I’ll be honest with you. Sometimes it feels like my faith and my work are pulling me in opposite directions.
First, there’s my Christian self. I try to follow the teachings of Jesus. I try to model humility, kindness and compassion. I try to be generous to people asking for spare change. I try to buy a box of Thin Mints every time a Girl Scout parent/co-worker asks. I see work as an opportunity to use the talents God provided me and as a mission field for sharing the Good News.
Ah, but the work view of life is very different. Work tells me that my success is measured by the world’s standards: a bigger title, more money and a better parking spot. Work tells me I should be selfish, because if I don’t look out for number one, no one will. Work tells me my job should dictate my stature, my self-esteem and my very identity. (Don’t take my word for it, look it up. It’s in the book of Expectations, chapter 11).
That’s ridiculous, I know. My identity is in Christ Jesus. Paul says so in Romans 6, Ephesians 4, Colossians 3, and all over the place.
And yet.
And yet, there are days when the refrain of work is so pressing, so insistent – so obnoxious – that it’s hard to hold those thoughts at bay. There are days when I have a hard time pointing to anyone I helped, aside from myself. There are days when I wonder whether I’ve built the Kingdom up or helped tear it down!
And so the conflict rages. Every day it’s a battle, a struggle, a balancing act.
So how do I get through it? I laugh at it. My theory is that trying to balance work and faith is kind of funny. You have to admit, it’s a bit foolish to get too serious about work in one world when your destiny resides in another. So see the humor in it and laugh.
Humor is kind of a tool. It’s a universal, adjustable, portable “problem-put-er-in-perspective.” It’s like Excalibur, allowing us to slay whichever dragon – the job, the monthly sales goal, the boss’ favor – wants to take over our life. If you can laugh at it, Bill Cosby once said, you can overcome it.
There’s another benefit to laughing at work. Although I often laugh uproariously at my own thoughts, laughter is best when it’s a social activity. Laughing at work with others helps them find balance, too. Laughing with others about work is a kind of evangelism – a way of sharing with them that that there’s much more to life than work.
What more joy could there be?
So that’s my goal and my prayer: I want to remind you that Jesus has saved us from the dire prospect of a life focused only on work. I want to encourage you to fight the good fight, to not take the struggle too seriously, and to find joy in your work. We should be joyful because we share the divine knowledge that there is more to this world than work. And we should be joyful because the world so desperately needs men and women of faith – and humor – at work.
Be encouraged. We’re not alone in our struggle. We have Jesus, and we have each other. Together, they make even annual performance reviews seem a lot less threatening.
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