EQ | Biblical Preaching

I remember a few years ago hearing a message by Bill Hybels. He spoke about the gauges on his personal dashboard. If my memory serves me well, he said that his spiritual gauge was looking good, but something was wrong. He was heading for burnout, but not because of spiritual issues. He said that he learned there were more gauges than just spiritual. If you remember the message, feel free to comment and correct my ten year memory. But the point is a good one.

What is the reading on your spiritual gauge? Are you walking in step with the Spirit, living close to Jesus and spending time in His presence through His Word? What about your emotional gauge? Are you taking time to rest, to laugh, to play, to wrestle with your children or enjoy a walk in creation? What about your physical gauge? Are you getting the sleep you need, ingesting healthy fuel and burning energy (and stress) through running, gym-time, judo or traditional native dance? And let’s ask about the mental gauge too. Are you being stimulated in your thinking through a variety of reading, some stretching, some relaxing, some outside your primary areas of focus, etc. And what about stimulating conversation? That may be hard to come by, but in the context of healthy relationships, it can work wonders on all four gauges!

Whatever gauges you have on your dashboard, take a reading from all of them. It could be devastating to be looking at only one of them and find yourself burning out unawares.

In the first part of this post we thought about the reality of almost constant discouragement in ministry. One part of our response to these things must be to look to God and press on. But then there is another side – look to God and renew.

Renewing ability to focus – Discouragement can easily steal focus from our lives. We might go through the motions and do what needs to be done, but do so without a real ense of focus and concentration. Ultimately this means we are not giving our best to God, family, ministry, etc. The ability to focus requires processing of discouragement and distraction with God (take time to pray through the issues and “cast your cares on Him”). Then there are other factors in focusing, simple ones like getting exercise (it helps the brain, endorphins and all that stuff), plus getting sleep.

Renewal of the EQ – Bill Hybels spoke a few years back about our EQ – our Emotional Quotient. He suggested that we’re quick to care for ourselves spiritually and even physically, but there are also the emotional needs that we have. Rest is important in multiple forms. Enough sleep. Days off. Times away from our normal role. Time with the family. Time alone. Time with friends to share the deep struggles. Time with friends to just unwind. Time to laugh and relax. I know you don’t have time for all this, neither do I. But if we don’t make the time then we will suffer and the EQ dial will start flashing warning lights at us.

Remember this – Loss of focus, discouragement, distraction, etc. are not a good excuse for sin. When our internal fuel tanks are low, temptation will usually hit us pretty hard. But sin will only compound the issues, not help us escape from them.

Being able to focus is important in any preaching ministry. What other tips can you share with us? What do you find helps you?