Dear Grace Family,
Is busyness a virtue? It happens every year about now. Winter basketball season hasn’t ended but spring baseball season is already underway. Laura Lee and I consult our calendars looking for the next night we have nothing and realize it’s months away. How on earth did we get so busy? There is a theological, philosophical, sociological, and historical way we could answer this question, but I’m not sure how far down the rabbit trail I want to get with any of them. Suffice to say, nearly all of us feel like we are stuck on the hamster wheel and either we don’t know how to get off or we don’t think it’s even an option to get off. If you’re nearing retirement, you’re wondering whether an inflation affected portfolio will allow you do to so. If you’re an adult, you’re wondering how many more hours in the week it’ll take to pay for an increased cost of living. If you’re a parent, you’re weighing the pros and cons of your children’s extracurricular activities, as it relates to future scholarships. If you’re a student, your body is probably more aware than the rest that the pace is unsustainable. What, if anything, should the Christian response be to a world that prizes busyness? It’s not that we are necessarily being more productive than the generations before us. After all, they worked sunup to sundown six days a week, not five. It would seem like the forty-hour work week of a post-industrial revolution society would make life simpler, not busier. Yet, the general consciousness seems to be that we’re the busiest bunch of people ever. I think a biblical view of life can give us some much needed relief. Follow me here for a minute. We are busy because we are trying to earn and to prove. We are busy because our identity is tied up in the success that our busyness is supposed to produce. We are busy because what you think of me and my performance is the ultimate source of my satisfaction. Yet, for the Christian, that’s not how any of this is supposed to work. Our identity is rooted in Christ based on His work. Our performance in life is to be the outworking of that identity that we call a life of worship. A life of worship, while productive, is supposed to give us a deep and satisfying sense of rest. Are we exhausted because we are busy or are we exhausted because we’re busy chasing all the wrong things for all the wrong reasons? I think that is the real problem. I’m betting a lot of spiritual good would come our way if we’d stop and ask the why question of our busyness. But will we dare to do it? Because I’m telling you, if we ask this question our idols are about to be exposed and we’ll be in the business of some soul searching. Let’s ask it this way, can I glorify God and enjoy Him forever with what I am currently busy with or is it time to reshuffle the deck and get busy with the things that will satisfy instead of sapping the life out of us? Let me know what you come up with. See y’all on Sunday!
Humbly yours,
Seth