Managing Time

Dali-clock If you’ve ever been to Washington, D.C. and ridden the Metro, you’ll know that the entrance to a Metro station is often a place where street performers hang out, playing an instrument or doing some kind of performance art for spare change. Usually, the quality of performance isn’t that great, though sometimes it’s ok. When we were in DC awhile back there was guy playing 5 gallon buckets like drums. He was quite good.

 If you watch the crowds of government workers and tourists walking by, though, you’ll notice that most people never give a street performer a second glance. People tend to be very focused, in their own little worlds. Maybe they drop in a few coins to be polite. One or two might actually stop and listen for a moment. Most people hurry by, though, seemingly pressed for time.

 But what would happen if one of the finest musicians in the world were playing at the Metro station? Would the quality and passion of the performance be enough to get people to stop and listen? This was the question posed by some writers at the Washington Post, who recently conducted an experiment at L’Enfant Plaza—one of the busiest Metro stations near where many government offices are located.

 The Post pitched the idea to violinist Joshua Bell—who is extremely well-known in classical music circles but not a household name or recognizable face to most people. According to the Post, “Three days before he appeared at the Metro station, Bell had filled the house at Boston's stately Symphony Hall, where merely pretty good seats went for $100. Two weeks later, at the Music Center at Strathmore, in North Bethesda, he would play to a standing-room-only audience so respectful of his artistry that they stifled their coughs until the silence between movements. But on that Friday in January, Joshua Bell was just another mendicant, competing for the attention of busy people on their way to work.”

 Dressed in non-descript jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and a Washington Nationals cap, Bell stood by a trash can and began to play–on a Stradivari violin made in 1713, one of the most valuable instruments in the world—worth $3.5 million. Bell took the instrument and began to play Bach’s Chaconne with the passion and brilliance of one of the world’s best musicians on one of the world’s finest instruments. It was the kind of piece and the kind of performance that anyone, even those who aren’t fans of classical music, would recognize as brilliant. The Post wanted to know—would people take notice? Would they break their routine even for a moment to acknowledge beauty in the midst of the ordinary?

Here’s a video of what took place, shot from a hidden camera.

 

 

 

 Some of the passers-by were interviewed. Why didn’t they stop? The overwhelming answer? People just said they were busy, had other things on their mind, were pressed for time. Some who were on cellphones spoke louder as they passed Bell, to compete with that infernal racket. In their minds, people could not afford a moment–even for something beautiful.

 Maybe that’s because most of us in this culture have a very warped sense of time. We have somehow allowed ourselves to be mastered by time instead of mastering it for ourselves. We’re always on the clock, it seems. The number one response I hear from people these days is, “I don’t have time.”

 That’s an interesting statement. Think about it…each of us is allotted the same amount of hours in a day, each of us has the opportunity to determine what to do with those hours. Each of us has some fixed and discretionary time. We have access to hundreds of different devices to plan and manage time…yet we don’t seem to have any time. The truth is that it would be more accurate to say that we don’t effectively use the time we’ve been given. How many moments of beauty, wonder, and mystery have we missed in our lives because we’ve blown right by them in an effort to catch up with our time?

Taking control of time is the second dimension of ordering your private world. Last week we talked about motivation—the difference between being called and being driven. One of the keys to living a called life vs. a driven life is the ability to manage time according to purpose and priorities.

 Gordon MacDonald says that unmanaged time is the cause of much disorganization in our private worlds. When we fail to budget time, we find ourselves indebted to a wide variety of distractions. He lists some of these in his book:

 • Unmanaged time flows toward our weaknesses: We can find ourselves spending more and more time on things we don’t do well at the expense of excellence in our areas of giftedness. Personally, I find that if I don’t block out time for reading and studying, my time gets taken up by a lot of administrative details, leaving me pressed to do the best job I can in writing sermons, which is the part of the week that requires my best attention. If we don’t prioritize our time to work on our strengths, it hurts us and those we are to serve.

 • Unmanaged time is vulnerable to the tyranny of the urgent: If anyone and everyone has claim on your time in a given moment, you will always be susceptible to the demands of others. I had a supply sergeant in the Army who understood this. He had a sign on his desk that said, “Your lack of planning is not my emergency.” He refused to allow others to unnecessarily dominate his time. Without managing our time, particularly time for ourselves, we can become “a quivering mass of availability.” We’ll find ourselves always in output mode. 

 • Unmanaged time gets invested in things that gain public acclamation: This is real problem for driven people. We want to be recognized, want to be well-liked by others. Therefore, we have a hard time saying “No.” We can spend our time on things that aren’t necessarily important in favor of that which gives us a quick shot of self-esteem. When I was younger in ministry, I used to receive a lot of invitations to speak at conference youth events. I was the “expert” and people loved to hear me speak. I spent a lot of weekends at these events, but my performance in my regular ministry was less than optimal. I started to love being the center of attention more than doing what I was called to do. It wasn’t helpful to me or to my church. I had to learn to say, “No.”

 Most of us are victims of unmanaged time and wonder what “managed” time looks like. Here’s where Scripture helps us. In the Greek of the New Testament, for example, there were three words that could be used to describe time: eon (an age or epoch) chronos (chronology, clock time, linear time), and kairos (God’s timing or “divine” time). How these words are used really taught me a lot. We looked at these a few weeks ago, but it’s important to visit them again.

 Most of us are governed by chronos—the clock is both our friend and enemy. I like to be on time (as most of you know). In a sense that’s good. I want to be mindful of my own time and that of others, which is why we start worship promptly. Chronos time is what gets us up in the morning and orders our day. Think of chronos time as currency to be invested, budgeted, and spent wisely.

