Schedule

One of the first principles of time management is this: What gets scheduled gets done.

Most of us have a pretty good grasp on many of these rules. Even if you only read the covers on the magazines while you wait in line at the grocery store; especially if you read any of the self-help books. There aren’t that many new rules for having a good life. And you already know all the old ones:

Never skip breakfast.
Exercise for thirty minutes at least three times a week.
It’s essential to be consistent if you want to train your puppy well.
Make sure your plate holds more vegetables than meat.
Don’t leave your big assignment ‘til the day before it’s due.

You can list a million of them. Right?

But that scheduling one is worth gold. We can have good intentions from here to eternity. We can sincerely believe that we ought to invite a friend, to share about our most valued relationship with Jesus. We all have a deep desire to end the suffering in the world around us. Imagine how wonderful it would be if we really could abolish poverty. Every single one of us would dearly love to live in a country, a world that is more peaceful—where justice rules.

At least one of those things is probably something we might say “matters most” to us. If so, then here’s the best advice of all those self-help gurus. If you want something to happen, decide what steps you can take to start moving in that direction and put it in the schedule.

This is the season when most of our congregations are drafting our church calendars. We’re creating our schedules. If we’re truly honest when we look at those schedules, we should be able to see what matters most to us. If those mission initiatives truly resonate in our hearts, then we’ll be making every effort to create events, activities, space that will make something happen. Something that will make a difference in the community where our congregation is planted, where our people live and work and have their being.

How’s your calendar shaping up? Is it looking pretty much exactly as it always does? Have you considered how your fall dinner or your Christmas concert or you spring rummage sale are moving the world toward the abolition of poverty or the advancement of the cause of peace and justice? Because if we want those things to happen, we need to schedule them!

I know several of you have booked working sessions to spend some time working on What Matters Most and creating a strategy for your congregation. Good for you! Make sure your strategy includes some scheduling. Because what gets scheduled gets done.

Posted by Marion