Traffic Stats
In my last post, I listed some goals for the new year. One of them was to have my sermons done before Saturday. I want to have that day to catch up on things and work on other projects. Sometimes I feel a little detached from other preachers, particularly from those who don't need to work a full-time secular job. I imagine my life as quite different than theirs - busy with other things during the week, then Saturday is the sermon-writing day. But maybe that's not the case.
I was checking the stats for my sermon outlines blog. I get a fair amount of traffic on it and I began noticing an interesting pattern. There is typically a spike in traffic every seven days. What day of the week is that? Saturday. (see image below)
Maybe the late-night Saturday sermon-writing among preachers is more common than I would have liked to think. Kind of makes me wonder what these preachers without secular jobs do with the rest of their week.
Disclaimer: I know not all preachers do this. So this is not a knock against all non-secular-working preachers. But...
This may be a reminder for us. If your congregation pays a man to preach the gospel, ask the question: Is he worthy of receiving those wages? Or is he one that goofs off all week and then throws together a couple sermons on Saturday? If it's the latter, maybe that man ought to look for some other employment while the congregation puts their money to better use.
I was checking the stats for my sermon outlines blog. I get a fair amount of traffic on it and I began noticing an interesting pattern. There is typically a spike in traffic every seven days. What day of the week is that? Saturday. (see image below)
Maybe the late-night Saturday sermon-writing among preachers is more common than I would have liked to think. Kind of makes me wonder what these preachers without secular jobs do with the rest of their week.
Disclaimer: I know not all preachers do this. So this is not a knock against all non-secular-working preachers. But...
This may be a reminder for us. If your congregation pays a man to preach the gospel, ask the question: Is he worthy of receiving those wages? Or is he one that goofs off all week and then throws together a couple sermons on Saturday? If it's the latter, maybe that man ought to look for some other employment while the congregation puts their money to better use.
I wish you could be compensated for the hard work you put into your preaching and teaching. Your reward will ultimately come. Continue to battle the discouragement that has to dog your paths some days.
(Don't you like how I managed to work "dog" into the conversation?)
My Dad worked full time and preached also while I was growing up... still does. He always said that he regretted that he only had the time to prepare and present sermons, and that he fully understood that there was so much work to be done with evangelizing and teaching that he was just not able to do. I hope that most full-time evangelists and members understand that their role is so much more than sermons.
I also don't have an issue with a man waiting until Saturday to prepare a lesson (I've certainly done it many times). Some people work better close to a deadline and that's fine. But as Heather pointed out, there is a lot more that a man could be doing that relates to his work, besides just writing two sermons each week. If he's doing that all week and preparing Sunday's sermons on Saturday, great.
But if he's not, and he's just wasting time, doing nothing, and then writing sermons on Saturday, he ought to just get a job to support himself and let the church use that money for something more worthwhile.