THE BUSY FOOLS’ ARGUMENT WITH THE BUSY WISE

 THE BUSY FOOLS’ ARGUMENT

WITH THE BUSY WISE

“Been busy?” I’m not sure if women get asked this question as often as men do (although my guess is that women more frequently ask, “How have you been?” more than they ask “Have you been busy?”). The ‘busy question’ seems to be a badge of honour for men—especially when they stick to the unwritten script and respond with either option A (“Yeah, flat out!”) or option B (“Yeah, I’ve been {insert details here}!”). Even retired men still refer to the modified retirement script with variations of the “Since I’ve been retired, I’ve never been busier!” response. As a student and practitioner of the art of busy I have discovered that there is a type of being busy that is worthwhile and there is another type that is not – but its practitioners are convinced that it is. 

 

THE DOWNSIDE OF BUSY

But busy has its downside. When people are always filling their schedules and adding to their To-Do lists, they run the spiritual risk of neglecting the godly discipline of ceasing their normal activity and resting. This is the basis of the principle of the sabbath. Cease, rest from normal activity, breathe, contemplate (declutter your mind), worship, re-focus on God, reset, and remember. If you have heard  Pastor Phil Hills preach as often as I have, you would know that he often repeated his ministry maxim (and even though he is retired, I’m sure he still repeats it), “We work from rest rather than resting from work!” What Pastor Hills was affirming the principle of treating the sabbath as a spiritual discipline. This is something that the unwisely busy should consider. It is also why they should consider attending church each Sunday as a spiritual discipline that should not be neglected. 

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God…And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 4:9; 10:24-25

 

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF BUSY

Most of us are aware that someone can be busy but not productive. Those who are highly productive often don’t appear to be as busy as the busy-yet-not-productive. These highly-productive-and-busy people have learned to incorporate rest into their lifestyles — but their moments of apparent idleness should not be interpreted as a inefficiency. I recently learned an amazing example of ‘apparent idleness’ being essential for productivity when I took a course on how the brain works. What I discovered was that before we had the technology to measure brainwave activity, we used to think that when we slept, our brain also took a break. But it turns out that when we “idly” go to sleep (especially when we reach REM sleep) our brain is actually hard at work reorganising its information and deepening its long-term memory which ends up helping us to think more clearly when we awake. That’s why you can go to sleep at night with an unsolved problem on your mind and then wake up knowing what the solution is.  Added to these scientific insights, we know from Scripture that God frequently gets people’s attention while they slept.

But God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream by night and said to him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
Genesis 31:24

Coincidentally, those who are unwisely busy often regard sleep as a waste of time. They brag about only needing four hours sleep a night even though their restless brains need at least seven hours to do their nightly routine properly.

 

RECRUITING BUSY WISE LEADERS

I’ve been thinking through for many years what it would take to see Christ’s Great Commission fulfilled in our valley-city. In 2007 I gathered some of the key Christian leaders for a meeting and posed just one question for discussion: If we could fulfil Christ’s Great Commission in our valley-city, what would it look like? Each of these busy leaders were committed to fulfilling the Great Commission in our valley, but not many of them had thought about what it would end up looking like. The problem with not having a clear vision of what you’re trying to achieve is that it can lead to unproductive busyness. The more I’ve thought about it, the clearer the picture has become to me. And the clearer the picture has become to me, the clearer pathway has also become. This pathway involves strong and united local churches. It involves a commitment to evangelism and multiplication discipleship. It involves sharing a common objective that gives the Christians of our city the courage to be bold witnesses. And it involves outside help from those those who are gifted to assist us. Thus, when I was approached by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association with an offer to come to our city and help us — at no cost to us (!) — I was very keen to be involved. The result has been the birth of the Tasmania Celebration journey. At this point in the journey we are now recruiting and appointing various coordinators for the key responsibilities involved. Each of these coordinators, without exception, are already busy. On Thursday morning this week I met with a prospective team member who told me that he was too busy to be involved and was already serving on seven executive boards. I said, “Good! We only want busy people on our team!” I went on to explain what I meant and I will now try and explain it to you…

 

THE PARABLE OF THE BUSY WISE

¶ “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ¶ “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ ¶ “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ ¶ “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ ¶ “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ ¶ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’”
Matthew 25:1-12 NLT

This parable highlights the difference between the foolish and busy, and the wise and busy. The foolish bridesmaids were busy doing things that didn’t matter. They were ignoring their primary responsibilities in the midst of their busyness. The wise bridesmaids took their responsibilities seriously and tended to their oil-lit lamps by securing adequate oil for their lamps. Their busyness was focused on doing what they were supposed to be doing. When it became obvious to the foolish bridesmaids that they had neglected their responsibilities they resorted to blaming the wise bridesmaids for not giving them some of their lamp oil. What we can learn from the busy and wise bridesmaids is that productive work involves: planning, preparation, persistence, and prayerfulness. Prayerfulness? Interestingly, at the end of this parable Jesus sums up its point with an injunction for His followers to ‘watch’ – which is a term used for praying (Matt. 26:41).

Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
Matthew 26:41

The busy-wise bridesmaids were commended and honoured for their diligent work by being admitted to the wedding feast and seated at the head table with the bride and groom. All followers of Christ must know that we are not saved from our sins because of our efforts. Our salvation, redemption, and divine adoption are gifts of God’s grace through the merit of Christ’s finished work of atonement. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

And all followers of Christ must know that this same grace enables us to be busy-wise in the service of Christ and His Church.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10

We need not sit in the waiting-room of Christ’s servants as if Jesus is yet to figure out what we are to do! Christ prepares beforehand the tasks that He wants His followers to do. Yield to Christ and you will soon find Jesus opening doors of service. Don’t immediately expect these doors to be particularly big or likely to gain you much attention or even appreciation. (It would be worth noting the parable immediately following the ten bridesmaids parable in Matthew 25:15-28 where the point is faithfulness rather than fame.) As we examine each of Christ’s last parables retold by Matthew in chapter 25 we are struck by Christ commending His faithful followers to be wisely busy in His service. And for those who don’t feel that their ability to serve Christ and His Church is particularly glamorous you should take heart in Christ’s appreciation for those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the shut-ins (and prisoners), tend to the ill and sick, and show hospitality to strangers (Matt. 25:35-36).

For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’
Matthew 25:35-36

What makes our busyness wise busyness? It’s when our busyness is doing what Christ wants for the reasons that He wants it done. It’s when we are busy without neglecting the priorities of spiritual disciplines and our obligations to those we are responsible to and for. This is why, when Christ calls someone to take on a greater responsibility in His Kingdom it is almost certain that they are already busy. I am not at all suggesting that a Christ-follower needs to be frenetic in their busyness for Christ, or that they should never sabbath (two points I have tried to make clear in this Pastor’s Desk by contrasting the busy wise with the busy foolish). But I am hoping that those who have been following and serving Christ for some seasons will recognise the doors of opportunity that Christ will enable them to walk through wisely. And as they do, and we do together, may we begin to see glimpse of the Great Commission being fulfilled in our valley-city.

View of Kings Bridge Launceston

Your pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

FEAR IS BUSY

Lazy people are some of the busiest people I know. And I should know! I am plagued by bouts of self-inflicted laziness. If you call us lazy people "lazy" and we are deeply offended and will immediately defend ourselves with a list of our many and varied activities. But the unacknowledged problem is that we are busy with everything but what we should be doing!  This is because our laziness is actually fear. Because we lazy people fear what we have to do, we find lots of other things to do so that we have an excuse for not doing what we should have done. My laziness looks busy. But I'm learning how to overcome this crippling fear.

The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!"
Proverbs 22:13

There are things that I should have done by now. Instead of doing them I have found what I call 'reasons' as to why I can't get to them yet. My 'reasons' look convincing. They sound reasonable. They take up my time. They draw me away and justify their distraction. But still, the important things that need doing remain undone. But to the outsider my busyness makes look productive (the arch-enemy of laziness).

I know why I look for distractions rather than attending to whatneeds to be done. Fear. I fear that if I bear my soul to that person that need to resolve things with I will be rejected - and I deeply fear rejection. I fear that if I attempt that project that I've been putting off, I will botch it and look incompetent. I fear that if I make a start on that book I must read I will not enjoy it or understand it. I fear that if I start this new exercise and diet program I will not be able to keep going, so I neer start it. I fear trying this new thing because I feel I am a slow learner and far more comfortable with what I already know and I don't want to feel like a dope.

To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
Yet another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home."
Luke 9:59, 61

Jesus Christ was the most undistracted person in the history of the entire world. Jesus Christ was the most productive person who has ever walked our planet. Jesus Christ is the only person to have ever breathed air who has never offered an excuse in the place of His obligations. Yet He encountered distracted, unproductive, excuse-making people all the time. And thanks to me, He still does. In Luke 9 we read how he called certain people to action who instead of appropriately responding, offered excuses for why they were too busy to do what He summoned them to do.

¶ I suggest that you finish what you started a year ago, for you were the first to propose this idea, and you were the first to begin doing something about it. 
Second Corinthians 8:10

There is a difference between doing nothing and being lazy. There is difference being busy and being productive. There may be no difference between being lazy and busy. The difference is determined by answering the should question. What should I be doing? The difference is obscured if I am continually answerin: What can I be doing?
The businessman who spends all day making courageous decisions and works late simply because he's afraid to get home and talk with his teenage daughter, is disovering that fear is busy. The wife who always finds a problem with one of her children that demands her attention simply because she fears making time for her husband who she thinks has lost interest in her. The student who jus has to support her struggling friend over Facebook because she's afraid that her maths homework is going to be too difficult for her. The pastor who always finds a crisis in his church that needs his attention because he's afraid that people might think he lacks good leadership skills. Fear is busy.

