People of Procrastination

           

           While attending college, as a non-traditional student, since I had been out of the classroom setting for thirty years, one of the things that amazed me most was how students procrastinated on homework assignments, studying for tests and meeting other deadlines.  There was even one occasion where a young student called for information regarding a scholarship form that was due on the day she made her inquiry.  She still hadn’t written the two required essays, even though she’d had the form for several weeks.

            Procrastination seems to be the “norm” for the society or culture we live in! We are quick to stall, postpone, or put off what we should do, even when we know something needs to be completed (or even started), and time is of the essence. This mind set is so ingrained in us, there are professionals, throughout the land who offer a solution to the problem.  There are even those who offer hypnosis to rid us of this dilemma!  While the “experts” are certain they can offer results, they are quick to add this behavior is primarily a bad habit, and must be targeted daily for any hope of long term success.

            This isn’t a new condition or challenge.  The Bible has plenty to say on the issue of procrastination! God’s Word describes “a double-sided man”--- implying the inability to make decisions!  Other scripture discusses fear, that can cause procrastination, but begs the question, “What are you afraid of?” Laziness is yet another Biblical reason a person may put things off.  Our society is hinged on “instant and easy.”  Besides these elements, there are still more.

            Paul instructs Timothy in scripture, to always be prepared to tell the story of his faith.  He doesn’t want Timothy to hold back, delay in any way, or procrastinate in doing this duty.  Further, Paul says there will be a time when men will not listen to God’s word.  I believe we have reached this point, as our country’s courts continue to demean God’s laws in “the spirit of tolerance.” 

            As Believers, we are all “Timothy.”  It is our responsibility to tell the story of Christ aggressively in whatever form that may take.  Some are wonderful charismatic speakers, others sing of God’s word, while others teach, preach or even write.  

The time has come when our country is daily turning a deaf ear to all God’s laws and goodness.  We must not be like the college students who wait until the night before a test to study, fill out forms after the deadline, or otherwise procrastinate in doing the assigned tasks.  We must further His kingdom by being prepared to correct, rebuke, encourage and give careful instruction to those around us who don’t know the love of Jesus.

I encourage you to evaluate your level of procrastination.  How often do you put off tasks you find unappealing? Do you postpone those things you fear, or simply have no energy for or don’t enjoy?  Do you stall, instead of taking action, when your faith is questioned? How do you respond?

Eternal Awareness

Our lives are filled with a busy-ness that is sometimes overwhelming.  Between work, family obligations, sports events, our children’s schedules and other events demanding our time, it’s hard to look past what we need, much less what our neighbor next door, or down the street is going through or even needs.  We seem “forced” to stay disconnected and “at a distance”, if you will, from surrounding issues, because it’s just more than we can handle. 

There are those who haven’t a clue who their neighbor is, even when they live in the same apartment building.  Community bonding, where everyone knows everyone else does happen, but not nearly as often as it used to.  Communities would often congregate at the local church every week, where it made it relatively easy to stay in touch with neighbors, even if your neighbor lived several miles away.  The church was the “community hub.”

Those kinds of situations are now rare.  In a single community there may be two, three or even four or five different churches. Even with that many, people, because transportation makes it extremely easy to travel 20-45 miles away, attend a church totally away from their community. This then, creates a “break” in the continuity of community.  We just don’t know many we live near.  Being involved in our neighbor’s lives, therefore, happens less and less.

Still kindness is something many people try to remain involved in.  And there are many options for ways to be kind to others. In fact, if you look on Pinterest you can find literally hundreds of ideas for ways to be impactful in other people’s lives.  Now, of course, not everyone looks at life that way.  There are those who are unable to look past themselves to care one whit about someone else having a bad day, having financial difficulties, martial, health or other kind of issue to do anything about it.

            For those who do choose to help someone else, do we the recipient, wonder about their motives?  I suggest not usually, especially if the kindness comes from someone we know, even if not well, when it comes from our church community.  When kindness is random, it does sometimes send off signals we don’t always recognize, and will cause us to question why.  

            When Jesus walked the earth, he continually did seemingly totally random acts of kindness.  Everything he did was for someone else’s good.  His heart was always pointed toward the Father, like a compass is predisposed to point to true North!  As an example of genuine kindness, Jesus showed us the value of keeping our hearts, here on earth, focused on heaven.  He shared this concept repeatedly with those whose lives he impacted.

             Should we, when we carry out acts of kindness, examine where our heart is pointed?  Are we being charitable because it’s the “decent” thing to do, or responding from a sense of duty, or even just being reciprocal because kindness was once offered to us?  How would our thought process look if we considered the kindness because our heart was pointed towards the Father?  Does our kindness include sharing the Gospel like Jesus demonstrated?

Learning Along The Way

           

           “You always inspire me,” I said to the young man. 

            “Why?” he asked.  

“Because you have such knowledge of the Bible,” I responded.  

“I’ve had good teachers,” he said. “Like Sunday School teachers?” I questioned.  

“More than that,” he explained. “I’ve been ‘discipled’ by three Godly men from church.  We meet as a foursome once a week, and often I meet with them one on one, at least one other time in the week.  We talk about all kinds of things.  The Bible certainly, but also about parenting, leadership, marriage, decision-making, conflict resolution and whatever else we choose to talk about. It’s about learning; and I want to learn!”

A Pastor friend of mine and I had a similar discussion; and he has used this idea in a sermon or two, as well. Learning along the way is such a good idea!  It’s more than just studying your Bible, which is hugely important.  But when strong Christian leaders can sit down with us and share their knowledge in conversations that meet us where we are or need, we tend to learn better.

It’s more than just listening, even to a sermon.  While we try to stay focused on what the Pastor is saying, our minds sometimes wander, or there is a distraction from a child or even from someone moving down the pew from us.  We often tend to think of a sermon as being “generic.”  It can (and should) apply to any person in the congregation.   Yet when there is an opportunity for conversation, it becomes more personal because we are actively involved, rather than passively.

Informal settings allow us to let our “hair down” and become real.  It’s when we share our hearts with those strong Christian men and women around us that we are able to grow exponentially!  We learn from, as one person put it, “the Department of Life!” Our mentors (and note more than one is absolutely wonderful, since each brings their own personality and strengths to our learning) are able to use their life experiences to teach us lessons they have learned.

While the young man I mentioned above had specific men from his church assigned to him, many congregations don’t do this.  Even for the person who recently accepted Christ as Savior, finds himself floundering as he is trying to get a handle on his new beliefs, since he is left to his own means to search for answers to his questions.  This would be such a great asset to the congregation for new Believers or young people just “growing” into the Kingdom.

When we have mentors, the learning process allows us to “learn along the way” and often is the perfect environment for acquiring information that otherwise can be difficult to absorb. Further, having people who care about us, and our faith, is good for both sides, because everyone has their own perspective.  Often when we “teach” we learn; and no one is beyond learning!

I encourage you to ask God to send people into your path who can help you grow in your faith, or on the other side, ask that you might be paired up with someone (or several someones!) who needs a mentor.  Either way it’s personalizing God’s message allowing building of the Kingdom.