Updated 4/11/12

Ministry can be IS a challenging calling.

A life committed to discipleship and service is one that calls us to be available to others — accessible — nearly all the time.

This call to ministry is a high calling for so many reasons, not the least of which is our need to be willing to set aside our own agendas each and every day, in order to more closely follow the leading of Christ so that we might better be able to meet the needs of others.

And as we all know, this is much easier said than done.

Sometimes it requires a willingness to drop what we’re doing to talk with the student who shows up in our office door — regardless of whatever we might be working on at the time.

Maybe it’s a willingness to approach that student that is sitting alone — regardless of where we have to be.

Maybe it’s a willingness to stay at home to tend to the sick or the ailing — regardless of how full our calendar is.

Last month I posted some reflections based on some tension I was experiencing about leaving my family in order to travel with some student over spring break, as well as some thoughts on the book Choosing to Cheat by Andy Stanley that had really served to shape some of my thinking in this area.

As you think about your schedule, and the people in your life, who is it you are making yourself most available to?

Who gets the majority of your time?

Who gets the best of you?

When I first wrote this, two years ago now, I was at home with my family.

My then expectant wife was in desperate need of a visit to the chiropractor.

My schedule at work was full.

But it cleared up.

And over the course of the past 15 years of ministry I’ve been challenged to find a healthy way of being a good husband, father, and campus pastor.

I continue to learn how best I can be available and accessible to both my family and the campus community I serve.

There are always compromises to be made, sacrifices to be offered.

Someone, it would seem, is ultimately being asked to wait… and in that I find comfort as I’m reminded that there’s only One who can be all things to all people… and I am not that One!

How about you?

• Who are you most available to?
• Are there ways in which you struggle to be accessible to some — or to all?
• Who gets your best?
• What message do you think it sends to students when you ‘cancel on them’ to tend to your family?
• What message do you think it sends your family when you “need” (or choose) to work “extra hours?”
• What are the challenges this post brings light to in your own life and ministry?

Take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment section below!