BALANCING OUR WORK, LEISURE AND FAITH
SELECTED SCRIPTURES
INTRODUCTION:
Have you noticed how many times the key to contented living is to walk the middle ground between extremes? For example: In Parenting: we are trying to walk the balance between being too strict or too permissive. In Finances: We are working at avoiding the extreme of hoarding on one hand and indulgence on the other. In our Personal lives: We’ve got to find the balance between ambition and contentment. We need to always strive to do better but we also need to be content with what we have. Even in being a Pastor: I have to being careful to maintain a balance between tolerance and truth. I have to be tolerant of other’s mistakes but at the same time I must stand firmly for what is best for God’s church and in the truth of God’s Word. The key to so many areas in life is to maintain a proper balance. Well, maybe no where is this equilibrium more difficult than in the balancing of our time.. between how much we work, how much time we spend with family or in leisure and how much of our activity is spent on the pursuit or the commitment to our faith .
The 4th Commandment reads: “Remember the day of worship by observing it as a holy day. .."(GW) Obviously, to God there is to be a balance between work and our worship of Him. But as you read Scripture you also see that we are to spend time with our family, take care of our bodies, rest... to keep the proper tension between work and the rest of life is a very complex problem. How can a modern worker, give the proper amount of attention to a career and at the same time not neglect family, the church and personal time? Very difficult.
It is interesting that Time magazine in 1971 noted that labor experts were predicting that by the new millennia we would be on a national 4 day work week and have an abundance of leisure time. Those projections have not come true, in fact exactly the opposite has happened. According to a Lewis-Harris poll the length of the average work week has increased 20% since the mid `70’s and that trend they say will likely continue through to the next decade. And many people are asking, "What good does it do to have a larger salary, if I don’t have any time to enjoy it?" The Lewis-Harris poll showed that 71% of those families earning $40,000 or more annually would give up a days pay each week for an extra day of free time. "Leisure time, not money, is becoming the status symbol of the new century," says John Robinson, who directs the "American’s use of Time" project at the U. of Maryland. "A large segment of Americans," he says, "feel a critical time crunch." A growing number of professionals are balking at schedules that don’t match their value and are beginning to understand that the emphasis that they have placed on career success and accumulating money have not really made them happy.
Well, I believe if we are going to maintain a proper balance we need to examine what the Creator of time has to say about this. So, this Labor Day weekend let’s look at God’s plan through the Bible and see if we can avoid the extremes and employ a balance to our lives.
I. IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM: AVOID THE EXTREMES
First, let’s identify the problem.. and see the extremes we need to avoid.
(1) The extreme of laziness. Three boys were boasting about their dads and one boy said, "My dad is so fast, he can shoot an arrow and get to the target before the arrow hits it." The second boy said, "My dad is so fast that he can shoot a rifle at a deer and get to the animal before it falls." The third boy said, "My Dad’s got both of yours beat, he’s faster than that. He gets off work everyday at 4:00 and he gets home by 3:30." Do you think that, in general, the American labor force is suffering from lazy employees? Consumer Report magazine does. They suggest that if you are contemplating buying a new car that you ask the dealer to find out what day the car you were looking at was built on. If it was made on Monday the article suggested you not buy it because Monday is the day when the greatest number of assembly line workers call in sick and so the car is built by less employees doing several line jobs. Ecc. 10:18 - "If someone is lazy, the roof will begin to fall. If his idleness continues, the house will leak.."(NCV) In other words, laziness produces a poor product. And now we have folks that think it’s their God-given right to be lazy.
Listen to this letter to the Editor that appeared in the LA Times. “There has been a lot of criticism of people who do not choose to work, especially when they are collecting welfare. Most people prefer to work and that’s fine, but others may prefer to sit in the park, go to the beach or observe the wonders of nature. Now, those who dislike working should not be penalized by depriving them of the benefits of our society, there’s plenty for all. Everyone does not feel the same way about working, some have built in feelings against it, especially when it’s required.
Now, my solution is that this natural attitude should be looked on as a handicap. We don’t punish other people with handicaps. Our society provides for them and should do the same for those who have a natural aversion to work. Why can’t we just live and let live, with each to his own style? We must not discriminate against one’s personal work ethic but provide humanitarianly for all people, no matter their labor preference." Isn’t that special?
You know the Bible has some harsh words for the lazy.. 1 Tim. 5:8- "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."(NIV) 2 Thess. 3:10-13- "Even while we were still there with you, we gave you this rule: “He who does not work shall not eat.” The book of Proverbs has all kinds of instructions against laziness. It says a lazy person sleeps in instead of doing what he should. Pro. 26:14- "As a door turns back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed." They sleep through class, they miss appointments or are late for work because they slept in, they go to St. Mattress on Sunday morning. Proverbs also says the lazy person is full of excuses. Pro. 22:13 - "The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, “If I go outside, I might meet a lion in the street and be killed!." He rationalizes his inactivity. I can’t work today, the pollen count is too high. It’s Monday, people don’t buy on Monday. It’s Friday, people are knocking off early on Friday. There’s always an excuse. Everything in God’s creation, from the ant to the human being, has a function and is supposed to work. But the lazy person spends his energy finding way to avoid that responsibility.
