Work

Made for Work…

/ pastorlynnmalone / 1 Comment

I admit. I have a lazy streak. In my defense, I’m only lazy after I’ve been working. I’m like the lady that used to work for my grandmother who said, “When I work, I work hard. When I play, I play hard. When I sit, I go to sleep!”

Working is on my mind this morning because of the past few weeks I’ve had. Now that I’m pastoring a church again and running a business, my time off has been scarce. Vanessa and I took a few days away before beginning our new adventure in pastoring, but yesterday was my first day off in 20 days (but was it really a day off since I spent part of the day working on a sermon?).

The purpose of my writing is not to elicit your sympathy. It really is my way of trying to process my inability to find workers for my business. It makes me ask: “What has happened to the work ethic in our culture?”

Lessons in Futility

So, here’s a snapshot of my past month. I’ve been trying to fill a position in my shop for a couple of months now. I advertised for the position. Received a couple dozen applications (that’s a good thing). Spent some time processing those applications. Made a few decisions and began the process of interviewing people.

Called a guy in for a face-to-face interview. Went well. Checked his references. Again, went well. Called to make him an offer. Crickets!!! That’s right! Never returned my call. Emailed him. Crickets! No response. Time to move on…

Called another guy. Came for the interview. Went well. Checked references. Again, went well. Called and made an offer. Accepts offer. Start work on Monday. Monday comes. He’s a no-show! Make a call. Crickets. Email sent asking about the situation. Late on Monday I receive an email back that he’s sick and cant’ make it (he’ll start when he’s better–yeah, when will that be?). Okay, he can’t help it because he’s sick, but dude, you have a phone. Call somebody!

Schedule him to start the following Monday (surely he’ll be better by then). Monday comes and he shows up early. Hey! This is a good sign. Works Monday. Asks to take off early to finish a project he started before he took the job. Okay, sure. Tuesday comes. He’s a no-show! Calls that his truck is broke down. Okay, so he can’t help that, right?

Wednesday comes and he shows up–early again. Points earned. Works the morning. Goes to lunch. Never returns! Haven’t heard a word from him. No call. No email. Crickets. Odd thing is I owe him money for the day and a half he worked. Go figure.

Call another guy in for an interview. 10:00 a.m., Friday? Great! See you then. Friday comes. No guy.

Call another guy. 10:00 a.m., Friday (yes, another Friday)? Great! See you then. Friday comes. No guy.

I’m starting to develop a complex. Is it me? Am I not doing something right? It must be me, right?

Then, I think, “It’s really not me, it’s the world in which we live these days.”

I say that because I’ve got another job posting, as well. I’ve received a couple of dozen applications for that position, too.

I provide a link to every applicant who submits an application on-line to a personality assessment. For every person who actually takes the time to complete the assessment, I set up a phone screen interview. I did that for three applicants who completed the assessment. I call. No response. Three different people, three no answers. I leave messages. Still…I’ve never heard back from a single person.

Bummer! And, I’m still two people short on staff.

Lessons for My Life

I don’t know. Perhaps they’ve found other employment and don’t have the courtesy to call and withdraw their name from consideration. Perhaps they’re just checking boxes on a form so they can continue drawing their unemployment. Perhaps they just reconsidered and decided a job in the quick lube industry isn’t for them.

Okay! No problem. How about a little consideration. Have we lost that with our work ethic, too? Do I blame it on Covid? Or, have I just been walking around all my life with blinders on and didn’t realize that’s how it goes with the job market because I’ve never been in business for myself before now?

Whatever it is, it’s very frustrating…and I guess I’m taking my frustration via this blog. I am, however, reminded of Genesis 2:15–

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.“

The good Lord created us for work. Our work is meant to be an offering of worship to the Lord. I’m wondering if our world might be so upside down because no one wants to work anymore. And, don’t get me started on the government and give-aways. Lord, have mercy…

I’m also reminded of this little passage in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians:

9 We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. 10 Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” 11 Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people’s business. 12 We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living. 13 As for the rest of you, dear brothers and sisters, never get tired of doing good.

So, I’m finding some solace in the fact that it’s not actually a new problem. I guess it’s as old as we humans are.

I could launch into an entire diatribe on the benefits of work, but the blog is long enough already and I’ve got to get ready for work. But, work today is worship (and to lead worship). Then again, work is meant to be worship everyday, but I’ve already been down that road this morning.

