WANTED TIME VRS. WASTED TIME

WANTED TIME VRS. WASTED TIME

“If a person gives you his time, he can give you no more precious gift.”

Years ago I knew a young pastor who kept an hour glass on his desk. When church members arrived for counseling, he made a point of upending this hourglass to make them aware that his time with them was limited to an hour. When the sand from the top of his hour glass had filled the bottom of it, he abruptly ended the counseling session.

This pastor cited above told other pastors know about his habit, probably hoping to impress them. I was impressed when, as a young pastor, I heard about this. But not in a positive way. Words like “ostentatious” and “ignorant” came to mind as well as others that won’t be mentioned here.

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There are people who seem dedicated to the waste of their’s and other people’s, including their pastor’s, time, and pastors must learn how to prevent this as graciously as they can, but rudeness is never an option. And, pastors need to be careful about rushing to judgment in terms of what does and doesn’t constitute a waste of their time.

A pastor cannot know how much a little of his time may mean to certain people, if for no other reason than as an expression of his care for them. Sometimes people desperately need direction. Many times they just need a set of sympathetic ears into which they can “vent.” Time simply wanted with a pastor isn’t always time that will be wasted.

What is true of pastors and their time is true relative to to a parent’s time with their children, a person’s time with their spouse, a friend’s time with a friend, or the time that we may spend with (more likely invest in) an acquaintance or stranger.

Eternity will reveal that some of the time that pastors have considered wasted time, has actually been some of their most preciously and profitably invested time. The same thing will no doubt be true of us all.

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