Nailed. Ouch

I'm absolutely guilty as charged by Tim Keller here:

"I have often seen many men spend a great amount of time on preparing and preaching lengthy, dense, expository messages, while giving far less time and energy to the learning of leadership and pastoral nurture. It takes lots of experience and effort to help a body of people make a unified decision, or to regularly raise up new lay leaders, or to motivate and engage your people in evangelism, or to think strategically about the stewardship of your people's spiritual gifts, or even to discern what they are. It takes lots of experience and effort to know how to help a sufferer without being either too passive or too directive, or to know when to confront a doubter and when to just listen patiently. Pastors in many of our Reformed churches do not seem to be as energized to learn to be great leaders and shepherds, but rather have more of an eye to being great teachers and preachers."

I've got even more reason than "Reformed" leaders to do this: I believe that the Holy Spirit wants to turn up in amazing ways when I'm preaching, so surely I should be giving much of my time to working out what He wants to do and praying that He would!

This is an example of our best strengths being simultaneously our biggest weaknesses: God has given me a gift of teaching which I love, but if I'm not careful I'll give too much of myself to it and neglect the leadership gifting He has also given me, to the detriment of both.

It's so good of Him to mention this to me now, I hope I get it in my head. And my diary.