People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Procrastination
by James W. Moss, Sr.Procrastination is a major obstacle to achieving our best for the Kingdom. It has been my observation that sometimes the most gifted of God’s servants are the guiltiest of this fault. I have watched with frustration as some of the most gifted pastors I know achieved far less than their gifts would have indicated possible because of procrastination.
John Smith is the very talented pastor at Newtown Church. It is 11:00 p.m. on Saturday evening as he begins his sermon preparation for the morning. This is not unusual. John believes he works best under pressure. That is a very false illusion. John and Newtown Church would both benefit if he had a regular schedule for sermon preparation that began on Monday, with the conclusion finally written by Friday noon.
Procrastination is the major obstacle to innovation. It is very difficult to be creative when always working from behind.
Causes of procrastination
There is a lack of knowledge or training to do the task. Simply stated, people will have difficulty getting started if they don’t know what they are supposed to do. This is an important issue in the church. Harry and Mary have been attending their church for ten years. They are given an important assignment. The church assumes they know what they are supposed to be doing. They don’t and simply don’t function. Churches need to be sure that each person given an assignment is appropriately trained.
Past mistakes in similar endeavors may paralyze my efforts. Susan Jones has done this same job three times before. Each time Susan made major mistakes. Now the church is asking her to try again. Under such circumstances, it would be helpful if someone would walk with Susan through the process to make sure it is done right. If no one in the church really knows how, then recruit someone from outside to assist.
Fear of failure immobilizes many. George Thompson comments to any who would listen. I don’t know whether I could do something that I might fail at. It is safe to say, George has accomplished little in life. Everyone who does much has failed many things. Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Palmer says it is not bad to walk a batter; it is what you do with the next batter that tells the story. It is okay to fail. But what will you do with the next effort.
A lack of self-confidence causes procrastination. I have been amazed at how many Christians, both pastors and laity, lack self-confidence. We have to believe that God would not give us an assignment he hadn’t already given us the ability to do. We have to believe in our God-given gifts and talents. We also have to believe that God never sends us to a task alone. He is walking with us, providing guidance and wisdom along the way.
A simple dislike for a task may cause procrastination. Remember cutting stencils and running the messy old mimeograph machine. I can remember how many times I found myself doing that on Saturday evenings. I hated that job. So I put it off as long as possible. Move these jobs up on the agenda.
A lack of discipline causes procrastination. Routine jobs need to be scheduled on a regular basis. Certain jobs need to be done on Monday, Tuesday, etc. Then they need to be done on that schedule. The schedule is only changed to accommodate a funeral or some other major ministry event.
Procrastination will be evident
Procrastination causes haste and a lack of quality in work. You might get away with writing a sermon once at 11:00 pm on Saturday night. But you won’t a second and third time. The people will know if effort has not been spent. Harry Brown carefully prepared the first two points of his sermon. He had not carefully budgeted his time. He ran out of preparation time. Harry shot from the hip on the third point. The congregation knew precisely what had happened. Harry couldn’t hide it.
The longer you wait to do a difficult job, the harder it will be to begin. You have a difficult visit, phone call to make, or letter to write. Do that early in your day. Don’t put it off. Please don’t put it off to tomorrow. It won’t be any easier.
Remember, procrastination is an enemy to effective work in the Kingdom. The road down is paved with good intentions.
_____________________
Also See:
 |
Psychology Today: Procrastinators Perform Poorly Under Pressure |
|
Procrastination: Top Ten Things to Know |
|
Are You a Procrastinator? |
_____________________
Read about Jim's seminars and books.
_____________________
August 26, 2003. Volume 6, Issue 9. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.