Balancing Work and Life

My recent post that posed the question "Are bloggers robbing their our employers?" by blogging at work (here) led to some comments that touched on the nature of work and its relationship to life. So I thought it might be helpful to point readers of the blog to the latest edition of Case magazine that has the theme ‘City Life’. In this issue Tim Chester offers a short article titled ‘The Busy Christian’s Introduction to Busyness’. As the name suggests, it offers an introduction to his book with a similar name 'The Busy Christian's Guide to Busyness' The article and his book offer some helpful advice to those of us who struggle to maintain a right balance between work and the rest of life.

The main focus of Chester's article is the need for a balance between work and rest. He argues, that the Bible teaches “that work is good and rest is good”, and points out that in our modern world we have two dominant and competing ethics, a work-centred ethic and a leisure-centred ethic.

The work-centred ethic says work is good and leisure is bad or work is central and leisure is peripheral. The leisure-centred ethic says that leisure is good and work is bad or leisure is central and work is peripheral.

Chester suggests that both ethics are exploitative.

“The work ethic is the ideology of capitalism. It’s designed to create a willing workforce to enrich the owners of the means of production. It not only justifies overwork, it makes it a moral good! …….But the idyllic life advocated in the leisure ethic is equally exploitative. It’s only really possible at the expense of other people’s servitude. Greek and Roman leisure was built on the backs of slaves. And the new leisure ethic feeds of other people in the same way – whether it is the state or the family or exploited workers.”

He points out that in contrast to the work-centred ethic and the leisure-centred ethic, that the Bible presents us with a liberating God-centred ethic in which we work for the glory of God and we rest for the glory of God.

The goal is more than a balance between the two. The goal for both is the glory of God. Neither work nor rest is ultimate. some people rest to work, others work to rest. But in the biblical worldview God is ultimate. He gives value to both work and rest. Both are to be relished, enjoyed and used for God’s glory. ‘Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31).

He concludes his Case article by suggesting that defining work-life balance may not be as complicated as we imagine. The Bible gives us a clear pattern and that pattern is six days of work and one day of rest. Rather that a yearly (or even life) pattern of work and binge rest, he argues that we would be better to ensure that we adopt a weekly pattern to life, and to build opportunities for work and rest on a regular basis.

You can view an excellent 2 minute video from Tim Chester on the main ideas in his book below.

Upcoming Seminar on ‘City Life’

CASE will be running a discussion session on the latest edition of Case on Thursday 30th April at the New College Village in Sydney. Roberta Kwan and I will offer some brief comments on our own contributions to Case #18 and then we will invite discussion on the theme and papers in the magazine. You can find more details here.

You can download my introduction to Case #18 here.

Seeking a better theology of work

1. The dilemma and the challenge

How do you see work? An inconvenient separation of weekends? A way to earn money for life? Something you do when you can't be in 'full-time' ministry? A result of the curse that we need to endure? The means God has given me to change the world? A staging point in life and a means to earn income before going to Bible College?

In the Evangelical Church there has been a tendency to place such a high priority on full-time Christian ministry (I'll call this vocational ministry in this post) that all else is seen as of lesser importance. While I understand (and agree with) the desire to encourage more men and women to consider vocational ministry, I have witnessed some unfortunate consequences; for example:

(i) Sometimes people leave secular work to attend Bible College with a view to vocational ministry only to discover that they aren't equipped for the task.
(ii) There is a tendency for unhelpful status hierarchies to develop between vocational ministry, secular employment and unpaid work.
(iii) Often secular work is insufficiently thought through theologically and is seen as separate to gospel work - a false separation of the sacred from the secular.
(iv) Some areas of secular employment end up with less Christians than one would hope with unfortunate consequences for the gospel (e.g. teaching has been losing Christians). We end up arguing that there are some jobs where it is more strategic for Christians to be to the neglect of others. There is some truth here when considering missionary work in foreign countries or engagement in difficult communities, but it is unhelpful to draw up a list of 'good' secular jobs. This misses the point of how we are to see our work.
(v) The place of unpaid work (e.g. stay at home parents, carers, charity workers etc) is relegated to such a low level of importance that those who do this work feel discouraged and are not helped to see the value of their work as equally part of God's purposes.

2. Taylor on the need for a better theology of work

Justin Taylor wrote earlier this year about this topic and called for the recovery of a reformational understanding of vocation as all of life. He wrote:

"In my view, we are due for another reformation with regard to our view of work. Although it’s much more subtle, many of us can still perpetuate a sub-biblical view of work. I remember once hearing a student leader suggest that the norm was for Christians to consider themselves called to vocational ministry—and that a calling to a so-called “secular” vocation was the exception. In other words, the default for Christians should be to go into vocational ministry unless they feel compelled to do something else. But I don’t find that idea taught anywhere in Scripture. The result is that we sometimes have people in vocational ministry, not because it is where they have been called by their church, or equipped by God, but simply because they never prepared to do anything else.

We need to recover the reformational understanding of vocation: all of life—in every sphere and in every calling—should be lived to the glory of God and in obedience to his Word. Abraham Kuyper wrote, “there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” If that’s true (and it is!), isn’t it worth our time and effort to think through how to glorify God in the area of work to which he has called you?"