But I suspect in the room today, there are more people struggling with the opposite and second listed extreme.. the Work-Aholic. The workaholic gives an inordinate amount of time and energy to their career. Jesus gave an excellent example of a workaholic in Luke 12:16- “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. ." But instead of enjoying that success, that God had given him, what did he do? "He said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store everything. ." Now, Jesus was not saying that we should never prepare financially for the future but He was making the point that this man’s things were his future! He was so wrong.. vs:20- “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get it all?’" You see, the workaholic becomes obsessed with achieving. He or she tells themselves that they’re doing it for tomorrow. There’ll be a day in the future when they’ll be able to relax and enjoy his family and get his spiritual life together. But somehow that day never comes. You see where the lazy person produced a poor product, a useless faith and contention; a workaholic produces greed, selfishness and a false security. They think they’ll always have enough time to turn things around, they count success in dollars and cents and yet have no sense. For they have put their security in temporary things. Jesus says, that’s foolish, because you don’t know the future and the things you have won’t be taken with you. And He says in vs:21- "Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."
I think we have several contributing factors in this area. (1) I think we’ve traded the good for the best. You see, it’s not evil to have nice things or to work hard. But we’ve gotten so caught up in giving our time to the job that, we have, in our stress and worry, neglected the best things.. our relationships. In Luke 10 Jesus says something to a workaholic woman named Martha, that we need to hear. It’s printed for you. "As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a village where a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was worrying over the big dinner she was preparing..” I mean here is a lady that is doing it right. She really knows how to run a kitchen. Stirring with one hand, cracking eggs with the other.. She’s preparing lots of food. But in the next room you can hear laughing, there having fun, but not Martha. She’s mumbling, can your hear her? "Stupid sister, I do all the work, she sits out there. Sweet little sister, always ready to listen and never ready to work.” Finally, she’s had it. Vs:40b - “She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me." I think the room went silent.. Maybe all your could hear is the tapping of Martha’s foot impatiently. Martha’s so stressed out she’s begun to boss God around. But listen to what Jesus says to her.."My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! " What had Mary chosen? She had chosen to sit at the feet of Christ. Don’t you think Jesus would of been just as pleased with a bologna sandwich that took 3 minutes as He might be with a four course meal that took 3 hours? Some of you are missing the point of life! There is something better than your career, than getting your "to do" list accomplished... and that’s knowing Jesus. You see, in her business Martha forgot what was really important. That can happen to us so easy, I know, I’m one of those “Marthas.” And I’ve also learned that out of control it can present stumbling blocks to our relationships.. With our loved ones and even with God.
(2) But there is also our materialism that contributes to this problem of work-aholism. Like the rich farmer, we get caught up in the "I want" syndrome. We aren’t satisfied with anything ordinary, we’ve got to have a lot and it’s got to be the best. And to get it, we’ve got to work harder and longer. There is recognition, where prestige matters most. One of the first questions we ask someone we meet is, "What do you do for a living?" Ever heard anyone answer that question by saying, "I live to serve Jesus Christ and I work as a bank teller to finance that venture."
(3) Another stumbling block for the workaholic is escape, where the only real satisfaction is found at work. Some of you here have been working 65, 70 hours a week and you never stop. But the time is only part of the problem. People hung up on career achievement give their primary emotional energy to their work. You give your best effort to work and then your family and your faith get the emotional leftovers. When you’re at work, you really work. But when you’re at home or at church, you’re still at work, at least mentally. Or you’re like one writer called, "passive puddles of protoplasm." You are so burned out from work you’re no good to anyone.
(4) Another stumbling block is insecurity. Maybe as a child you were raised in a home where you experienced conditional love. Approval was based on what good things you did. So you developed a performance oriented lifestyle.. but you found to your disappointment that no matter how many good things you did, it never was good enough. And now, even though you are away from home you are still trying to prove yourself by what you do.. only now it is only to yourself.
Rick Warren, a preacher in California, wrote an article once entitled: “How to keep your profession from being an obsession.”In that article he gave this little test. Here’s seven questions that might help you measure how your are doing in this extreme. See how many you say “yes” to. I’ll give you a gauge at the end. Warren says, Ask yourself.....
(1)“Does doing nothing "drive you up a wall?" I.e., you can’t sit still.
(2)“Do you find it difficult to say "no" to opportunities at work, but not in other areas your life?
(3) “Do you frequently find it difficult to turn your mind off when you go to bed?
(4) “Do people around you frequently tell you, "you ought to slow down." (When they do, do you consider that a compliment?)
(5)“Do you procrastinate about taking vacations?
(6) “Do you find yourself often bringing work home?”
(7) “Do you have to get sick to slow down?”
There was another one... do you ever talk faster than people can take notes? But I omitted that one. Not really... Now, here’s the gauge: How many did you answer “yes” too? 1-2 - Red Flags. 3-4 - Borderline obsessive. 5+ - workaholic.
