May 23, 2006
Do Not Disturb
Many of today’s ministers prefer preparing their sermons and lessons at home rather than at the church office. I‘ve had it explained to me that they need quiet study time and there is too much activity and interruption at the church. The take-away I get is, members of the church are ‘interruptions’, but at home, his wife and children aren’t a distraction. It’s strange that we have secretaries to answer phones, make appointments, and screen visitors, yet the church office is deemed an unacceptable place for sermon preparation. I understand the need for quiet study time, but even a maid for a hotel understands the meaning of a Do Not Disturb sign.
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Gail;
----I remeber a preacher who said he spent 36 hours a week preparing his sermons (downloading them from the internet we found out). I remember my difficult transition from childhood into young adulthood. I was so very naive when I was a child. As I began to emerge into my teen years I began to learn that business really would appreciate a good way to short you, the government did not really care for us that much, the police were not really that honest, and in Bible college I discovered that education prepared preachers for theology and church organization much more than for relationships and humility. I now see things more clearly than when I was a child; I now look between the lines more than I look at the lines.
----And there between the lines of the contemporary ministers' behavior, I see men who honestly desire to be serving the Lord what they are sure they have for Him. To transform the church fully into what they envision it should be for Him is far too important to be interrupted by the bother of diminuitive questions and petty problems that come dragging to the church office door.
----But in the final analysis, I do believe that the contemporary minister is being a blessing to the secretary who must answer the phone and schedule appointments less and less as the congregation learns more and more that the contemporary minister just isn't a relational kind of guy. He earns his high salary with a few hours in the office, a few hours behind the music stand, and the bulk of the week sequestered at home.
----When I was a child I thought preachers made sermons from their hearts out of what they learned by living a godly, affectionate life. I see more clearly now.
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