FOR FREEDOM HE HAS SET US FREE
Author unknown"For freedom, Christ has set us free!"
What joy is ours to claim!
No more enslaved, humanity
Finds life in Jesus' name.
We try, Lord, to be justified
Through all the works we do.
Yet you adopt us, saying, "Child,
It's Christ who makes you new."
We're clothed in Christ and we belong;
Now no one waits outside.
In him we find our common song;
Old ways no more divide.
"It is no longer I who live,
But Christ who lives in me."
He died for us, new life to give —
And new identity.
Now, Spirit-filled, may we be led
From ways that would destroy.
May we your people turn instead
To lives of love and joy.
May we find peace that makes us whole
And patience everywhere.
God, give us kindness, self-control,
And hearts and hands that share.

The most productive thing we can do is to follow Christ where He leads us. In the Old Testament we find Jonah busily avoiding God's will. We have Kings Saul and David sharply contrasted by Saul's continual pandering to fears and busyness and David's courage and action. When Goliath challenged, King Saul was busy looking for someone to fight him - even though God had called him to be Israel's leader! We see that King Solomon was very very busy with his wives - but utterly lazy to what heshould have been doing. In the famous Biblical love chapter, First Corinthians 13, we see this same point made. Someonecould be busy doing good works for the poor but actually miss the point about why they should be doing good for the poor.

each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
First Corinthians 3:13

Here's some things that I observe in people who live with less fear and have a higher ability than most to be productive.

1. They prioritise the important over the urgent (they answer the should question before the can question).
2. They keep prioritised lists (deadlines keep them creative and productive).
3. They keep short accounts with those in their key relationship circles (they forgive, seek forgiveness, and listen well).
4. They embrace their failures and mistakes by redeeming them as learning opportunities (they have learned the art of "drafting" before completing).

If you're like me, struggling with this busy form of laziness, then perhaps we both realise that we need the grace of God to help us. And maybe as we learn to walk closely with Christ those things which which we should do will increasingly get priority over those things we can do. This grace-shift can help a church transition from good intentions about evangelism to actually evangelising. It can help a family procrastinating with reaching out to an estranged family member to actually sitting down together and clearing the air. It can help a marriage where hearts have steadily grown distant to move a little closer back together with an overdue date. Don't be fooled by the demon of laziness - especially when it comes dressed as busyness, because it's really not laziness at all, it's fear. And fear is busy.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Second Timothy 1:6-7

Andrew Corbett

THE LORD HAS OVERFLOWED MY iPAD

This week I was researching how Jesus has been reflected in art down through the centuries. One of the recurring themes for artists is Jesus The Shepherd. He is frequently depicted gently holding a young lamb. While the New Testament never records Christ cuddling little lambs, these artists have risked being arrested by the Cheesy-Police to portray Jesus in a way that they consider to be a reflection of His love and care for people. If Psalm 23 is but a shadow, it is surely Jesus Christ who is casting this shadow. Beyond the arguments, the rantings, the shrill objections of those who defy God, the Holy Spirit today ministers the grace of Christ to believers in a way that the world could never understand. The closest we can come to explaining to a non-believer what Christ means to us might be Psalm 23.

¶ The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
¶ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
¶ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever..
Psalm 23:1-6

Christ satisfies my deepest and most immediate needs ("I shall not want"). I have some big challenges at the moment. I have needs which constantly cause pressure. I need Christ's help to meet my needs. Over the past few months I have been praying intently for Christ to meet my pressing needs. Little by little, day by day, I am seeing the answer to that prayer. Because I know that Christ the Shepherd of my soul will take care of my needs, I am at peace. I don't have to try and figure out "how" or "when". I don't have to sweat with stress over it. I shall not want.