 Again, we all have the same amount of hours in a day. We can look at that in two ways: one way is to say that it’s not enough (the popular view). The other way is to look at those 24 hours as an investment that you plan for well in advance. I know for myself that if I’m managing my calendar well my stress level goes way down. If I block out time for working out, writing, spending time with my family, looking at each hour as valuable, then I’m not so subject to the tyranny of the urgent. Things do come up, but I can put them in context and make an informed choice about how I spent my time. Chronos can, indeed, be managed. We simply have to be willing to prioritize and do those things that are most important first.

 Think of time as an offering to God. Biblically speaking, we budget time like we budget money. A percentage of that time comes off the top and is dedicated to God. Then there is time we’re obligated to (like financial obligations) and time that is discretionary. A lot of people tell me that they don’t have time to do things with the church or to spend with God. They have the time, they just haven’t budgeted it according to a priority list.

Spending that chronos time wisely involves some serious self-knowledge. For example, each of us has times and periods of a day when we are more effective. I always write better first thing in the morning, for example. Thursday morning is my sermon writing time. I’ve blocked out that time because I know that’s when I’m at my best. Afternoons are better for meeting with people. Evenings I catch up on correspondence or just chill out if I don’t have a meeting. Even the seasons of the year affect us. I’m usually most energized in the fall and spring. The period between Christmas and Easter is always tough for me—it’s a down cycle and rhythm. I know that I will feel a little blue and down during that time, and knowing that I can plan for it in advance. I plan my most challenging sermon series for September and for April/May as that’s when I’m most on my game.

 There are hundreds of resources out there to get you connected in managing chronos time.

 The Bible tells us, though, that understanding kairos time is equally important. Chronos can keep us focused, but kairos is often where life is lived at its fullest.

Kairos is one of those Greek terms that doesn’t completely translate to English. The best way we can think of it is “opportunity.” Kairos time is that moment when the purposes of God and our purpose match—a holy moment, a “thin place” as the Celts used to say. Kairos time is always fully present—always in the moment. It’s an opportunity to see into the deeper things of life, an opportunity to suspend our manic movements and catch a glimpse of the beauty and wonder of God. You might think of kairos time as God’s time and God’s timing—a time of opportunity.

 Jesus was indeed the master of kairos time. Because Jesus was fully focused and aware of his purpose, he did not feel the tyranny of the urgent. He was always on the move, but always aware of God’s presence at any moment. When you read about his interactions with people, Jesus had an uncanny knack for always being fully present with people. He would not have been glancing at his watch, thinking ahead to the next thing or ruminating over the past. He saw opportunity everywhere and seized that opportunity strategically.

 The story in Luke 18 that we read earlier is a classic example. Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem, where he had an appointment with the religious leaders—one that would lead to his crucifixion. The disciples are on a timetable to get there. They have the schedule worked out and they are in a hurry. Passing through Jericho, the group happens by a blind beggar on the side of the road—an obvious distraction and a possible delay on the journey. The disciples hear the man crying out to Jesus, but they want him to be quiet. Being the self-appointed secretaries of the Savior, they don’t want Jesus to be distracted by this man.

 But the blind man would have none of it. He simply cried louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Now, surely in that crowd of people this man wasn’t the only one shouting. But Jesus, being fully present, recognized a kairos moment. Notice what verse 40 says, “Jesus stood still…” He stopped and listened—one man standing against a sea of others slipping by. He ordered the man to be brought to him and asked, “What can I do for you?”

 “Lord, let me see again,” said the beggar. “Receive your sight;” said Jesus, “your faith has saved you.” The man was healed and immediately joined the crowd following Jesus.

Jesus had a clear sense of purpose, but his purpose was larger than simply going to Jerusalem to face his destiny. His purpose was to be fully present, to heal, to teach, to be available. But Jesus also recognized that his time was limited and that he needed to spend it well. He would often retreat to the mountains for prayer, leaving the crowds behind. He was not swayed by popularity, not subject to the demands of others, but always aware of his purpose and of where he was at any given moment. Healing a blind man on the side of the road was a kairos moment…an opportunity to show God’s power and God’s love—a chance to make someone’s life beautiful again.

 How many times in a day do we blow by these opportunities? How many times do we miss the beauty around us, the opportunities we have to encounter God, because we’ve allowed our time to be taken up with other things? Jesus understood that when we order our chronos time, when we order our inner lives, we are much more able to hear God’s voice and respond to those kairos moments.

 So here’s an assignment for you. Go home this afternoon and look at your calendar for the week. What does your calendar say about your purpose, your priorities? Give it a good hard look. Have you planned your time well according to your strengths? Have you made time for yourself, for renewal? Have you invested time to spend with God? Have you given time to the service of God? Budget your chronos time well and track it for a month. See what that does for you. I’m going to guess that the more you take control of your time and intentionally plan it, the more at peace you’ll feel in your private world.

 But the second part of your assignment is this: be available for those kairos moments. Look for them. You never know where God is going to show up and be found playing a beautiful melody of grace. Now here’s what you do…when you experience that kairos moment, I invite you to take a minute and write about it. Send me an email with the story. I’d love to collect those and post them on my blog for others to see. The more we become aware of those kairos moments, I’m convinced, the more opportunity we have to really change the world around us.

 Want to have some fun with this? Next time somebody asks you what time it is, tell them: “It’s kairos time.” Be available to the kairos moments around you every day. God is always at work, and opportunities to encounter God’s work are always presenting themselves if we’re looking for them. Disciples of Jesus learn to manage their chronos and look for the kairos! 

 

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