3. Piper on work

John Piper, also has some helpful advice on this topic in his book Don’t Waste Your Life on glorifying Christ in work. Before addressing how we can use our secular work for to the glory of God Piper makes three fundamental general points:

• First, "you don't waste your life by where you work, but how and why" you work. Secular work (i.e. work not structurally connected to the church) should be strategic. God's will is that his people should be scattered like salt and light across all of life, including the workplace.
• Second, there is always "a partnership between goers and senders". We need some to go to the very ends of the earth, and we need some to stay behind and support them (e.g Titus 3:13; Romans 15:24).
• Third, when you are called to be a Christian it is not (necessarily) a call to leave your secular employment. This teaching of Paul's in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 was very important to me when I was converted at the age of 31. We should not jump to the conclusion that God wants us to suddenly move from secular employment to vocational ministry as soon as we are converted. Of course, later you might well see that there is wisdom in such a change.

Piper stresses that the burning issue should be how I can make my life count for the glory of God in my secular vocation. He then offers six biblical answers to this question.

(i) Our work is to be a place and a time of fellowship with God – we should sense and enjoy God being with us in our work, talking to him and casting our burdens upon him. We are to constantly “…give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever” (Psalm 86:12). We are to be encouraged in the knowledge that all the promises of God apply at work just as they do elsewhere – “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand” (Isaiah 41:10).

(ii) Our work is to be God honouring – we are to work hard and with creativity – to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:27-28). And through this work we are to honour God.

(iii) We are to do our work in such a way that the way we do it will increase the attractiveness of the Gospel we profess with our mouths – our work is not a replacement for telling people of Christ, but it should be an effective adornment. As Paul commends the slave in Titus 2:9-10, the way we work should”..adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.”

(iv) We should make enough money in our work to keep us from needing to depend on others – work is to provide for our basic needs, this was God’s plan from the beginning (Genesis 2:2). What changed after the fall was not that man must work, but that in our work there would be struggle and weariness, frustrations and difficulty. But even in the midst of struggle God can be glorified. Piper suggests that “..unproductive Christians contradict the creative, purposeful, powerful, merciful God we love. They waste their lives.”

(v) We should use our money “to make others glad in God” – as we work we should think about how we can use all our money wisely, but Piper’s point is that we should use any excess money beyond our basic needs to help others without the same resources. The Bible offers clear advice in this direction. For example, Paul speaks to Timothy of the need to care for aged widows (1 Timothy 5:8); he refers to his own labour and his desire to help the weak (Acts 20:35); then in Ephesians 4:28 he speaks of the thief not stealing but instead working “…so that he may have something to share with anyone in need”.

(vi) Work should provide us with relationships that allow us to share the Gospel – Speaking the words of the Gospel, not just living it, is as important at work as it is everywhere else in life. However, the workplace offers a special place for us to build relationships over longer periods of time, and to have regular and prolonged contact with people. Piper also reminds us that our secular occupations can also offer us entry to other countries where the Gospel needs to be heard.

John Piper concludes his chapter on work with these words:

“If you work like the world, you will waste your life, no matter how rich you get. But if your work creates a web of redemptive relationships and becomes an adornment for the Gospel of the glory of Christ, your satisfaction will last forever and God will be exalted in your joy.”

4. Other things things to read

You can download Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" here.

Justin Taylor's two part article "Thank God for Work" can be downloaded here (Part 1) and here (Part 2)

Kids and Work

I noticed an article in the Sydney Morning Herald that discusses issues surrounding teenagers, work and Workchoices. The topic of children and work is one that I've reflected on many times over the last 20 years as I have watched the rapid increase in the number of teenagers who work part-time (ABS has reported that 53% of children aged 15-19 work part-time). The herald piece quotes Randall Pearce, from Think: Insight and Advice who frankly I don't know, so I can't comment on the quality of the research. And I don't want to use this post to take a political swipe at Workchoices and the impact of federal industrial relations laws on young workers (but others might want to explore this topic). The article simply raised for me a wide range of issues surrounding children working that have worried me for some time. As a Christian I want to open up discussion about the merits of teenagers working part-time and the impact that this has on their lives, their attitudes and their beliefs. How does the Bible inform our views on the wisdom of our teenage children working long hours and having large amounts of disposable income. It is obvious that children need to grow up to undertstand the importance of work and how the Bible sees work. And many will argue that part-time work teaches teenagers many positiove things. But, I'm still left with lots of questions. Here are some of them:

* What impact does part-time work have on families? If teenagers as young as 15 years are working 10+ hours per week, how does this impact on the ability of families to eat meals together? To spend time together?
* How does part-time work have an impact on teenagers ability to have involvement in activities such as church or sport, with possible impacts on physical and spiritual well being?
* What is the impact of teenagers having large amounts of disposable income to spend on things they want? What do they learn from their experience - both positive and negative?
* As parents, what are the dominant factors that shape our positive (or negative) attitudes to our teenagers working part-time?
* As parents, have we considered the potential impact that part-time work might have on teenagers learning at school? Their ability to sustain friendships with other teenagers? Their ability to be part of varied family activities? Their physical, emotional and spiritual well being?

In a paper presented at the 2005 American Sociological Association conference, Timothy Clydesdale suggested: 1) that most American teens view work as a necessary nuisance, money as a lifestyle essential, and leisure as a purchased commodity, 2) that most American teens are blinded to their conformity to these American patterns of consumption, and 3) that American teens have learned these patterns from their families, their religious communities, and their local communities -- not because these communities send these messages explicitly, but do so implicitly as they pattern their own behaviors along these lines.

I've requested the paper from Tim and will read it with interest. But this quick summary offers a pretty bleak picture from one sociologist. I'm intrigued that he suggests that religion can contribute negatively, as can families and communities. I'd welcome your thoughts, or suggestions about other useful publications in this area, I might just explore it further in a future CASE magazine.