EATING YOUR GREEN BEANS!

I don’t know what the vegetable was at your house growing up that your mother told you to eat before you could leave the dinner table. For our son, I remember the stickler being green English peas. We created a system in which he had to eat at least as many as his accumulated years on earth. So in fourth grade (age 9), he had to eat nine peas before being dismissed from the dinner table. I recall one night where he sat and pushed those nine little peas round and round for an hour after dinner was done. The dishwasher was running and he was still staring at the peas. In retrospect we probably should have negotiated a substitute veggie if they offended him that much.

For me growing up it was green beans. We ate a lot of green beans. They were cheap and easy I suppose. I did not hate green beans in grade school. And i grew to really like them. But at some point (probably ages 4 or 5), i recall the constant jovial refrain from Mom: “Eat your green beans!” Meaning: it was too easy to fill my tummy on everything else.

What veggie comes to mind for you?

In ministry, for each of us there is something that we have to discipline ourselves to get around to, often writing it in our calendar so that there is no escape. For otherwise we will find a million other important things to do, squeezing something essential out.

I have known plenty of pastors for which this was sermon prep: the tedious exegetical work before the sermon itself can be crafted. The internet tempts many to take shortcuts from Scriptural encounter. For others, it is certain tasks of pastoral care: hospital visits or calling upon the homebound members. For still others, it is stepping away from the urgent to think and plan longer term. We all have our green beans.

In working with scores of church planters over a quarter century, the introverts often put off the 1:1 people encounters that are non-negotiable in planting a new congregation. They work on plans and sermons and web design. And procrastinate the most critical tasks of planting a new faith community.
This is human. All of us have our green beans. Those who are effective in ministry have almost always disciplined themselves to get the green beans out of the way as soon as possible each week, knowing that they often find a burst of enthusiasm and energy for the other stuff when the chores are truly done. In cases where a ministry grows, pastors may be able to add staff who take the lead on tasks that suck their own energy.

But I have never seen a pastor who was effective in their leadership who had not learned how to manage their time so that the important stuff gets done.

Procrastination is a dead end street. If fatigue is the issue, then get some extra sleep. And then see to it that you get all the stuff done that is mission critical for you! No excuses! Just do it.

And in the case of green beans, given this season of the year: add some onion rings and some cream of mushroom soup and make it a casserole! You are creative enough to have a lot more fun with the chores than you might otherwise have!

Spice it up a little people, and you might stop dreading it!