Is Your Study a Sanctuary?



The minister's study is a very important part of his life. Much could be said about the room itself and its equipment. But essentially it should be a place with as near ideal conditions as possible for prayer and the study of God's Word. What happens when the minister enters his study and closes the door on his family and the rest of the world? The obvious answer is that he should be studying. Yet if the study is nothing more than an intellectual sweat shop, then there is something seriously wrong.

A Sermon Factory
The problem is that the minister has been trained in divinity college to do all the research required to enable him to compose sermons. The text has to be placed in its proper context, fully understood and faithfully applied. This involves a great deal of painstaking intellectual labour. The product is a sermon, and when he finishes it he has a certain sense of achievement. The danger is that he is satisfied with his labours and devotes the rest of his time to correspondence and administration, and a thousand other things on which he needs to catch up. But if he has not been involved with God during his preparation, the study has become little more than a sermon factory which doubles as an office.

A Meeting Place
The minister's study ought to be a place where he meets with God, where he wrestles with God in prayer, where he enjoys God, and where he becomes so saturated with God that there is little room in his thoughts for anything else. It should be to him a sanctuary, and "holy ground", a place which he loves, not simply because of its intellectual pursuits, however enjoyable these may be, but rather the place where he meets with God. The tragedy of the present situation is that for many the study is not a sanctuary. The demands on our time as ministers are very great. There is the overwhelmingly important task of taking the gospel into the homes of those who do not come to church. There is the pastoring of the flock both in homes and in hospitals. There is the overriding responsibility to one's own home and family. Some will go as far as to say that the writer of this article is unrealistic. But that is not the case.

The Lord of Time
Who is the Lord of time? Who can help us organise our lives in such a way that we achieve maximum efficiency? Who alone is able to eliminate the unexpected snags that take up so much of our time? Most important of all, whose work is it? Who can give energy required? Who can give or withhold the fruit for which we so much yearn? God is Lord of all, Lord of time, and Lord of His own work. As ministers, our faces must be towards Him continually. We must aim to be fit vessels for His use. The fountainhead of our work is in the sanctuary with God. We must aim to meet with Him. Under His Word we will be searched and examined. This will sometimes be painful, but even when it is, we are blessed. He wounds and He heals.

A Godly Minister
Some might object that congregations today want to see a minister actively at work in the community and that they are not spiritually minded enough to appreciate a godly minister. This is without foundation. Surely the majority of God's people want to see a minister standing before them whose life and utterances indicate a man who has been in the presence of God. They want to see personal holiness in their minister. It gives them confidence in him as he preaches, as he comes into their homes and as they see him evangelising the unchurched. They will have a burden to pray for him and will love him and forgive him his shortcomings.

Study Conversion
How does the minister convert the study into a sanctuary? First of all he must regain his focus and lift his eyes heavenwards. He must cause all his activities to converge on the true work. It is God's work, not ours. In the study we must be involved with Him. To this end all distractions must be removed. There are certain things that should never be allowed across the threshold. The regular morning paper taken into the study is a disaster. How many ministries have been ruined by it! The same applies to worldly magazines. If these are to be read the study is not the place for them. Think "sanctuary" before you allow anything to cross the threshold.

Passionate Sermons
Finally, our actual studies must be spiritually focused. It has often been said that the minister's devotional Bible reading should be kept separate from his sermon preparation. Surely that needs to be examined afresh. While there is no substitute for regular Bible reading, his sermon preparation should also be part of his devotional life. He must himself be the first beneficiary of his sermon, enjoying fellowship with God in it. The division we make between the two areas of a minister's study life is surely of doubtful value and is best set aside. We wonder why we lack conviction and passion in the pulpit. Is not part of the answer that our preparation has been a cold intellectual exercise instead of something that has caused us to say: "My soul doth magnify the Lord" (Lk.1:46).


Any comments or questions please E-Mail me or Rev William Macleod the editor.

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