time protection vs. missional holisim – part one

“I wish I had time for that, but…”

The 21st century pastor hears this sentence so many times in a year that we must stand in awe of his nearly Spock-like self-control. The temptation to simply fall to the ground, retching with laughter after hearing this for the 1000th time from someone who ostensibly came for help and godly counsel is surely strong.

In my next couple of posts, I will be examining this statement from a few different angles. I will also be advocating for what we will term Missional Holism, which means I will not be arguing that we all just try harder, but instead that we completely re-think the way that we view our time in general.


To begin with, I concede the following:

1. The 21st century missionary may spend an enormous amount of hours in his/her office or vocational setting
2. The missionary with small children may spend a great deal of time engaged in injury prevention, hysteria management, and starvation control
3. No words wholesome enough to post on this blog can describe the painful commute most face on a daily basis
4. Battlestar Galactica is one of the better television shows to come along in many years

That said, I find that what most people think of as a lack of time often amounts to distorted theology. That is to say, many either don’t understand what the Bible says about their time, or they don’t take it seriously.

Rest-Centric Life Paradigm

Take, for example, the nearly ubiquitous belief that rest = isolation + entertainment (translation: television). Biblical support for this culturally ingrained life-paradigm is surely lacking. Let’s leave the definition of Biblical rest to the side for the time being (or read this). In the rest-centric paradigm, one might easily change entertainment to being outdoors in the above formula, or to working in the yard. What is clear is that other aspects of life are secondary and are thought to be incompatible with what is truly important, my rest.

Family-Centric Life Paradigm

Or, what about the husband and wife who decide that the only thing that matters to them at this time is the health and growth of their children? What will be their answer when you ask them about the mission God is calling them to?

“We are called to Junior’s beauty sleep, of course,” they will answer, “The skies parted, the light shone, and God said ‘Lo, and you shall make sure that Junior sleeps from precisely 1:30pm to 3:15pm, and from 5pm to 6pm, and yes, even from 8:15pm to 6:45am shall he sleep. Thus shall my wrath be abated.’ Who are we to question the Almighty?”

Work-Centric Life Paradigm

The work-centric paradigm is easily identified: simply listen for complaints (or subtle jabs) about anything not work-related.

“Sorry, I have to take a vacation or I’m up for a divorce.”

“Leaving early huh? I can’t remember the last time I left at 6:30!”

“Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning.”

Oops, that last one was Bill Gates.

Life Paradigms and Conflicts

Pulling Away From Real Purpose

The point is, undergirding all of these beliefs are a few pervasive assumptions:

1. One should allocate as much of one’s time as possible to certain pursuits (typically thought of as one’s real purpose in life) at the expense of others

2. “Secular” pursuits can not and should not be harmonized with “Spiritual” pursuits

3. The various facets of one’s life are mostly incompatible and function best when securely separated from one another (i.e., mission from children, work from family, etc.)

4. If this clear separation and prioritization does not occur, one is likely to be pulled away from one’s real purpose


So what does the Bible say about these things? Did Jesus keep His X-Box time sacred? Did Joseph invite folks from the office to a potluck? What are your thoughts?

Note: See Dr. Stewart Friedman’s work in this area to observe this phenomenon from a purely secular perspective. I am both borrowing and modifying liberally to address this topic from a Biblical perspective in this post.