Do you see Ecc. 10:15 there on the reserve side? "Work wears fools out; they don’t even know how to get home."(NCV) Folks, this world has caught many of us in it’s workaholic clutches. The philosophy of this age says, Success at work = success at life. But that is so far removed from what God calls success. The world evaluates our success in life by status symbols, God evaluates our success in life by spiritual depth & by balance, neither lazy nor a workaholic.
II EMPLOYING THE CURE: FINDING THE BALANCE:
I’m pretty confident that most here probably agrees in theory with what we’ve just been talking about... but how do we put it into practice? Let’s look at 4 practical prescriptions we can take to provide a cure for the extremes and give us balance.
1) Recognize that it is God’s desire that you have balance. The 4th commandment in Exodus 20 instructs us to work, it is a command. But it also commands us to rest. Why did God say to rest at least one day a week? Because He knows how we are constructed. He knows in the long run we’ll be more productive and effective if we have balance, if we have a change of pace. Did you know that medical experts tells us that our bodies expend more oxygen in a day of toil than our body can recover in one nights rest? So, a days rest helps us to recuperate that expended oxygen. God knew that and He said, "Take a least one day off." So when you take time off, you’re not disobeying God, you are living life His way, by His design and in His desire.
(2) Schedule a personal appointment with your family. You get the necessary things done at work probably because, for the most part, you’ve scheduled it. You know what time you’re supposed to be there, what time your deadlines are due, when your appointments are. I believe one of the real secrets in living the balanced life as God has planned is to schedule the other areas of your life too. Remember, 1 Tim. 5:8 says that if you neglect your family you are worse than an unbeliever! I recommend that at least once a month you choose a Saturday or an evening and make that "family night." Have devotions together, play a game together, eat supper by candlelight and don’t answer the phone. Make it a time where just your family is together. Put your kids ball games and activities in your calendar. Pick one other night or Saturday a month and make that a "Date night," where you and your spouse get out of the house without the children! Get a baby sitter and go to a movie, or for a walk or a drive. The important thing here is schedule it! First of the month, sit down and along with all your other things schedule your appointments with God and family and don’t let anything interfere with that. But the key is to schedule in advance! We budget our money, why shouldn’t we budget our time as well?
(3) Cultivate an interest outside work. Some people say, "Well, my work is my hobby, I don’t really need anything else." And it is good if you enjoy what you’re doing but all of us need some diversion, something that gets our minds off the job. Prov. 14:30- "A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.."(LB) There’s an old Indian proverb that would agree with that. It says, "You will break the bow if you keep it always bent.” I hear people say, "I’m too busy to play tennis, no time for crafts." I believe people who say that are busier than Jesus. He often took time away, to relax and to renew His mind. Develop something where you can find fulfillment painting, gardening, sports, etc.
(4) I want to let “Mitch” from City Slickers introduce this next thing.
City Slicker VIDEO CLIP - Chp.10 - 1:06:06 - 1:07:58- 1:52
You see everyone wants to be in on the “Secret of Life” - the One thing that will make everything else make sense. But most are like Mitch.. They have no idea. But guess who does? God. He knows that all the things we’ve talked about are good but that we must keep reminding ourselves of the “one thing”that is the most important. I remember what Jesus said to Martha? “There is really only one thing worth being concerned about.” It was knowing Him. Or as it says so succinctly in Matt. 6:33- “Our heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you need, and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life." So you say, “Sunday is God’s, along with a regularly scheduled quiet time with Him. That is going to take priority.” That’s the best tangible way to put Him first. Now, I used to work shift work so I know that Sunday can be a work day. So, make sure you still have a time with God. A time you are learning about Him, a time when you are talking to Him. But you know what I know from working in the secular world? I know the only reason I missed wasn’t just because I was working. When I wasn’t working I missed those times because it just wasn’t important enough for me to be here. I know all the excuses, because I used to use them. Have you ever wondered why it is that you have to take one of the hours a week the Church offers to do those things that you just can’t seem to get in at any other time? The plain hard, cold fact is, the other things are more important.
But it’s not just about going to church. Jesus is to be first all week too. When you study Jesus’ life you see Him scheduling daily time to be with God. Everyday you are saturated with worldly values.. Values of materialism, prestige, popularity, power.. But Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other." Will you simply ask yourself this question everyday: "Who am I trying to impress?” In the end there is only one judge of the universe that’s going to matter.. give yourself to Him.
Bob Benson once said that he gave a talk at his son’s high school commencement. He wanted to do good because it was for his son, so he went out and bought a new 3-piece suit. He spoke, and did a good job. Afterwards a student came up and said, "Mr. Benson, did you know that your vest is buttoned wrong?" He looked down and said, "sure enough, I had buttoned the second button in the first button hole. All the time I was speaking, feeling so self assured, this cock-eyed vest was staring at these kids." And then he said, "You know what, it’s not hard to button your vest wrong. Just get the first button wrong and the rest is messed up. But it’s not hard to button it right either, you get the first button in the right position and everything else falls into place." I suspect that we have made our lives a whole lot more complicated than the God intended. You see, in the end, it’s not so much a matter of our schedules or the demands of our jobs, it is a matter of our hearts. When your heart is in the right position than everything else falls into place. That’s why Jesus said, "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." So, where are yours?
{All Scripture taken from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted}
