Confronting Busyness

Last year I started volunteering in an after-school tutoring program for at-risk children (mostly kids coming out of families involved with drugs, homeless families, and families where parents don’t spend much time or effort with them). It was an amazing experience and you could tell that having people be consistent in their lives made a big impact. So I decided I was going to do it again this year and we had a training meeting last week. (Yes, I do have a point, be patient.)

One of the things that drove the director of the program nuts last year was that there were a number of people who would show up about two times a month (which made them just one more unreliable person in the lives of the kids). So this year I was glad that the director took a tougher stance on people’s involvement. She set it up so that if you miss three times then she’ll ask you not to come back (and give you a swift kick on the way out, I’m going to ask if I can have that job).

When she was talking about this she said something that really impacted me. It went a little something like this (sounds like the intro to an 80s rap song):

“I know some of you may be thinking, ‘I’m busy, I can’t commit to being here every week.’ Well, you know what, we’re all busy. I know some of you are in college and will have finals, but I’m giving you the schedule now, so plan ahead. If you can’t commit to being here every week, that’s fine, but then just don’t do it. It’s not fair to these kids.”

It struck me as kind of brutal at first (I’m not a person who’s very good at confrontation and when I try to do it I always soften whatever it is I want to say), but as I thought about it I was kind of convicted. In ministry I hear people saying they don’t have time a lot. No time to use their gifts to serve others. No time to be with God in prayer (I’ve definitely said that before). No time to interact with Scripture. No time to build relationships. People don’t want to commit because they’re busy, and I was challenged to think about the fact that we’re all busy, but some people make the time to do the things that are important. Let’s face it, we all waste time. We do have schedules, families, and activities that are very important, but we will do what we believe is important, and I’m not sure watching ten hours of football a week (that’s me) or Desperate Housewives (not me) really has eternal value. Just something that made me think.