Your Work is Some of the Most Important Work in the World
Mar 13, 2024Season 1Episode 48
Todd Rhoades
Do you ever feel like your work in church ministry could reach further, touch deeper, and have a more lasting impact? I'm Todd Rhoades, and I invite you to join me on an enlightening journey into the world of deep work, a concept that could revolutionize how we fulfill our spiritual callings. Inspired by Cal Newport's game-changing principles, this episode is a treasure trove for anyone on a church staff, from senior pastors to youth ministers, looking to profoundly transform their approach to work.
Imagine an hour of pure, unadulterated focus—no interruptions, just you and the mission that stirs your soul. That's what we're unpacking today. We'll talk about the difference between deep and shallow work, and I'll share personal insights on how deep work can lead to continuous learning, spiritual growth, and mastery of your ministry skills. Whether you're crafting your next sermon, planning a groundbreaking ministry initiative, or advancing an essential project, this episode equips you with actionable strategies to enhance your concentration and perform work that echoes into eternity. Join me, and let's push the boundaries of what we can achieve with our God-given talents and dedication.
Do you ever feel like your work in church ministry could reach further, touch deeper, and have a more lasting impact? I'm Todd Rhoades, and I invite you to join me on an enlightening journey into the world of deep work, a concept that could revolutionize how we fulfill our spiritual callings. Inspired by Cal Newport's game-changing principles, this episode is a treasure trove for anyone on a church staff, from senior pastors to youth ministers, looking to profoundly transform their approach to work.
Imagine an hour of pure, unadulterated focus—no interruptions, just you and the mission that stirs your soul. That's what we're unpacking today. We'll talk about the difference between deep and shallow work, and I'll share personal insights on how deep work can lead to continuous learning, spiritual growth, and mastery of your ministry skills. Whether you're crafting your next sermon, planning a groundbreaking ministry initiative, or advancing an essential project, this episode equips you with actionable strategies to enhance your concentration and perform work that echoes into eternity. Join me, and let's push the boundaries of what we can achieve with our God-given talents and dedication.
Hey there, welcome to you. Wherever you're listening today, this is the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for joining us. My name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom. This week we've been today's Wednesday, it's home day and we've been talking about deep work and how we need to do more deep work as church staff members and how it's really important it comes to us from. The idea came from the book entitled Deep Work. It's by Cal Newport. It's a best seller and you can pick that up where at Amazon or wherever you like to buy books, but we've introduced the difference between deep work and shallow work.
Speaker 1:
On Monday and then yesterday, we talked about your work as a church staff member is some of the hardest work in the world. We talked about your work as a church staff member. I don't care if you're a senior pastor or you're a children's pastor or an executive pastor or a worshipper or students. Whatever your work is. Wherever you work at a church, your work is some of the most important work in the world, literally out of all the things you could have done with your life. You chose to do this. There are easier places to work. Believe me, there are more stable places to work than most churches. There are more financially rewarding places to work. But you chose and maybe God chose and put a special calling on your life to be in this church world, this soul business. And one of the reasons that your work, brother and sister, is important is because your work today, the work that you do today, has eternal ramifications, or at least it has the opportunity to have eternal ramifications. Plumbers, tax collectors, any other kind of work Bible says do everything, everything that you do with your hands, and everything do it under the Lord. And plumbers and tax collectors can do that as well. But you were your position. You, working in a church and working along the mission of the church, has the potential just to have to change lives and that's why you do the work and that's why that it's some of the most important work in the world.
Speaker 1:
And deep work, the ability to really we've talked about leaning in, zoning in and really doing some really deep work is important because your work is important. So how do you do that? How do you respond? A few things that I think will help you in your ability to do. Deep work is deep work allows you to constantly learn, it allows you to be introspective and to really do some soul searching, to be constantly looking for what's next for you personally, for your family, for your church, and it constantly reminds you of the importance of your work, because this continuous learning, the honing in of your skills, the spiritual growth that can come as a part of this deep work, and this added focus and concentration really will allow you to make some huge strides in your work.
Speaker 1:
This high quality, deep work it. There's no way to do it without Focus time and just intense focus. Whatever I want you to take about it away from it today, hopefully today. Yesterday we asked you first of all to identify any distractions that you have that you had yesterday, write them down on a piece of paper and then today to schedule 30 minutes to an hour of deep work and by doing that deep work you're also committing to eliminating those distractions and those interruptions for that 30 to 60 minutes. So today I want you to determine what you're gonna spend that half hour to an hour. Hopefully you took an hour. Hopefully it's on your calendar so that you can do it. It's at a specific time today where you can do it, this high quality work today.
Speaker 1:
I don't really I don't care what you do with it. It's not so much. It's not about how much you do, it's not about even what you do. It's about the intensity that you do it with, it's about the focus that you have and it's about the impact of your work. So, going into this session, before you start your 30 minutes to an hour let's just say an hour before you start your hour of deep work decide what you're gonna work on. Maybe you're gonna hunker down and really work on your sermon really intently for an hour with no distractions. Maybe you're gonna work on a new ministry goal or a new ministry program, or maybe you're gonna work on a project that is really important that you need to move the dial on. Decide beforehand. Don't go into your deep work session not knowing what you're gonna do. Have a specific project that you can really sink your teeth into and you're gonna be able to measure your effectiveness and, believe me, you will after an hour, because you'll be surprised, by just taking out the interruptions and really diving in deep, how much work you can get done.
Speaker 1:
The high quality output of your work will only get better the more you hone in on your deep work skills. I found that the more I set aside. The more regularly I set aside on my calendar these pockets of time where I can really focus and really do deep work, the better I get at it and the more I can get done, even in one session. And the reality is, the better you get at this, the better your church gets as well.
Speaker 1:
All right, so what's your call to action today? What I want you to do is follow through on your plan that we talked about yesterday. One hour you can do 30 minutes if you want it, but one hour. Put it on your calendar now. You, if you need to move around, a call or something, do it. But get this one hour on your schedule. Determine what you wanna talk, what you wanna work on for that one hour of deep work and make sure that you rinse and repeat after this. So, even if today you struggle with it a little bit, you don't have to do it tomorrow, but I would say two to three times a week. Set aside some time where you can actually do this kind of deep work.
Speaker 1:
Here's my hunch, here's my guess is that you will find it. Well, it might be hard to start initially. You will find. In the end, when you're done with it, you'll find it invigorating and you'll see the benefits in measurable ways. Deep work will make your important work feel important, and deep work will make the important work that you do as a church staff member Feel more impactful. Okay, so that's what I want you to do, what I'm asking you to do for today.
Speaker 1:
Tomorrow we're gonna continue this series and tomorrow we're gonna talk about we talked about yesterday how your work is the most difficult some of the most difficult work. Today we talked about how it's your work as a church staff member some of the most important work and tomorrow we're gonna talk about how your work as a church staff member this is my favorite part is some of the most fulfilling work in the world. Hope you'll join us again tomorrow. Here are the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. If you have any questions or any topics you'd like for me to discuss here on the podcast, you can reach out to me anytime at podcastscom. Until tomorrow, have a great day.