So, get up and go to work. It is what we’re made for.

Until next time, keep looking up…

The Road Between Work and Worship…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

Part of my present devotional exercise is reading a sermon a day from Eugene Peterson, beloved translator of The Message paraphrase of the Bible. Though Peterson suffered some damage to his “evangelical” reputation near the end of his life, I refuse to throw the baby out with the bath water. Peterson was gifted with the ability to turn a phrase with elegance and simplicity, and with over 50 years in ministry, he turned many phrases that are both abounding in truth and utterly challenging.

If you’ve never read Peterson (outside the occasional look at The Message), I commend his work to you. If you are a pastor, you would benefit greatly from his memoir The Pastor: A Memoir, whether you’re just beginning the work of pastoral ministry, or whether you’re nearing the end of the journey. Another classic I would recommend any Christian read is A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. This book will change the way you view Christian discipleship. Well worth the read.

So, one of the sermons I read this week offered me a particular challenge in how I view the church (little “c” intentionally used–meaning the local congregation). Here are the two paragraphs that challenged me:

“The ideal church, as far as I’m concerned (which is rooted in my understanding of Scripture), would be one where nobody came near the church for six days and everybody came on Sunday. The best kind of church would be one with no committees or organizations–nothing happening here between Sundays. Not because we have nothing to do but because we have everything to do. During the week we’re out carrying crosses, denying ourselves, following Jesus, making our witness, helping our neighbors, serving God, working responsibly and as hard as we can to be the people of God in serving and suffering the way he’s called us to do it. We work. We do.

“But, then, on the “seventh day” (the first day for Christians), we come here and leave all that behind. And we enjoy everything that God is doing. We become carefree. Free. We become children again. We let God do it all, and you sing and adore and become aware of his presence.”

Sermon “Transfigured”, Eugene Peterson

Ah! A congregation with “no committees or organizations.” A pastor’s dream! But, without the incumbent “work” of ministry that all Christ-followers are called to do in the interim, I’m sure it would soon become a nightmare. Perhaps it has…

I am reminded by Peterson’s words that there is to be no distinction between our work and our worship. We worship AND we work. Worship is meant to fuel our work. Too often, we compartmentalize our lives such that our worship is divorced from the everyday-ness of life. “This” is my religious life, and “that” is my work (everyday) life. I get so much out of the “worship” part that I want to return tomorrow or the next day to experience it again, but in doing so, I neglect the necessity of the “work” part of loving my neighbor or greeting the stranger. Worship becomes the excuse for my failure to work. Ouch!

It is easy to be Christian on Sunday. It is much more difficult to be Christian on Monday when we are met with the challenge of actually putting feet to our faith. And, if I can go to enough bible studies and serve on enough church committees, I can find solace in the fact that “I’ve done my Christian duty.” It becomes easier to forgo the loving my neighbor or caring for the orphan part of our Christian duty.

As a pastor serving full-time in vocational ministry, I thought it was my responsibility to lead Bible studies and develop programs that enhanced the life of the congregation and fostered discipleship in its members. To do otherwise would likely have gotten me fired! Besides, how would anything ever get accomplished in the life of the congregation without committees and organization? Right? Someone has to lead all that. The “work” of the church does need to get done, after all.

Now, serving as a bi-vocational pastor, I’ve come to appreciate the necessity of the work that must be done outside the walls of the church. Listen, folks! The lost aren’t coming to the church anymore. If we would encounter the lost, it will be in the ordinary, everyday encounters we have with the people where we live most of our lives–our work and our home. It is in that environment that we must live obediently and faithfully. It is in the Monday through Saturday of life where disciples are formed. It is in the Monday through Friday of life where the lost are introduced to Jesus, and are offered the opportunity to embrace him as Lord and Savior.

Worship is not an escape from the world…a welcome respite from the challenges of life. Worship is meant to propel us into the world where our work becomes our witness, and our service to others reflects our faithful obedience to Jesus Christ.

