“…that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” 2 Cor 5:19b-20
I believe very strongly that the Gospel of Jesus is the only hope, the only answer for our fallen world. As church techs, we get to play an important part in helping support and communicate that Gospel. It's also important that we are diligent to take good care of ourselves so we are in the best possible shape to run this race set before us.
Recently I was capturing video of Dr. Eric Scalise, a member of our local church, as he taught for our caregiving ministry. He was speaking on the importance of self-care because when we get “squeezed” whatever is found on the inside of us comes out. While he was teaching, I was reminded of my own experiences and the experiences of others serving in the church technical arts. In a conversation with him later that day, he encouraged me to pass these principles of self-care on to you in the form of this short series of devotionals.
1.Don't forget your first love.
Why? Because we are not primarily technical directors, video directors, audio techs, stage hands. Nor are we primarily husbands, wives, fathers or mothers. We are first sons and daughters of a gracious Heavenly Father. Secondly, we are brothers and sisters of one another.
In Mark 3:14-15, Jesus appointed twelve disciples not to “do for Him” or “work for Him” or “be professional for Him.” He first appointed twelve disciples to “BE with Him.”
2.Learn what it means to have real joy.
Our daily lives are filled with pressure to pursue happiness and pleasure. But true joy rises far above pleasure. As technically minded people, we might lean towards deriving a sense of pleasure from what we do. I mean, how can we not? Digital things are fun. Automated processes intrigue us. This isn't all bad. It becomes bad when we begin to seek the pleasure from our serving. Often, the sources of our pleasure can also be sources of frustration and the feeling of being overwhelmed.
In 2 Timothy 3, Paul writes of those that were “lovers of pleasure” rather than “lovers of God.” Psalm 16 speaks of the fullness of joy being in the presence of God. God, help us to learn the difference between real joy and happiness or pleasure.
3.Learn to depersonalize the process and limit your time around negative people.
Why? As techies, we are conduits of criticism. As we all know, generally speaking people rarely notice what we do until something goes wrong. Perhaps we make a mistake during a transition, someone inconveniently places a vocal mic directly in front of your front fill or there are just technical problems you aren't quite sure how to explain. As a leader, you should be receiving feedback and criticism. However, I know I'm not alone in saying that I sometimes struggle with not taking things personally. When I do, I can become very negative towards myself. This is not healthy. We need to be careful of where we derive our identity.
Philippians 4:8 tells us to dwell (emphasis added) on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellence and anything worthy of praise.
4.Learn to rest.
Why? Our culture conditions us to push harder, jump higher, and run faster. Just think of the rapid changes we have see in the use of technology in the last decade. However, when we get overly busy we run the risk of just “doing” church and not “being” the church.
Ecclesiastes 10:10 states “If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength.” Most of us don't use axes, but certainly we all know the difference a sharp drill bit can make. A nice sharp bit tends to do all the work with little exertion.
The principle here is that we help ourselves stay sharp by learning how to rest. Otherwise, we expend more energy and work harder to accomplish the same thing.
5.Maintain a healthy foundation of sleep in your daily routine.
Why? The average person needs at least seven or eight hours of sleep per night. God created us to work hard and to use our minds to work efficiently. At the same time, he created us to sleep in order to restore our mind and body.
Sometimes we use caffeine to extend our work hours or increase our productivity, but according to Dr. Scalise caffeine can affect our sleep cycles. Stress may have the same affect on our sleep quality.
Psalm 4 and Proverbs 3 both refer to sleep being “sweet” or lying down to sleep “in peace.” Sometimes, the stress we carry or caffeine we drink may be sabotaging the sweetness or peacefulness of our sleep.
I encourage you to pause in your day to evaluate how you are doing in caring for yourself in each of these five areas. It's sometimes helpful to have a diagnostic tool by which to measure yourself. Ask those closest to you for their feedback. On a scale of 0-10, how would you rate yourself in each of these areas?
1.Remembering my first love:
2.Experiencing joy:
3.Depersonalizing:
4.Resting:
5.Sleeping:
Mark your scores. By the end, we may have a better picture of areas of our lives, which may need some attention.
In the next part of series we'll continue with more ways church techs can learn to take better care of themselves so that we may run with endurance.
