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Mar

02

2010

Thabiti Anyabwile|10:42 am CT

Why Do Pastors Get Lazy?
Why Do Pastors Get Lazy? avatar

From Carl Trueman at Ref 21:

As William Willimon puts it in his superb book, Proclamation and Theology, page 72:

`I believe the roots of clerical sloth are theological rather than primarily psychological.  We become lazy and slovenly in our work because we have lost the theological rationale for the work.’

 
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Jan

04

2010

Thabiti Anyabwile|9:27 am CT

I’m Thrilled It’s the First Monday in the New Year!
I’m Thrilled It’s the First Monday in the New Year! avatar

Why?

Because I get to get back to work!  I love what I do, Who I do it for, the people I do it with, and the hope of eternal reward after the doing.  What’s not to love about the privilege of serving in pastoral ministry?

And I want to be wary of a heart that’s slothful or sluggish or lazy.  I want to be wary of a dullness toward pastoral ministry that takes me off mission.

The words of Thomas Boston at the conclusion of The Art of Manfishing seem appropriate at the beginning of a new year:

You know not when your Master will come.  And blessed is that servant whom, when his Lord shall come, he shall find so doing. If Christ should come and find you idle, when he is calling you to work, how will you be able to look him in the face?  They are well that die at Christ’s work.

“They are well that die at Christ’s work.”  Amen.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostle Peter could assure, “when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”  He writes this to those he calls to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you…” (1 Pet. 5:2, 4).

Onward brothers into the labor!  With a new year give new zeal to the task as we await our Savior!  Be thrilled to be back at the plow!

 
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Jul

16

2009

Thabiti Anyabwile|4:21 pm CT

Business and Religion
Business and Religion avatar

Dr. Frances J. Grimke:

“A man should carry his religion into his business, and his business into his religion. He should run his business in accordance with the principles of his religion, and he should be business-like in his religion. The same promptness, efficiency, the same energy and earnestness that he shows in his business should also be carried into his religion. in other words, we should be thoroughly religious in all our business relations, and thoroughly business-like in all our religious relations.”

What do you think?

I suspect that most people wouldn’t dispute the first half–take Christ with you into business. But the second half? Bring a business-like approach to religion?

Obviously there are ways that business and a business-model-mindset have affected the church, turning pastors into CEO, members into shareholders, and the church into a marketing machine looking for a niche. So, we lament those things. But I wonder if there isn’t the need in our church lives for “the same promptness, efficiency, the same energy and earnestness” that would define most of us in our secular employment?

Are we more diligent when we’re working for earthly employers than we are when working for the Lord?
 
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