When you have a whole pile of things to be done, how do you decide what to do first? My first reaction is to make a comprehensive to-do list, preferably including a few things I have already done, so I can tick them off. Next, I look at everything there is to do, panic, and seize on some displacement activity; though this can take quite constructive forms, when I finally get back to my list it's no shorter...
When I get down to work, I tend to look first at urgent things, or those that people have already asked me about several times; then things I enjoy doing. Finally, I get around to the part of my list that takes up my energy: for me that may well involve coordinating a lot of people and dates. Often by that stage time has run out, so I heave a somewhat guilty sigh and leave those tasks to tomorrow's list.
Does any of this sound familiar? And if so, does our faith have anything to say to us about prioritising our time and effort? It may seem a long way from my overladen desk to the Bible, but two snapshots of God's people at work may help.
The first, from Exodus, shows Moses trying to sort out everyone's problems, and running himself ragged. His father-in-law, Jethro, knows what the difficulty is: Moses isn't letting anyone else help. Yes, he is needed to decide difficult problems; but there are many people among the Israelites who are able to take responsibility: so Moses should find such people and let them get on with it.
This sits well with our form of church government, where different groups have responsibility for different aspects of church life. The minister in a United Reformed Church is one of the leadership team, not the only leader. So it's important for me not to grab opportunities and decisions for myself when other people are perfectly capable: don't let me do it!
The second, from Acts, is of the young Christian community in Jerusalem. Again, there is a dispute - this time, one ethnic group in the community complains that their widows aren't getting as much support as others are. So the apostles decide to find people who are good with money and can make sure resources are distributed justly, while they themselves concentrate on preaching and prayer.
This emphasis on the roles and gifts of different people fits very well with Pentecost, when to their surprise God's Spirit made Jesus' friends able to communicate God's good news in many different languages. For when Paul talks of ways of working inspired by the Spirit, he almost runs out of descriptions: apostles sent out with the good news; prophets challenging earthly powers with God's word; teachers explaining how God works so others can understand; miracle-workers whose offer of God's forgiveness and love makes extraordinary things happen; healers, demonstrating God's desire that all should be whole; people gifted with wisdom, with trust in God, with spiritual insight, with administrative ability - the list just goes on!
And that brings me back to my own to-do list, and to yours. For we each of us need to consider prayerfully how best to use the gifts God has given us. When something needs to be done in church, it's not so much a matter of ‘Who has time for this?' but ‘Whom has God given the ability to do this?' If we all follow that line of thought, and share our work accordingly, maybe we'll all have fewer items carried onto tomorrow's to-do list!