\u201cThe most important part of Christmas is the first six letters.\u201d<\/p>\n
This quote was on the bottom of a devotional page a friend gave me in college and I think of it every year.<\/p>\n
C H R I S T<\/p>\n
The most important part of Christmas is Christ. That is what came to mind when reading Tod Bolsinger\u2019s discussion of being tempered. He wrote, \u201cWorship, not work; honoring and dedicating myself to God and not leading \u2013 even in God\u2019s name \u2013 is the first priority of every week.\u201d[i]<\/a> The tempered leader first and foremost prioritizes worship. The resilient leader prioritizes rest. The enduring leader knows how to pause.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done.\u201d (Gen. 2:2, ESV)<\/p>\n \u201cRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God\u2026 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.\u201d (Ex. 20:8-12, ESV)<\/p>\n Rest. That is the key. Bolsinger started his book with a quote from a senior pastor, \u201cThe question I find myself asking is not<\/em> \u2018Can I learn the skills I need to lead change?\u2019 but rather \u2018Can I survive<\/em> it?\u2019\u201d[ii]<\/a> The answer to being able to survive ministry or any leadership position lies in rest. We have been in a season of stress and have been stretched to our limits. We are coming out of the Covid pandemic, but the effects will be felt for a long time to come. According to a Barna study from November 2021, 38% of pastors considered quitting full-time ministry.[iii]<\/a> Pastors are weary and in need of rest. Bolsinger writes, \u201cI learned from blacksmiths that if we want a tool to become tempered there is a process of stress and rest, of heating the steel and letting it cool, of using the tool and releasing the stress that needs to become the regular rhythm of the tool.\u201d[iv]<\/a><\/p>\n Some sermon illustrations just stay with you. I remember this one from decades ago. Pastor John gave the analogy of two lumberjacks cutting down trees. The first man worked non-stop all day long, cutting down trees. By the end of the day, he was exhausted. The second man started working and then before too long, he stopped for a break. He worked some more and then stopped for lunch. Over the course of the afternoon, he stopped several more times. At the end of the day, they went to count the number of trees each man had chopped down. The first man was sure he would have the most trees in his pile, but to his surprise the man who seemed so lazy throughout the day had the larger pile. What the first mad did not realize was that every time the second man sat down, he was sharpening his axe. He was more productive because he kept his axe sharp.<\/p>\n There is a reason God commands us to keep the Sabbath holy. We are not the Energizer Bunny. We are not created to keep going and going. Are you stopping to sharpen your axe or are you working continuously with a dull axe? \u00a0As we break for Christmas, I pray that we will all remember the most important part of Christ<\/strong>mas, and that we may all stop, rest, worship, and sharpen our axes.<\/p>\n [i]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change<\/em>, (Downer\u2019s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), pg. 199.<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> Ibid., pg. 1.<\/p>\n