My husband holds a high administrative position in the church. He works so hard that he does not have time to study the Bible. When he does get home from the office, he relaxes by watching television or reading the Reader's Digest. He does manage to read the Sabbath school lesson.... I see such a lack of deep spirituality in the office." So reads part of a letter that came to our office.
I know something of the pressures. For eight years I served in departmental and administrative roles on the conference level. You arrive home after midnight. You are supposed to be at worship in the office at 8:00 a.m. You just have time to eat and run. What happens to private devotions? They tend to get skipped or drastically shortened. The work never seems to end.
When I was in college, leaders from all levels of the church came and spoke to us. We students used to joke about their poor sermons. How had they managed to reach such high positions? we wondered. To us, their sermons seemed somewhat banal, often consisting of stories strung together with a few trite expressions.
After becoming a member of a local conference staff and later part of the General Conference staff, I discovered why this is so apt to happen. Please do not misunderstand me; there are some great preachers holding high positions in the church. But too often we let the pressure to produce, the need to be in the office from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. or to be on the road in interminable travel, dictate our priorities.
As pastors we were expected to study; we had to preach a different sermon each week. Now the same sermon can suffice for a dozen or more places. Thus it is easy to study less and also to let one's devotional time slip. We may once have been great preachers, but now we have let other things, good things, interfere.
"There are Marthas in every church. They are intensely busy in religious activities, and they do much good; but we need also Mary's side of character. The most zealous workers need to learn at the feet of Jesus" (Testimonies to Ministers, p. 346).
Martha was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner for Jesus. What could be more important? While Martha was active, "doing," Mary was passive, "being," sitting at the feet of Jesus. Are you, am I, more content in the kitchen than in the living room? Do we find Martha more attractive than Mary? Martha was accomplishing something. Mary was doing nothing--we think. Can we be so busy "serving tables" that we do not have time for prayer and the study of the Word?
As leaders we seem to live by commit tees. Are the committees we serve on concerned with the spiritual, or just the business oversight of the church? The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy make it clear that business should be entrusted into the hands of spiritual businesspeople at all levels of the work.
The history of Israel reveals that the spirituality of our people rises no higher than that of the leaders. When we decry the lack of spirituality in church members, we are really pointing the ringer at ourselves. If we are too busy to sit at the feet of Jesus, how can we expect our people to sit at His feet?
Divine inspiration has told us, "It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ" (The Desire of Ages, p. 83). How much time do you spend each day with the Lord? If your wife wrote a letter to us, what would she report? Would she say you were more Martha than Mary? What would my wife report? As the problems become more complex, as we wrestle with office moves, high debts, loss of confidence in leadership, apathy, and hostility in churches and institutions, we need to be spending more time with the Lord rather than less.
If it is His work, then we need to have confidence that He can do His work. We are but the instruments. On our knees the Lord will give us the answers. It is sitting at the feet of Jesus, not working in the kitchen, that will give us the power to be God's leaders. --J. David Newman.
