I just realized I have not posted to this blog in almost six months. It isn't because I haven't anything to say or do. But it is a symptom of a larger syndrome that I suffer from.
Are you a bouncer? Not like Patrick Swayze in "Roadhouse" bouncer, but a bouncer from thing to thing to thing? I have been wondering about that since watching the World Cup in Brazil where the "flopper" seems to be an integral part of the game. I thought hockey players could take a dive...
Bouncer, one who bounces from thing to thing to thing, maybe in cycles, maybe not. Maybe there is a central theme that connects the things bounced to, maybe not. The ministry is an example of the bouncing connected by a common theme, or at least it can be. There are always at least six more things that can use my time in place of what I am doing right now.
I am told that the first step to correcting a problem is recognizing that you have one. Is 'bouncing' a problem or simply endemic to the job description of a pastor? Perhaps it helps to consider jobs where 'bouncing' is rare or non-existent. I don't know what those jobs might be because I am a pastor.
I should pause for a moment to reflect on the fact that this is a stream-of-consciousness thing, not a polished essay.
Are there times in the pastorate when I am not bouncing? Absolutely. Pastoral care emergency. Delivery of Sunday sermon (the sermon may bounce and wander, but I don't). Dealing with problems that demand a solution. What is the common theme? Adrenaline. I suppose the theological response is 'passion for ministry'.
I am NOT saying that the job doesn't get done. I will admit that the job is never done. For every one thing given time, there are six more things (at least) that demand of my time.
It helps to have a clear vision of what you are trying to accomplish. It helps to have practiced time management skills (I have them, the practice, not always). It helps to have a routine. It helps to recognize that much of the job is in the details.
Notice how I am calling this 'job' as opposed to 'vocation' or something else equally life-gathering. That is an intentional choice. Not because the ministry is not something, by its very nature, that stretches beyond the typical definitions of 'job', but because 'job' provides a paradigm by which to wrestle with the very subject of bouncing.
I am not saying that being a 'bouncer' is a bad thing. It is a necessary skill for a multi-tasker (something I believe is more damaging-but still necessary-to the job than bouncing). It is a forest and trees thing. If the forest is the full extent of the ministry, and the trees what we keep bouncing between, how do we set up the time and opportunity to move between the two?
I am not sure I have a solution to this, but as I have been told, recognizing the issue is the first step to figuring a solution.
