Following and serving Jesus in a holistic way

“Hi, my name is Dale. I’m a recovering workaholic. I’m a recovering sugaraholic.”

I have changed (and continue to be changed) from being work-driven and fat. I’ve been in ministry for over 37 years in Japan, and during the last ten years I’ve had a renewed realization of the joy and rhythm of being in Christ and serving Jesus in Japan. I have studied, applied, and been molded by the following four concepts during these years.

Working with Jesus

Driven by the perceived expectations of other Christians and my own unrealistic expectations, I did everything in my power to work for God during my initial ministry in two church-planting situations.

“What’s wrong with working for God? Isn’t this why I have been called to Japan?”

I have reflected on these questions over these past years. My conclusion is that, in my zeal to reach Japanese for Christ, I wore out the church members, hurt my family and myself, and did not see much fruit. (But I did receive good reports from my mission organization!) I now realize that while I was working for God, I was not working with God. I was doing “good” things but probably not what God wanted me to do on any particular day. Although I was having regular devotions, I was not living in Christ each day, able to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and follow the Spirit’s leading. And even if I heard God’s voice, in my busyness I did not have the “space” to listen to that person a little longer, or write that letter, or make that phone call.

Oh, how I wish I had learned to work with Jesus sooner in my ministry!

In January 2016, when my wife and I were visiting her parents in California, I mentioned my “insight” to the pastor of one of our supporting churches. “You must read the book With,” he said.¹ “We’ve just finished discussing this book as a church.” I purchased the book and was blown away. Highly recommended!

The drive to work for God can be fueled by one’s personality (I am type A), the desire to be seen by others as working hard for a good cause, the Japanese culture of busyness, and by the expectations of Japanese Christians and pastors.

As part of my recovery process, I have built the following prayer into my rituals after waking up in the morning: “Jesus, allow me to rest in you and your love for me today. Guide me and grant me God-moments to reveal your love, light, and grace to others. Help me to discern the opportunities you give me today and grant me the courage to seize them for your glory.”

Holistic productivity

I started to incorporate rituals into my daily routine after discovering Asian Efficiency on the web (www.asianefficiency.com). At first, the name put me off a bit, but I realized that this group takes the best of all that is out there and combines many different things into a well-rounded, holistic, and productive way of living.

Some of their recommendations are well-known, such as preparing clothes the night before, drinking half a liter of water directly after waking up in the morning, and using a task manager to get things to do out of your head. Other examples include “Eat that frog!” (do the most important and difficult task immediately after your morning rituals when you are fresh), and “deep work” (the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task, dividing work periods into 25 minutes of concentration and 5 minutes of rest using a timer).

Because of the dopamine rush I experience when clicking on an email and the distraction email is from concentrated work, I began to clear my email inbox to zero once or twice a day at specified times, by putting emails into folders: Answer; Waiting for reply; Do later; Trash, etc. I then set a specific time to answer all email received during the day. This has allowed me to prepare for Bible studies, sermons, and counseling sessions much more quickly, leaving time for the unexpected (but anticipated) God-directed tasks.

Refreshment and rest

Two things that Asian Efficiency stresses are the need for daily meditation and prayer and for adequate rest and sleep to promote creativity, productivity, and health. Taking regular retreats to refocus is also important.

I was amazed at our mission’s recent All Japan Conference to hear how many people struggle with getting enough good-quality sleep. I, too, struggle with sleep. One book that has been a great help to me is The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington (founder of Huffington Post).²

I have been using an app to wake me up when I am in light sleep (preventing a groggy feeling) and trying to take a 10–15 minute nap in the afternoon. (Some big organizations have nap rooms in their offices to increase efficiency!)

All this is leading to a better quality of life in God!

Renewed health

The biggest change has been with my health. I was really struggling in May 2015, wondering whether I would make it through that year! My blood sugar levels were out of control in spite of injecting increasing amounts of insulin. I was chronically tired and had huge mood swings. Returning from a home assignment in South Africa, we heard that two to three million people around the world were “Banting” (a low-carb, high-fat diet developed by British undertaker William Banting in the 1800s³), but it took us four months to get our heads around the fact that we do not need to eat carbohydrates. I realized that I was addicted to sugar and carbs. We decided to cut out all carbohydrates and eat good saturated fat—a low-carb, high-fat, medium-protein diet (LCHF).

Over 10 months, I lost 18 kilograms of body fat, came off all insulin and diabetic medication, and reversed the effects of diabetes on my eyes and heart. My moods stabilized, and my fatty liver returned to normal (after 35 years). By eating healthy LCHF foods, I received a new start to my life! This was so different to the 30 years of hunger pangs I experienced in the past by trying to diet the traditional way of cutting back on calories and exercising more (and then gaining it all back again, increasing my weight).

I am now qualified as a Banting coach.⁴ During a recent premarital counseling session, I suggested to the couple that we should meet for a meal together after their honeymoon, but that we not eat carbs. “We don’t eat carbs, either!” replied the university professor and doctor. Amazingly, they had heard of Banting and were excited to hear my own story.

I praise God that he is the God of second chances. Not only does Jesus use us in our weakness, he also works in amazing ways to strengthen us for future ministry!

1. Skye Jethani, With: Reimagining the Way You Relate to God (Thomas Nelson, 2011).
2. Arianna Huffington, The Sleep Revolution: Transforming Your Life, One Night at a Time (Harmony, 2016).
3. “William Banting,” Wikipedia, accessed Oct 11, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Banting
4. The scientific evidence for saturated fat being good is there but is suppressed by the sugar industry. If you would like to know more about the LCHF/RealMeal way of eating please contact me at dale@passion4japan.net.