… he was just tired. For that week, he had used his paid vacation to go with us on our missions trip, rather than to spend time with his family. He was hoping that through that time of service that his energy and his faith would be restored and that when he returned, he would be a better husband, father, minister, counselor, preacher, etc.

Now, I love “Mr. Dwayne” with all of my heart, but that is one thing I never quite understood. Until now.

Last year I spent my summer in Portland, Oregon, working under Lucas Rouggly at Red Sea Church. Lucas is a great teacher, and I’m an avid learner/listener, so we got along quite famously. Lucas used to talk all the time about a “holistic gospel” – the kind of good news that pervades every aspect of your life. He told me that when he realized this included ministry, he saw that when he spent time with his wife, he was really ministering to her. When he played with his daughter Addie, he was ministering to her. When he invited people to his house to watch Arrested Development, he was ministering to them. Once he realized that every aspect of his life was ministry, it was easier for him to leave the office early one afternoon to go on a walk with his family, and it was easier to sit down next to a stranger to talk about God and politics when he “should” be clocking hours in front of his computer.

To me, that was the most beautiful thing about ministry that I’d ever heard. I didn’t realize at the time, however, what exactly that meant.

You see, when you work in ministry, there is no divide between your work life and your personal life. At least, there shouldn’t be. They are one in the same. The relationships you develop, the work that you do, the time that you spend, even when it’s not directly related to a church event, is active ministry. This is true for everyone, of course, but it starts to get tricky when you’re not exactly sure which parts of your (supposedly) everyday life that you’re actually getting paid for.

I’ve been feeling out this balance ever since I got to Richmond. As much as I honestly love putting myself out there to meet new people and help plan church functions and work to raise money for the VEF, I still have to actively retreat from the crowds and activity. As a pastor, if  you don’t, you might not only get burnt out on your job… you get burnt out on your entire life, and that is an extremely dangerous place to be.

You must see your quiet time and devotionals and prayer as ministry too, even if other people aren’t around to see it or be a part of it. In the long run, it’ll do you and them a much larger favor.