The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness by Tim Chester
Week 6: Chapter 5 — Busyness and the Need to Feel Needed
Read Chapter 5 of The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness. Key passages to consider: Galatians 6:3; 1 Corinthians 3:5-7.
Previewing Week 6 of The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 11-week guide when you’re ready.
Chester introduces a subtler idol — the need to feel indispensable — and shows how it produces a peculiarly Christian kind of busyness that wears the costume of ministry. Read with your guard down.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Chester describes the idol of indispensability — the deep satisfaction we get from being needed. Have you experienced this? What does it feel like to be the person everyone turns to, and what does it feel like when you are no longer needed in that way?
2.He points out that this idol is especially dangerous for people in ministry or leadership because it masquerades so effectively as servant-heartedness. How do you distinguish between genuine service and the need to be needed? Is the distinction always clear?
3.Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:7 that 'neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.' How does that verse cut against the idol of indispensability? What does it feel like to truly believe it?
a.Is there a ministry or role in your life where you have unconsciously made yourself the indispensable person? What would it look like to step back?
b.What do you fear would happen if you did?