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack! "
Psalm 34:9

Last year I had a continual battle with fatigue. On a few occasions my body wouldn't listen to me. It involuntarily took over and basically shut down. But in the midst of this I knew that Christ my Shepherd was also my Sabbath rest. He led me to observe a weekly sabbath, and trust that as I laid a day down a week to meet with Him in His House with His people (notice the flow of this Psalm, it's not the green grass where I am meant to find my deepest rest) I would be even more productive with just the six days I had left. If you have been battling weariness, or perhaps even fatigue, let Jesus your Shepherd lay you down in green pastures and rest you. I heard the testimony once of someone who was really struggling to sleep. (I know some people who suffer horribly from insomnia and they tell me how taxing it is on them physically, emotionally and even spiritually.) One night in desperation they cried out to God for help. As they lay there on their bed they had a vision of Christ beckoning them to come to Him. As they did, he laid them down and stroked their head. With each stroke the anguish of their mind seemed to fade. They were soon overcome with the peace of Christ and just as soon experiencing His rest. The person sharing this testimony said that they ceased to experience insomnia from that time. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

WE REST ON THEE
Written by Edith G. Cherry, 1895

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

¶ This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says:
¶ "In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
Isaiah 30:15

Our Shepherd leads us. For too long I stressed about doing the "perfect will of God". But some time ago I met Jesus as my Shepherd who leads me. I found that if I stayed close to Him and walked through the doors that He opened I could only do the "perfect" will of God. Sure, I still pray for wisdom and guidance and I rarely rush into things, but I have found that Jesus is my leading Shepherd. He leads me beside calm waters. I have a relatively busy life. I run four organisations and am involved in running some more with other people. I serve voluntarily in these not-for-profit organisations gladly - joyously - and heartily. But its usually difficult to see any of them as "still" waters. In fact, in trying to fit everything in, I decided over the Summer to lay down one of my passions: tennis (so that I had time to fit everything in). But I felt Christ my Shepherd lead me to a tennis court which strangely resembled still water for me. When I'm on a tennis court hitting a ball my soul is restored from the calm clear waters. Others tell me that their still waters are literally still waters which they occasionally ripple with a fishing fly!

Christ's shepherding of my life causes me to be away from certain things and into other things because I represent Him. I am led up 'paths of righteousness for His Name's sake'. What I do with my time matters - because I bear His Name. What I watch on TV or my computer screen matters - because I bear His Name. How I talk to those I love (and those I don't) matters -because I bear His Name. Christ has changed my heart to feel what grieves His heart. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

In the eye of my busyness storm, when the valleys seem deep and the shadows cast long, I have been experiencing Christ's presence. At times His presence has overwhelmed me. Each morning, when I awake, I grab my iPad (from which I read my Bible) and go into another room by myself. As I read the Bible, I reflect and pray. Sometimes I'm struck by how relevant a Text is for what I'm going through. Sometimes I share these journal entries about these Texts with my Facebook friends. It is a time of worship. A time of renewal. A time when I fear no evil because Christ The Shepherd is with me and His rod and staff (protection and direction) comfort me.

The past few years have involved me being prominent within our State on matters surrounding the value of life. After one public forum where I presented I had a queue of upset people each waiting to tell me what an intolerant idiot I was. Just a few years before this I wrote a controversial paper on a development proposal which within half an hour of being published online resulted in a phone call from one of the most prominent politicians in our State demanding that it be taken down. Over the next few weeks I had several prominent politicians and business leaders demand that I recant. In these times I felt Christ's anointing on my head, and His table of nourishing set before me in the presence of opposition. While lesser critics of the same company behind the development project were being sued, threatened with solicitors' letters, and being economically handicapped, Christ kept me and caused my cup to overflow.

Christ The Shepherd has called me to pastor. I'm not like most pastors though. The burden to pastor that Christ has laid on my life is a little difficult to explain to most people because it's so unusual. Invariably, whenever I begin to explain it I am always misunderstood. It is often easier to let people be disappointed with my pastoring than to both disappoint and confuse them. My pastoral burden is not confined to a time-frame. I have burden to pastor in a way that will leave an ongoing legacy for generations. But it is a pastoral burden that yearns for the welfare of people who are beyond the regular reach of our church. And this is where people (within our church) begin to misunderstand me because it sounds like I'm saying that I don't care about those in our church. If you get to know me you'll discover very quickly that I deeply care about everyone in our church. But, just like the parents of an only child trying to help their child understand that just because they are having another baby doesn't mean they will love them any less, I try to help those in our church to understand that we are called to introduce them to The Shepherd and this involves us sharing in a slightly more impossible vision than we might have dared had.

This sense of call to pastor our community is being appreciated by a growing number of our flock who have been in our church long enough to understand this call. But our call to shepherd begins where we together experience Christ as ourShepherd: the House of The Lord - our local church. Thus, we say with the Psalmist King, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It has been my delight to be committed to the House of Lord at Legana. It has been in the House of the Lord that I have most experienced the Shepherd's goodness and mercy. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life as I dwell in the House of the Lord forever. This provision, this rest, this comfort, this anointing, this overflowing cup, this house of goodness and mercy, where Christ shepherds His, is an utter folly to those who have not been made believers by the Spirit of God. But to us who are His, it is the hand of the Great Shepherd running through our fleece to remove the burs, thistles, and mud of this world as with each stroke He restores our soul and nourishes our spirit.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

Ps. Andrew