The Sin of Wasting Time

By Mike Glenn

Several years ago, the executive pastor of our church walked into a staff meeting and stunned us all with the following statement, “We are the most anti-family organization in town.” He gave us enough time to make sure we had heard what he had said and then, he went on. “I was just looking at our church’s calendar and here’s what I discovered. We want children and youth back on Sunday night. We want men at a Bible study on Tuesday night. We want women at their Bible study on Thursday night. Everybody is supposed to be here on Wednesday and Monday is cluttered with all our administrative meetings. Will someone please tell me when our families are supposed to be home together as a family?”

Why do we make our people choose between being good church members and good families?

The truth is, and I can only say this because I’ve retired, pastors get trapped promoting programs and ministries we know don’t work. There are several reasons for this. Sometimes, the ministry is the favorite of a cherished member of the church and everyone just goes along with it. Other times, the political powers that be, either within the church or the governing body of the denomination, demand it. So, the pastor does what must be done and announces, with great enthusiasm, the next event. 

And while no one will acknowledge it, something is changing in the local church. People know pastors don’t mean what they’re saying and they stop listening. There’s no guarantee people will start listening again when the sermon starts. For the congregation, the sermon is just another announcement. What’s more, the congregation will assume the upcoming event is just like all of the other events in the life of the church…a waste of time. When we rub our people in the same place over and over, we develop calluses on their ears and hearts which grow thick with programming and ministries we know are a complete waste of time. 

For years, everyone just played along. Now, that game is over. People have too many choices, too many obligations and they just don’t have any time they can waste. Ever wondered why people won’t come to the next event? The answer is simple. They came to the last event and it wasted their time. They won’t come back to that event again. What’s more, they may not come back to anything again. 

In today’s world, there’s one cardinal sin – wasting people’s time. When I was working with the campus pastors of Brentwood Baptist Church, I would remind them, if they’re not prepared on any given Sunday morning, they will waste one hour for each person in attendance. Most Sundays, we had around 6000 people attending our services. That means we could waste 6000 hours in one hour of inattention. 

These days, people have enormous demands on their time. Working from home means people are actually working longer hours. Time we used to spend in traffic is now spent online. Children are involved in dance, sports, and music lessons. For every family, everyday is a carefully choreographed dance of dropping children off, picking children up and getting the chores done. People are stressed and tired. The last thing any of our congregation needs is someone making them feel guilty about not being a church – again – during the week. 

Sure, families need to take a good look at their own commitments. Most families are overcommitted and need to cut back on family and children’s activities. Families need time to simply be together. Children need time to be children and yes, families need to take responsibility for that. 

But churches don’t need to hurt families by putting extra demands on them. 

There are only three essentials to the Christian life – worship, discipleship, and service. Two of those can be scheduled at any time during the week. The first priority is worship. Yes, worship can be done alone. Solitary worship enhances, but never replaces, corporate worship. The family of God needs to be together. When you don’t have the faith to believe, the brothers and sisters around you believe for you and get you through the rough patch. Worship is the moment when we make sure God is in the center of our lives. Without Him in the center, our lives spin out of control. 

The second requirement is discipleship.This is the moment where we break down the great teachings of our faith into moment by moment pieces so we can live them out day by day. This when we are coached in the practices of our faith. Here is what Jesus says. Here is how you do it. This can happen anytime.

Service is the moment when we prove the truth and value of Jesus’ teaching.  Bringing a glass of water to someone who is thirsty, visiting those who are sick or in prison, feeding the hungry and sharing the good news of Jesus is where we see the difference the love of God makes in the real world. 

Like I said, two of these – discipleship and service – can be done anytime during the week. Corporate worship takes a little more work to schedule, but again, there’s no law that says it has to be Sunday morning at 11.  We have the freedom to make these faithful practices work for us.

The church is called to enable people to live their best lives. We don’t do that by putting more and more demands on our people to attend meetings and programs that no longer meet their needs. People have enormous demands on their time. Everyone is feeling the stress. The church shouldn’t be adding to it. 

The church, of all organizations, has the stewardship responsibility of making sure our people have the opportunity to live their lives in the richness of God’s kingdom. We know how valuable time is. So, when you call for your people’s attention, make sure it’s worth their time. 

After all, we don’t waste time. We waste life.