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Avoiding the trammel net[15] |
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Listening is linked to opportunity and to action.
God speaks not only because He has something to say
but because He has something to say but because
there are things He wants us to do. You are probably
as tired as I am, however, of getting caught in a
trammel net as a result of leaping to respond to the
expectations that other people place on us. |
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When a friend of mine
moved to a new region, she was beset by invitations
to do this and to attend the other. She felt the
Lord impressing on her that she must not allow
herself to become ‘trammeled’ into doing things just
because they sounded sensible, and because she was
gifted in those areas.
The Lord Jesus must have walked straight past many
people who were in genuine need. It is flattering to
be asked to do things (especially if they pay well!)
but wisdom lies in prayerfully assessing the
invitations that come our way.
It is not that we are called to be prima donnas who
refuse to lend a helping hand, but neither can we
afford to pay too little attention to God’s highest
call on our lives.
Growth in any aspect of life depends on a right
structuring of priorities. If we can identify the
central goals in our life, we have far more chance
of allowing them to direct and govern our lives.
Otherwise we will be in danger of ‘aiming at nothing
and hitting it every time.’
Leaders especially need to take care to follow the
Spirit’s prompting, rather than allowing people’s
demands to dominate their schedule. So much depends
on their stewardship of time, and on their
sensitivity in not imposing unfair expectations on
those for whom they have pastoral responsibility.
It is very important for us to choose carefully who
we spend our time with. To help us understand the
different character-types we rub up against, Gordon
MacDonald identifies the following:
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VIPs
(Very Important People). Wise ones, whose wisdom
sharpens our lives, and to whom we look for
accountability.
VTPs (Very Trainable People). These are people who
are just waiting for someone to light the blue touch
paper. We should invest heavily in their lives.
VNPs (Very Nice People). These people make up the
majority of church congregations. They would not
dream of doing wrong, but they may still be quite
some way from the cutting edge.
VDPs (Very Draining People) complete the list. These
people are such past masters at draining our time
and energies that we can easily end up spending huge
quantities of time almost helping these people,
instead of taking proactive steps to befriend and
disciple people we really can help, and be helped
by. |
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The Lord does not
want VDPs to impose their will on us and determine
our schedule. This is not to write the VDPs off. By
God’s grace all and any can change, but we may need
to re-examine our calendar in the light of this
understanding. If VDPs are ‘leeching’ our life away,
we may need to take more time out to pursue contact
with the VIPs who keep watch over us.
At all costs we must not permit the incessant
demands of the VDPs to prevent us from reaching out
to the strategic VTPs. These people are usually so
sensitive to our time pressures that they hold back
from approaching us, in case they prove a burden to
us. This is a great tragedy. They might have
benefited greatly had they had the courage to pursue
their desire to reach out to us. If they will not
come to us, it is up to us to go out of our way to
nurture and encourage them.
For Reflection and Prayer
The following exercise will help you to prioritize
your lifestyle in the light of the Lord’s leading.
Draw three columns on a sheet of paper. In the
first, write down your broad purposes – the themes
that God is stressing in your life. If you can,
prioritize them in terms of the importance you
believe they should have.
In the second column, write down the activities you
are currently involved in, as well as some of the
things you have been invited to do, or one day hope
you may do. It will be quite a mish-mash, but jot
down as many as you can think of. Prioritize these,
too, in order of the importance you accord them.
Finally, in column three, list all the activities
according to how much time you are devoting to each
activity.
The results are easy to collate. Notice in
particular things that take up a considerable
portion of your time and energies but which are not
amongst your stated priorities.
Does the way you are spending your time reflect
these priorities? If not, what is stopping you from
accessing your calling more fully? Is it health,
work or family commitments? Or are you simply
insufficiently determined to over come the
obstacles?
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