Monday morning I had gotten up, cooked breakfast, and was sitting in my chair in the living room eating when Kenadie woke up. I heard her footsteps lightly coming down the hardwood in the hall and anticipated her coming in and trying to crawl up in my lap. But before she did she took her thumb out of her mouth long enough to look at me and with no energy yet a little frustration in her voice she asked, “Where do we have to go today?” Thankfully I was able to respond “no where today” and satisfied she crawled up in my lap and we turned on the TV.
Kenadie’s always been good with our going but from her question yesterday I knew that this summer wore even her out. Just since May we have spent a full week in Toronto (gospel meeting), a full week at church camp, a weekend in St. Louis, and a full week in Alabama (gospel meeting). But then throughout the summer we have spent every Monday with our group from church attending our area wide Summer Youth Series and nearly every Tuesday night with a group from church attending gospel meetings around the area; and that doesn’t even include our regular activities just at Phillips Street. Sadly the next few months don’t look any less nuts with Polishing the Pulpit, working our church booth at the Dyer County Fair, our gospel meeting at Phillips Street, and one more gospel meeting I have to preach in October. By the time the year is over her good nature in going may be completely gone!
I love everything in which we’re involved and I want Kenadie to grow up staying busy in church related activities as much as possible. My hope is that Christianity becomes such a part of her life that when she’s older she can’t imagine life without it. But since she asked me that question yesterday I have started to wonder if being too busy could have just the opposite effect. Is it possible that we could get to be too busy for our own good? I think so, and these are the reasons I’ve come up with:
We can be too busy when we start to burn out. Knowing a lot of folks that work in some sort of ministry I’ve seen a lot of people quit for no other reason than they have burned out. They’ve been so busy in what they were doing that they have lost their passion, their energy, their zeal. Even some of the great individuals of faith in the Bible were prone to burnout (i.e., Jeremiah [Jeremiah 20]). But it’s interesting to me that we never see Jesus, the most productive servant ever, approach the point of burnout. He understood the importance of time away, whether it be forty days fasting alone in the wilderness before being tempted or short breaks by Himself in Gethsemane or elsewhere, Jesus took time by Himself and for Himself. As busy as we otherwise need to be in our service to God we can be too busy if we start to burn out and want to quit.
We can be too busy when we start to resent what we’re doing. One of my greatest fears is for Kenadie to grow up and for some reason resent the church. I have known of preachers’ kids who have grown up and learned to resent the church because of the way some members treated their father. I have known of kids who have grown up and learned to resent the church because of how strict their environment was growing up. Is it not possible for our children or us to end up resenting the church because of how much time we have been asked to give? I think so. I have come to learn during my brief time as a parent that more than anything else our children typically want our time. Our time to play, or read stories, or work on some project together, or watch their favorite TV show. Granted children have to learn that adults have responsibilities that mean they can’t have all of our time, but when we are so busy that they never have any of our time it may be that we are so busy that they could come to resent it.
We can be too busy when we look at what we’re doing as just a part of our routine. Ritual can be a good thing. I’ve tried to make certain things rituals in my life just from the standpoint that I do them everyday, or most everyday. Things like reading the Bible, praying, inviting someone to church, or talking with someone about their soul. If we don’t attempt to make these things a part of our everyday agenda then we may need to reassess our priorities and how we are spending our time. But on the other hand while these things should be routine matters in our lives we fail when they become nothing more than a routine. What I mean is that while it’s good to read the Bible everyday if we read it just to check that “duty” off of our to-do list then it really hasn’t done us any good. The same is true of most anything we do. It’s good to be busy working and serving but if we are doing it so much that it just becomes routine and we forget the real reason we’re doing it then we may be just a little bit too busy. Maybe we should slow down and remind ourselves why we do what we do.
We can be too busy when we look at our busy-ness as a measure of our spirituality. No, I don’t mean we can be faithful without being busy servants (James 2:14-26). However, if I measure my degree of spirituality solely by what I am outwardly doing then I’ve missed the point. My relationship with God is as much what I’m doing behind the scenes when no one else is looking as it is what I’m doing out and about that may be more visible. In Matthew 7 Jesus said that when the judgment comes there will be a lot of busy people who will be lost – “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (vs. 22-23). These people were busy, but they measured their spirituality by their busy-ness and lost it all. No amount of being busy in kingdom work can replace the intimate needs of a person’s relationship with God.
I know these are not all the potential consequences of being “too busy.” There are bound to be more that I would never even think of. Let’s not be lazy, lethargic, pew-warming Christians. But at the same time let’s guard ourselves and our families against these potential threats that are counterproductive to the very cause we are trying to serve. In other words, let’s not be too busy for our own good.
-Andy
To me the worst consequence is limited time at home with your family. Being scheduled every night limits the time for family bible studies and devotionals with your family.
Absolutely! It’s weird to think that kingdom work could be counterproductive but when it comes to tending to the souls of others to the neglect of your own family’s then being too busy is counterproductive. Thanks for the comment. Not exactly sure how you posted it while you were in the middle of teaching Bible class last night!
That’s how busy I am! Guess I need to slow down!
One further comment – I would rather deal with being too busy then not being busy enough. Our kids need to see us busy in the Lord’s work – and we need to include them in the work when we can. And when we find our selves too busy – we shouldn’t first look at cutting out the Spiritual activities. It’s true you can take a good thing too far – but many time we are too busy with secular activities. Great article – things we all need to think about.