It's that time of year again...the beginning, day 1 of 365! A time to do some self-evaluation, to dream big, to cast aside bad habits and form new ones. A time to resolve to do better in 2022 than you did in 2021, whatever that means for you.
Every year I make 10ish resolutions, some which I take quite seriously and some which I abandon before the Rose Bowl is over. So here's this year's list!
1. Translate one Old Testament verse and one Greek verse every day
For years I've been flirting with the idea of pursuing a PhD in Preaching from my beloved George W. Truett Theological Seminary. There have been several obstacles standing in my way of making the leap, but the most intimidating has been the language requirement: all prospective students must be proficient in biblical Greek, biblical Hebrew, and 2 research languages (typically Latin and German).
As this particular PhD program has evolved over the last few years, there's been more and more grace extended regarding the research languages, so I'm less concerned about those than I used to be. But as for the biblical languages, I really think I need to be more comfortable with them than I am now before I can even apply for a PhD. Plus, you know, it's just best practices for a pastor-scholar to be able to work with those languages proficiently.
So to help me brush up, I'm resolving to, as part of my daily devotional and study time, translate one verse from the Hebrew Bible and one from the Greek New Testament. My hope is that making this a daily exercise, but not an especially daunting one, will have me more familiar and comfortable with the languages as the year progresses. 2 verses a day isn't going to make me fluent, by any means, but every little bit helps!
2. Read one systematic theology
Systematic theologies, which can best be described as "a theologian tries to explain God, the universe, and everything," are the kinds of tomes that have shaped pastors and theologians for centuries. And thanks to some killer sales from ChristianBook.com, I've accumulated a pretty decent collection from a number of theological perspectives (namely Baptist, Methodist, general evangelical, Reformed, Roman Catholic.)
But the time has come to stop just admiring them on the shelf and actually pick them up and read. And given how long and how dense the average systematic theology is, reading just one in 2022 seems like a perfectly reasonable expectation.
So don't expect to see any of these in my monthly book log until the fall, or even until December. My plan is to just read 5-10 pages a day, starting with the most influential systematic theology of all, which I'm embarrassed to confess I've never read: John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.
3. Spend 30 minutes writing each day
This one should familiar to those of you who have been reading these posts for a few years now. If I'm ever going to write something besides a weekly devotional and sermon, I'm going to have to set aside some time in the day.
So this year the game plan is to spend 30 minutes per day writing. The point here is not to complete a project (which is why this resolution is not titled "Write a book"), but simply to get me reps in on a daily basis. I don't always enjoy writing, but I do know that the more I do it, the better I get at it. So here's to lots of practice in 2022.
4. Read or listen to 5 sermons per week
The problem with pastoring is that I don't hear a sermon when I go to church on Sunday morning, I preach one. So if I'm going to be formed by the proclamation of the gospel, I have to pursue it outside the confines of my congregation.
So my plan is to listen to 5 sermons per week, one for each "work day" (Sunday-Wednesday and Friday). My hope is that I'll experience some spiritual formation, that I'll be exposed to different styles of preaching, and that my own preaching will improve as a result.
I don't want to just listen to the same 5 preachers every month, so if you have recommendations, shoot me an email. I've already got about 20 preachers in mind, but I'm happy to add to the list.
5. Educate myself about hip hop and country music
When I was in high school, I purchased and listened to music constantly. But I turned my nose up at two genres: hip hop and country. Neither held any appeal for me, and I was convinced there was nothing redeeming about either genre.
I'm older and wiser now, and have become fascinated with both hip hop and country music over the last couple years. So in 2022 I'm resolving to learn more about these genres that I snobbishly and stupidly avoided for so long. With the help of books, podcasts, and documentaries, I'm looking forward to learning what I've been missing, and then to filling the massive holes in my music collection (because I'm a luddite who insists on buying music instead of just streaming it).
So the next time you're in my car, you may hear Hank Williams or Jay-Z, Dolly Parton or N.W.A.
