Rob Bell, my car and tiredness

Where was Rob Bell last Monday at 1.30pm? Somebody crashed into my car and drove off while I was shopping on the Greenford Avenue Co-Op.

Anyway in our house-group, during the prayer time, we have banned the 'I'm tired' prayer request. I can't remember the last time I met someone who isn't tired. It's the equivalent of the minister saying 'I'm busy'. If you live in London I'm assuming you're tired and if you're in ministry I'm assuming you're busy.

The shame of saying 'to be honest I'm pretty relaxed at the minute, sleeping well and working enough but not too hard' is unthinkable. It's as if the person would be horrified if we're not working ourselves to the bone. McCheyne wrote 'The seed of every known sin is planted in our hearts'. My problem is I find the reality of sloth and workaholism in my heart in the same afternoon. I'm not sure I understand why I find it easier to admit I'm too busy than that I am occasionally lazy, (see what I did there? I'm too busy but only occasionally lazy) Both are as bad as each other. I think it has something to do with my profound belief in my own self importance and how I'm perceived by others.

It reminds me of the story of when Jay Adams preached at the church I work in sometime during the 80s. He supposedly began his sermon by asking people to put up their hands if they had committed murder, then adultery, then fraud. As you can imagine all hands stayed firmly down (we're that kind of church). Finally he asked 'Who worries?'. Nearly every hand went up, to which Jay Adams said 'You don't think it's a sin do you?' We don't think of worry as sinful, in the main, but it seems to me that we don't think of over busyness as a sin either.

We have bought into the subtle culture of our day that sees busyness as something to be aspired to and then moaned about. I love the way Jesus is so human as you read about him in the gospels. His humanity shines forth. The greatest man who ever lived knew what it was to be harassed but knew what it was to rest. He spent time with people, with crowds, and yet he knew what it was to withdraw.  I wonder if you asked Jesus 'How are you?' what he'd have said? My hunch is he wouldn't have said tired or busy and then moaned about it and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have asked for prayer about it either.