Life Management–Work

As I noted in introducing the concept of Life Management back on July 7, work is not listed sixth out of the seven areas of Life Management, because it’s not important. I list it sixth, because most of us want to address it first. Work is an extremely important part of a leader’s life, some would say it is the main area of leadership. The reason I list it sixth is because we can so easily jump to the topic of work, and forget the first five areas. We must rest, pray, take care of our bodies, build relationships and study if we are going to come to our work in our best possible state.

So here we are. The world often defines us by our work. We often define ourselves by our work. We say, “I’m a teacher,” or “I’m an engineer,” or “I’m a contractor,” or “I’m a _______,” and we fill in the blank with our occupation. The truth is most of us spend or invest a great deal of time at work, but we are not what we do. We are not human doings, but human beings. Who we are is more defined by how we live out the first five areas of life management, and by where we place our primary allegiance.  My primary allegiance is to God in Jesus Christ. Therefore, my first understanding of myself is “I am a follower of Jesus.” What I do is defined in relationship to Him.

I am a pastor. That’s my work. I’m a lead pastor, which means I am the one who started New Life and is responsible for casting her vision to others, and for the overall organization and living out of our life as a church family. Many others work with me in that endeavor. For some it is their full-time work, for others their part-time work, and for most it is a “volunteer” endeavor. In our lives, each of us invests ourselves in a full-time work, or a part-time work, and in various volunteer endeavors. As leaders, we must make our full-time work that which fulfills our “call” in life. The idea of call is a biblical concept and comes from the reality that God extended specific calls to various biblical characters. This became their work. For some that call was a new type of work. David of Bethlehem started out as a shepherd, and then God called him to be a king. For others, their calling was something they grew up and did from the time they were children. Joseph was a carpenter, who became Jesus’ step-father, but he remained a carpenter.

It’s important to know that whether we get paid for our work or not and how much we get paid is often a determining factor in the world’s eyes of whether one’s work is significant. The truth is sometimes the work we do for which we don’t get paid can be more important and significant than the work for which we do get paid. A parent who stays home to rear her or his children, for example, doesn’t get paid, but the work is extremely important. Sometimes, the volunteer work we do carries with it more eternal value than our day jobs. As we weigh the value of our work we must make certain that we use more than our paychecks as the metric of its worth.

Your work will be most meaningful and make the most difference from the frame of reference of your allegiance. If you follow Jesus, for example, your work will be most meaningful when you listen for His call, and do what He leads you to do. I know businessmen who serve Jesus faithfully by leading their businesses, or serving as a vice-president, or as an HR director. I know factory workers who do their work as if they were doing it for the Lord and not just for their bosses. I know teachers who do the same. Any type of work can be offered to the Lord, so long as it is work that contributes to the benefit and welfare of others.

As leaders, we approach our work as we do everything else–with commitment, perseverance, integrity, an eagerness to learn, and an appropriate rhythm of work and rest. God told us we are to work six days and rest one. As I noted when we focused on rest, we often think that rest is a luxury rather than a necessity for our lives. Leaders are often told they lack commitment if they won’t work all the time, or put in five more hours of overtime this week. Indeed, there are times when leaders will work those five more hours, and there are times when rest must be honored. A consistent commitment to our work over rest leads to work becoming the master of our lives. As Jesus reminded us no one can serve two masters, so we must not let work become that in our lives.

Much could be said about work in addition to what we have already said, but I leave us with this: when we have committed our lives to serving God and others through our work, we will make the most lasting impact as people and as leaders. When we filter what we do and why we do it through the lens of our commitment to God, and our desire to benefit others, we will make wise choices when it comes to our work. We will also add value to those around us. Our influence will be used for good, and since leadership is influence that means our leadership will be used for good.

Here’s to leading better, by working more effectively for God and others–today!