Getting the Gerunds Wrong

I have to admit that most of the time when I was in school academics was not a priority. So I could often get by with C's and B's based on my half hearted efforts at homework and tests, but because of my lack of commitment, focus and priority there were a number of holes of my own making in my educational background. Many of these would be exposed and require correction why I was in college.

For instance until I was in Greek, I had no idea what a gerund was and how it was different from an infinitive. Here's what I learned.

Gerunds are formed with ING: walking, talking, thinking, and listening
Infinitives are formed with TO: to walk, to talk, to think, to listen

Gerunds and infinitives can do several jobs:
Both can be the subject of a sentence::
Writing in English is difficult.
To write in English is difficult.
Both can be the object of a verb::

I like writing in English. I like to write in English.

But...

Only gerunds can be the object of a preposition::

We are talking about writing in English.

Here is the big thing I learned about gerunds and infinitives.

Gerunds are often used when actions are real, concrete or completed::

I stopped writing.
(The writing was real and happened until I stopped.)

Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future:

I stopped to write.
(I was doing something else, and I stopped; the writing had not happened yet.)

As believers we often get the gerunds wrong. I'm not talking about the syntax of a sentence. I'm talking about the theology of "praying and doing".

It is very easy to approach life, our work, our ministries, a project, a challenge and get the gerunds wrong. Let me illustrate.

Many of us approach life by doing everything we can to succeed, working hard, planning, theorizing, strategizing, organizing, pushing ourselves. If a problem arises we throw ourselves into it, working hard to fix it, seeking to control it, striving to overcome it. Occasionally we stop "doing" (gerund) "to pray" (infinitive).

Sound familiar?

Stopping "to pray" may be little more than a token acknowledgement that you want God to bless all you are "doing." Stopping "to pray" may be triggered by stress, burn out, overload, fear of failure or even just the guilt of having forgotten to pray. Sometimes stopping "to pray" is a desperate cry for help. We stop "believing it is all on us", we stop "depending on our gifts and skills", we stop "assuming we have the answers" and turn to God "to ask for a bail out plan."

Do you see the problem? It's in the use of the gerunds.

Too often we approach everything with the emphasis on "doing" and only occasionally do we stop "to pray." The use of the gerund on what we do and an infinitive on prayer reveals our dependency upon our works, our talents, our abilities. When we are doing we are not praying. We stop the one to start the other.

I'm convinced that is not the way a leader should lead. Look at Paul's advice he gave in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Always keep on praying. TLB
pray constantly, RSV
pray without ceasing; NAS
pray continually; NIV
pray all the time; MSG
Never stop praying. NLT

It's never been about stopping to pray. It's always been about "doing and praying." It may be that the hardest challenge for any naturally gifted leader is to believe that there is a big difference between "doing and praying" and just "stopping to pray".

What about you, do you tend to just stop to ask for a blessing? Or are you leading by "doing and praying?"

This next calendar year, this leader will be seeking to get the gerunds right.