I've listening to Cal Newport's Deep Work audio book lately. It has been helpful and hard at the same time. Helpful, in that it is challenging me to focus more deeply on those things that matter to me as I seek to strengthen churches through my ministry at Chemistry. Hard in that it is challenging me to rethink the ways that I spend my time and prioritize things.
Newport spends a significant amount of time pushing us to think through how we engage with social media (one of his chapters is called Quit Social Media). And while he doesn't necessarily suggest that we all run out and delete our Facebook accounts right now, he does suggest that we take an approach towards social media, and technology, similar to that of the Amish:
The Amish, it turns out, do something that’s both shockingly radical and simple in our age of impulsive and complicated consumerism:they start with the things they value most, then work backwards to ask whether a given technology performs more harm than good with respect to these values.
Stew on that for a moment.
Whether it is technology, events, our weekly programming, or our next staff hire, we would be well served to take a lesson from the Amish. When considering to add a new thing to our plate, begin by asking "what is it that we value most?" Then work backwards with those you trust to determine whether this new thing is a net positive or negative.
Ministry thrives when we are able to say no to good things in order to focus on the best things.