Crazy Busy - Kevin Deyoung

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Chapter 2: Three Dangers to Avoid

  • We wake up most days not trying to serve, just trying to survive
  • We have more opportunity than ever before
  • The major danger from busyness isn't physical - its spiritual
  • Danger:
    1. Busyness can ruin our joy
      • As Christians we are to be: marked by joy, taste like joy and be filled with the fulness of joy
      • Busyness is like a sin: kill it or it will be killing you
    2. Busyness can rob our hearts
      • Busyness can be like thorns to a seed (parable of the sower)
      • Thorn 1: "The cares of the world"
      • Thorn 2: Desire for other things
      • The seed of God's Word won't grow to fruitfulness without pruning for rest, quiet and calm
    3. Busyness can cover up the rot in our souls
      • What does it say about me if I'm always overwhelmed?
      • What do I need to learn about myself?
      • What biblical promises am I not believing?
      • What's going on in my soul, so that busyness comes out as my chief challenge every year?
      • The presence of extreme busyness in our lives may point to deeper problems
Chapter 3: The Killer P's
  • Our understanding of busyness must start with the one sin that begets so many other sins: pride
  • Some branches of pride:
    • People-please: This is a form of pride and narcissism
    • Pats on the back
    • Performance evaluation
    • Possessions
    • Proving myself: Ambition for our own glory must not be confused with ambition for God's glory
    • Pity
    • Poor planning
    • Power
    • Perfectionism
    • Position
    • Prestige
    • Posting
  • What to keep in mind: Am I trying to do good or to make myself look good?
  • It's not supposed to be about me. Feed people, not your pride.
Chapter 4: The Terror of Total Obligation

  • When it comes to good causes and good deeds, "do more or disobey" is not the best thing we can say
  • I am not the Christ
    • You are not the Messiah, so don't try to be
  • There is good news
    • The gospel is good news of great joy, and God is the only hope for the world
  • Care is not the same as do
  • We have different gifts and different callings
  • Remember the church
    • The only work that absolutely must be done in the world is Christ's work
  • I can always pray now
    • Don't let moments pass you by
    • Trust God for the results, and more often than not, move on
  • Jesus didn't do it all
    • He did not try to do it all. Yet, he did everything God asked him to do
  • We carry a cross that says I'll do anything to follow Christ, not a cross that says I have to do everything for Christ
Chapter 5: Mission Creep
  • Jesus was terribly busy, but only with the things he was supposed to be doing
  • Jesus knew the difference between urgent and important
    • He understood that he could do a lot of things but they weren't necessarily the thing he ought to do
  • Jesus knew his priorities and stuck with them
  • Ultimately, Jesus was driven by the Spirit
  • What are you priorities? What's your mission?
  • We need to think about what ought to matter compared to what is mattering
  • Three Truths:
    1. I must set priorities because I cannot do it all
    2. I must set priorities if I am to serve others effectively
    3. I must allow others to set their own priorities
Chapter 7: Deep Calls to Deep

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