Ministers need leisure time, says past SBC president

To be healthy, ministers should plan their leisure time like they do other aspects of their ministry, said former Southern Baptist Convention president Jim Henry.
   
Jesus practiced the ministry of leisure, said Henry, pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla. Leisure time must be earned, he said, but learning to get away refreshes people to do their jobs better. 
   
Henry spoke to the Association of State Baptist Papers, the organization of official state convention newsjournals, during the group’s annual meeting in Fort Lauderdale. Based on Jesus’ “feeding of the 5,000” in Mark 6, Henry talked about “living beyond your circumstances.”
   
Jesus knew His disciples needed a break, Henry said, and He “is aware of our circumstances.” We get tired and need to learn to enter a “ministry of leisure.”
   
“Nobody in seminary ever taught me, and no pastor ever mentored me,” to take time away, Henry said. He “hit the wall” in 1983, due to excessive job demands and recognized the need for a sabbatical. 
   
It took a month just to wind down and relax, Henry said. “I realized I had never taken the time to watch God at work.” He now tells staff members to plan their leisure just like they plan anything else. 
   
When thousands of people sought Jesus, He knew they were hungry, Henry said. “Jesus cares about our circumstances” and wants to help us, he said. 
   
But Jesus also puts us in circumstances in which we need to help ourselves, Henry added. 
   
The disciples thought there was no way to feed the crowd. 
   
But Jesus used the opportunity as an object lesson to teach the disciples that, just as God fed the Israelites in the wilderness, He can provide nourishment in the present. 
   
Jesus often works through other people, Henry said, such as the little boy who contributed the loaves and fish. “There will be times when God will use other people in our circumstance to assist us in it and through it,” he said. (ABP)