6. Become a coffee snob
My coffee evolution has been gradual. I didn't drink it at all until a few months into my marriage, when I decided that if I was going to make Lindsey's coffee for her every morning I might as well try it myself. I went from drinking flavored coffee with milk to drinking that same flavored coffee black to, finally, grinding fresh, unflavored beans from the local coffee shop and drinking 2 cups per morning that way. That's where I've been now for years.
But I've always been mildly curious about the next level of coffee snobbery, the land of French presses and pour-overs. So in 2022, I'm resolving to learn what a "good cup of coffee" entails according to the standards of a barista (or at least a picky millenial.) I want to know where good beans come from and why, how to operate a French press, how to make a pour-over, etc.
Let me be clear on two things: 1) I do NOT want to become insufferable about this. If you catch me turning down a cup of Folgers offered hospitably by a friend because "I only drink _____ coffee," you have my permission to slap me upside the head. The goal here is education, not condescension. 2) I don't want my daily coffee to take 30 minutes to make. This resolution is something I'm setting aside for lazy Saturdays, times when we have company over, etc. On a daily basis, I'm just fine with our grind-and-brew machine cranking out my 2 cups of liquid caffeine at the press of a button.
7. Plan and reflect upon each day
I want to take 15 minutes every morning to plot out what I need and want to get accomplished that day, and I want that to happen before I walk into the office at 9:00 am. Too often in 2021 I found myself drifting through the day instead of moving through it with purpose.
And at the end of each day, I want to give journaling a try. One, I think it will help me reflect upon the day and prepare for the next. Two, I imagine that if I can be disciplined and detailed about this, my journal will be a helpful reference when I need to recall dates, events, and ideas.
8. Put my phone down
Re-upping on this resolution from 2021. Over the last 2 months I've been looking for ways to reduce my phone usage (wearing a watch so I don't need my phone to tell time, turning off email notifications, etc.) so that using my phone is something I do intentionally instead of habitually.
So in 2022 I want to finish the job and make my phone a tool I use instead of a drug that I go to for a high. I don't want my kids to be glued to their phones when they're teenagers, so I need to start modeling the right relationship with phones now.
9. Do one nice thing for Lindsey every day
Third time's the charm. I've resolved to do this the last 2 years and failed both times. If at first you don't succeed...
Here's the thing, and I'm going to be pretty transparent here: 2021 was not the best year of our marriage. I'm not saying you need to worry, I'm just saying that we've been married for 10 years and we're still learning how to submit to one another in love. Marriage is both a gift and a responsibility, something you enjoy and something you have to work at.
So in 2021, I'm doing the thing. One purposeful, intentional nice thing every day, whether it's a post-it on her bedside, an unexpected Starbucks drink, me coming home early from work and picking up the kids, or whatever.
10. Say what I mean and mean what I say
I'm a people pleaser by nature. I want people to respect me, to rely on me, and above all, to like me. I'm resistant to conflict, eager to make peace, and extremely cautious about saying anything that might make waves.
Those are very common traits for pastors. But they can also be handicaps to leadership, and even to healthy relationships. There's a difference between being polite and being afraid, between filtering out what doesn't need to be said and self-censoring out of cowardice.
2021 was a year when, by my estimation, I veered a little too hard into keeping people happy for the sake of keeping myself comfortable, when I sacrificed saying or doing what I thought was right because I didn't want anybody (especially myself) to feel too tense. That was bad pastoral leadership, and I want to do better in 2022.
I'm still going to be polite, still going to be diplomatic, still going to be pastoral...it's who I am. But I really want to be more thoughtful about when I'm filtering myself. I don't want to bail on a forceful line in my sermon for the sake of avoiding an email Monday morning. I don't want to pretend I don't have convictions just because someone will disagree with me. I don't want to hide my light under a bushel.
So in 2022, I'm resolving to say what I mean and mean what I say. I think I owe that to people, not to mention to God. Jesus had friends and opponents...it's probably time I followed his lead in that respect.
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