In North America, if someone asks how you’re doing, you’re likely to reply, “I’ve been busy.” Responding any other way could imply that you aren’t an important person with important things to do. In today’s culture, busyness has replaced holiness, wisdom, and virtue as the most coveted quality of an admirable person. We care more about what people do than about who they are.
The question is, what are we busy doing? We can spend an entire day running from meeting to meeting with our phone glued to our ear. We may be busy. But it’s possible to be extremely busy addressing peripheral concerns while completely neglecting the issues that matter. Busyness isn’t noble if you’re busy doing unimportant things.
Jesus promised that if we walk closely with him, we will bear much fruit (John 15:5). We tend to focus on results. God zeroes in on fruit. There’s a difference. We can achieve results through our own effort, expertise, and skill. Only the Holy Spirit can produce fruit.
Even ministers can become more fixated on results than on fruit. Did attendance increase? Did giving go up? Did people enjoy that song? Yet it’s possible to increase attendance without any help from the Holy Spirit. Cults experience growth. If you offer people what they want, you will almost certainly attract a crowd. But only the Holy Spirit confronts sin. He has no patience for hypocrisy. He focuses on exalting Christ, not the pastor. He transforms sinners into saints. He builds the church. He draws people to himself.
The real test of spiritual leaders is not their busyness. It’s not even their results. It’s their fruit. Jesus focused on fruit that lasts (John 15:16). We have all seen megachurches spring up overnight under the charismatic leadership of a results-oriented leader. But as soon as the congregation learns that their pastor is living an immoral lifestyle, the crowd dissipates. Flash-in-the-pan leadership is common. It looks attractive at first, but it is quickly gone and forgotten.
Perhaps we need to start asking different questions. Rather than asking how busy someone is, we could ask, “Have you been fruitful?” Or, “How is the Spirit working in your life and ministry?”
Leaders can use busyness to camouflage fruitlessness. There might not be much fruit, but they sure have been busy! That was Martha’s problem. She was the busiest person in the building, but she was also the most disoriented to Jesus (Luke 10:38-42). Lots of hard work but no fruit.
Take an inventory of your life. Is there fruit? If not, perhaps the activity that is keeping you so busy is of little importance. Sure, people might enjoy what you do. Your efforts might grab people’s attention. But at the end of the day, does it produce lasting fruit?
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what adjustments you need to make so your life is fruitful, not merely busy.
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