Work Hard Give Your Best & Put Family First

How do I balance family and ministry? It’s a conversation I’ve had over and over again as a church staff member. I’ve heard church staff express deep frustration and anxiety over this question. They want to give their best to their ministry calling and yet sometimes feel like they’re sacrificing their family to follow Jesus. But then again doesn’t following Jesus mean you take care of and lead your family well? When you’re on staff at a church it means working weekends and often times being gone multiple nights of the week at meetings when church members are available. Further, many church staff members feel like they’re on call 24/7 to meet the needs of church attenders. You can see how ministry staff members can quickly feel tension over the whole balancing work and family, especially young church staff members who are just starting out and trying to figure it out.

At Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the privilege of serving at) we’ve defined our leadership culture with 7 clear distinctives. If you’re interested in learning more about them you can follow this link. One of them states:

Effort: We work hard; give our best and put family first.

Recently I used Periscope (I’m learning to use this new social networking tool) to share a leadership tool we use to train this concept and explained it a little more. In fact you can follow this link on your mobile device to watch it. Or you can check out a few of the highlights below:

1. God is not opposed to effort, but He is opposed to earning. God is into results and effort…it’s all throughout the bible. He’s just not into earning.
2. You don’t have to die for the Church; Jesus already did that. The Church doesn’t need another Savior we already have one. He’s doing just fine by the way.
3. All Work and no Rest Leads to Burnout You’ve got to figure out a way to refuel daily, weekly, monthly and annually.
4. Productivity = Working Hard + Resting Well It’s not work vs home. It’s not either or. You can’t have great results at work and poor results at home or visa versa for very long. Home affects work and work affects home.
5. Rest FOR Work not Rest FROM Work. In John 15 Jesus talks about abiding in Him…resting in Him so that we will produce fruit.
6. Laziness is Dangerous! When you retreat from meaningful work and meaningful relationships it will lead you to a dangerous place.
7. Take Personal Responsibility! No one is responsible for your schedule but you. Don’t play the role of a victim when it comes to your schedule.

Photo Credit: navonod via Compfight cc