Q. WHAT’S A GREATER INVESTMENT THAN TITHING MONEY?
A. TITHING YOUR TIME
“I cannot help but always hope that we are thinking continually in terms of a lot bigger things.’”
-Jim Rayburn – Monday Morning, Dec 1, 1952
It is Friday, noon in West Virginia. The Young Life Staff “close the books” on the work in their areas. What? Are they done for the week? It can’t be! The Young Life job is never done. There is always another
-game to go to,
-donor to visit,
-leader in training,
-student to listen to.
How can these Young Life Staff friends just quit for the day? Multiple demands and obligations consume the weekly schedule for every Young Life Area Director, leaving little space for dreaming, visioning, and spiritual discernment. But yet, “white space” is important to planting seeds and fertilizing ministry growth. So what might it look like if you permit yourself to set aside time for dreaming? Imagine setting aside two hours on Friday afternoons when one checks off their priority meetings, tasks, and activities from the week and moves into a time of dreaming and praying about God’s movements in the next town over or expansion in the local ministry. Simply tithing our time.
When we pause, we are able to see where the Lord is moving. What has He placed on our mind and heart?
Does the community next door have a YL Presence?
Who are the people in that community that care deeply about Christ and Kids?
How can you participate in the conversation and what do you offer?
In your understanding, what steps are required to move forward?
How can you join in on what the Lord may be doing in the surrounding communities?
But if the demands of the week have been too much, allow yourself some grace and rest. In fact, take a Nap. Take time to rest and leave the New (Community) and Next (Geography) until next week. Psalm 127 says:
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
18 YL staff in West Virginia scheduled this time of dreaming and vision-casting on Friday afternoons. They ‘Tithe their Time’ in a disciplined way by applying the New, Next, or Nap principles. God responded to their offering of time and creativity, and in a short time, 17 new ministries have started to everyone’s astonishment.
If this has stirred your heart a bit, you may be asking what I should do next?
Talk with your Region/supervisor about Tithing your Time
Enlist some YL Staff friends to do this together
Place this on your calendar for the year. If it is not on your schedule, it will soon be forgotten
Pray and ask the Lord what should be Next and where should you Build
Watch what the Lord will build.
- By Scott Berg and JC Bowman