I certainly don’t mean to diminish the work I did as a full-time vocational minister, nor am I casting dispersion on the many friends and colleagues who continue to do that work faithfully. I am, however, calling into question the motivations for doing what I did as a pastor, and for doing what we do as congregations. Age and context have given me a different perspective, and that change in perspective has me questioning some of my deeply held beliefs concerning discipleship. That’s all…

I guess the long and short of it for me is that there is no distance between worship and work. The journey of discipleship follows the same road between worship and work. I suppose faithful discipleship is learning how to “keep it between the ditches” along that road.

Until next time, keep looking up…

Reflecting on Rest (Three Reasons to take a Vacation)…

/ pastorlynnmalone / Leave a comment

vanessas beach picIt seems a bit self-serving to reflect on reasons to take a vacation (especially while one is on vacation), and it also seems a bit counter-productive to write a blog while on vacation (isn’t writing a blog considered work?). So, you see the bind people find themselves in when they take vacation? Especially in the “helping” professions, the line between work and rest become incredibly blurred.

My lines have not been quite so blurry this week. I’ve managed a decent week on disconnecting. I’ve only checked work emails a couple of times (one way to avoid doing so is un-sync your phone from your work email), and I’ve only responded to a couple of work related emails. I’ve managed to spend some very relaxing days with my toes in the sand. It’s been a pretty good week…if I do say so myself.

Pastors are notorious for not taking enough vacation. That shouldn’t be surprising. It simply means pastors are a lot like other Americans. The Huffington Post reported that 40% of Americans don’t take all their vacation. 40%! That’s a large number. There are probably a lot of reasons that number is so high, not the least of which is that not many people can afford to “go” on vacation. I know I can’t afford (monetarily speaking) to be away from home four weeks a year. I rather think it has more to do with our need to be needed…which is all the more reason to take the vacation.

“All the more reason to take the vacation…” Because I’m on vacation, let me be brief and offer three reasons it’s important to take the vacation time each of us is given.beach view

HUMILITY

As paradoxical as this may be to say, vacation is not ultimately about you. Resting is ultimately about our dependence on our creator. It is an acknowledgement on our part that we are weak and limited. It’s a confession, especially for us pastors, that we’re not the answer to all our church’s issues. Additionally, rest is a great way to break the “works righteousness” mentality. Rest allows us to better understand the theology of grace.

Moreover, rest is as much for those around us. Rest is a gift to our families, especially our spouses. Sure, we might not need a vacation, but our spouse and our children do! Don’t our families deserve as much of us as the world does? Yes, ministry is a calling, but so is being a good spouse and parent.

Taking a vacation is an excellent reminder of our ultimate expendability. That’s really not a fun think to think about, but the reality is that when we’re away, the world keeps right on turning. Tasks get completed without you. Yes, I know. There will be a pile waiting on my desk when I get back…but…they are “waiting.” Nothing earth-shattering happened because you weren’t there to take care of a task.

HEALTH

Vacations lower stress and reduce anxiety (unless you’re one of those rare persons who stresses out because of all the work they’re missing). We need to take a lesson from professional athletes who routinely “recover” between training sessions. We can only push our minds and our bodies so far without them breaking. The tighter the rubber band is wound, the more likely it is to snap. Time off and vacations are some of the healthiest things we can do. And, it’s biblical, too. God built rest into the rhythm of life. There’s a reason He did. (Read more about rest here).

work-vacation-policy-pop_3122Vacations also promote health within the organizations we lead. Vacation by the leader of the organization provides a positive example to staff of the importance of maintaining a proper work/life balance. Additionally, it frees up staff to creatively manage in the leaders absence. In churches, it also empowers the laity to embrace their own gifts for ministry as laity step up to fill roles usually reserved for their clergy leaders. Who knows? A pastor’s vacation may be the very vehicle God uses to allow someone to discern God’s call to ministry in their own life. I’d say that was a pretty healthy thing.

CREATIVITY

Routine tasks stifle creativity. That’s why it’s called “getting in a rut.” When the mind relaxes, it begins to function in a more creative way. Imagine…getting away from work may be the very thing that frees up the creative juices so you can solve that pesky problem that’s been hindering you at work (see…another paradox). I’ve always had a hard time writing sermons or preparing bible studies when in the office. It’s when I’m away from the “routine” of work that creativity is spawned.

Yeah, I know…it’s not a deep reflection…but, hey…I’m on vacation. You can’t really expect me to think too deeply, can you? Maybe you’ll find these three reasons helpful in encouraging you to take your own vacation.

Until next time, keep looking up…