Productivity for the right reasons matters

Why do we work?

Simply put, it’s part of who we are made to be. God built into our very fabric the desire to work. There is also enjoyment in working when we work for the right reasons, with the right people, with the right kind of compensation. Ecclesiastes has much to say about work. Suppose we love money and work for money alone. In that case, we are cursing ourselves because we will never have enough and work ourselves to the bone with no satisfaction (Ecclesiastes 5:10). But the teacher in Ecclesiastes goes on to say work is intrinsically good according to his observations (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20). When we find joy in our work, we are blessed.

In the New Testament, another dimension is included in work: service for others, but especially of God.

“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Eph. 4:28)

Our work is to be useful in general but is also to contribute to other people’s needs.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Col. 3:23)

We work for the Lord, not only for those who are our employers. That means we work with good Christian character. And we endeavour to do our best, working with all our heart. So we are driven to produce good quality work as we would do for the Lord.

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you” (1 Th. 4:11)

We also try and live a quiet and balanced life. There is something simply ordinary about work. It doesn’t have to be unique or extravagant.

“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”” (2 Th. 3:10)

Work is also practical. Work is necessary to provide for ourselves and our families.

Why should we try and work better?

These verses above encourage us to think about work as Christians. There is joy in work and getting things done. But we also want to produce good work as if we were working for the Lord. On top of that, we are mindful of other people. So we want to produce good work for the sake of other people, for the sake of being useful to our superiors, and if we are able to make more money, then we have an opportunity to be helpful in our generosity as well (you do give money away to church and missionaries right?). Or if we can work better, we may be able to work less and serve other people with our free time.

The importance of these foundations.

We need to keep these foundations in the back of our minds regarding work. In the current craze on productivity, the easiest thing to miss is these foundations. Productivity becomes an end in itself. Worse still, money can be the driving force behind productivity. We want to be productive people. Work is built into us. We also want to work better. But we want to do these things for the right reasons from the right foundations.

These foundations will help us better assess work in the modern world. The modern environment is unique. We are not strictly agrarian like former civilisations. We are not quite industrial anymore (even though that’s more recent history).

Work in the modern age is characterised by new technologies. Not all work is, just more and more work is. Hence, by necessity, we need to engage with the principles of productivity in the new working environments of the modern age. That’s where all the self-help and productivity books come into the market. To be sure, there are a lot of trashy productivity books, YouTube channels, and gurus around who are simply trying to capitalise on the craze. But the craze exists for a reason. It exists because the nature of work in the modern age is shifting and changing and people are trying to understand it and accommodate to it.

All that to say, we want to work well. We want to be productive. And this especially concerns us in our age because the nature of work has shifted dramatically around the introduction of new technologies. But the old foundations of work and productivity have not changed – the biblical principles behind work and what ground the Christian worker.

Productivity for the right reasons matters.

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Perman, M. (2018). How to get unstuck: Breaking free from barriers to your productivity. Zondervan.