Information Fatigue
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Benjamin Kreps:
Hey everyone. And welcome back to the Mark Prater podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of churches with our Executive Director.
Mark, last time on the podcast, we talked about the fatigue, the weariness that a pastor can feel from the many different decisions that are connected with reopening—the criticisms critiques, the many conversations that are happening on elder teams. But also, at the same time, our guys, many of us are dealing with the fact that we are just taking in massive amounts of information. There is just always something new and terrible happening that appears on our Twitter timeline or elsewhere. Do you have any words for us, Mark, to encourage us as we process all of these voices each day?
Mark Prater:
2020 has been quite a year. Hasn't it? I mean the first six months, and we're not even through the full six months yet, but the first six months of 2020, we probably won't forget for some time.
Benjamin Kreps:
Did we skip over murder hornets?
Mark Prater:
Oh, we did.
Benjamin Kreps:
I think we might've skipped over murder hornets.
Mark Prater:
We did. We have not been serving the pastors of Sovereign Grace by not murder hornets
But, obviously, so much information. When I hear guys talk, pastors in Sovereign Grace, there is, what I would say, an information fatigue. Obviously with the pandemic you're trying to get all the information you can and then the lockdown. And what do you do as a church in the midst of a lockdown and then reopening plans and information continues to really change on that that might affect your reopening, how you do reopen in the future. The tragic murder of George Floyd and the peaceful protests that have occurred here in the States and in places throughout the world. And then just earlier this week on Monday, the Supreme Court decision related to the civil rights law of 1964. All of that is information that a pastor has to be aware of. So I think guys are, are experiencing some information fatigue.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. I mean, I think some of us, I would guess, deal with this skillfully and tactfully, but there would also be some of us that are on Twitter, other social media platforms, and could easily just become immersed in constant new information that's arriving, analysis of information. I've told my church, you know, sometimes that the best thing in the world to do is just close the app for a while.
Mark Prater:
That's good counsel. I think right now, 1 Timothy 4:16 is appropriate for pastors. Obviously, Paul is writing to Timothy pastorally—it's a pastoral epistle—where it says, keep a close watch on yourself. So watch yourself, in this case, how much information are you exposing yourself to. You need it, but you can overload yourself. So keep a close watch on yourself and then keep a close watch on the teaching. A part of the reason we need the information is because we need to pastor and lead our churches with good theology.
So, obviously in the first six months of this year, our ecclesiology has been really important in terms of how we thought about matters in terms of closing down and reopening our church. Also having a good biblical theology of race. From Every Peoples and Nation by J Daniel Hays, by the way, is my go-to book there. If you haven't read that, I would. And then a good theology of human sexuality in light of the Supreme Court case this week. So make sure that you're keeping a close watch on your doctrine and teaching and spending more time on that than getting all the information that you need.
Benjamin Kreps:
Yeah. I mean, our responsibility is not to, as pastors, bear all of the burdens of everything terrible happening in the world, though I imagine we certainly care. Our responsibility is to bear the burdens and cares of our church, primarily, and live local. Wouldn’t you say?
Mark Prater:
I totally agree. Yeah. I think that you're getting the information because you're trying to then determine how it's impacting your church. So another, actually this is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Acts 20:28: Pay careful attention, different language here, pay careful attention to yourself and to the flock of God, where he has made you an overseer.
And I think that's really important right now that you're paying careful attention to your specific church, because all of those issues that we just mentioned that have played out the first six months of this year are going to impact churches differently. And so you've got to study your church, you've got to know exactly how it's impacting them to know then how to lead them through it, preach them through it and pastor them through it. And so I think what that means is there's not a uniform way to address all of those issues. Pastors are going to need to determine what's best for their local church.
And what that's done for me, Ben, has just increased my appreciation for our pastors in Sovereign Grace because I know they're doing that. I'm just so grateful that they're not being influenced by what another church may be doing, but they're paying careful attention to their church and taking appropriate leadership and caring for their church.
Benjamin Kreps:
Well said. Thanks, Mark, for your thoughts. And thank you everyone who watched this podcast. We'll see you next time right here.