Faith in the Workplace: Finding Balance Between Work and Life
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
David C. Wright
Eccl. 3:1-15; Ex. 20:1-6, 8-11
January 24, 2010

          In a Dilbert comic strip, Dogbert, the megalomaniac business consultant, is standing on a stool in front of a group of employees and states, “Welcome to Dogbert’s Seminar on Work-life Balance.  First, review this list of your priorities.”  The list reads, “Family, job, exercise, vacation, must-dos, medical, eating, hygiene, sleep, romance, holidays.”  He continues as the workers stare in wide-eyed disbelief, “You (only) have time for three things.  Work and holidays are two.  You get to pick the third.”  Balancing work and life sometimes feels like that, doesn’t it?  There are many important priorities in our lives, and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to get them all in. This morning we’ll be talking about maintaining the balance between work and the rest of our lives. 
          As we continue this series about faith in the workplace, I think it would be helpful to review where we’ve come so far.  The first week we talked about several Christian views of work.  Some Christians see work as co-creation, others as necessary but irksome, and still others see work as a calling.  We talked last week about how we go about finding our calling- looking at external calls, internal calls, and the call to make the wisest choice possible.  After that sermon my wife reminded me that in spite of my lofty theology, someone still has to collect the garbage and that doesn’t feel like much of a calling.  (Bonnie is a very practical woman!)  In response, I would say that the Protestant reformers believed that even menial work is a calling, since it is necessary for society.  We are called to do it well and to be a witness for Jesus Christ to those with whom we come in contact at work.  But I am willing to concede that it is not always possible to find a way to use that “gifted passion” we talked about in our work. Some of us use that passion outside of work.
          OK.  That brings us to this morning.  Some of us are so consumed by our work that we have no life left outside of it.  Recent technological advances like email, cell phones, and Blackberries have made us more productive, but at a great personal cost.  They often have served to blur the line between work and home.  We are now available to our work 24-7, so we can never truly relax.  We work at work and we work at home.  Some of us even take our laptops and Blackberries on vacation so we can check our e-mail and receive important calls.  And the proliferation of two-income families only heightens the strain work places on us.  Further, changes in corporate America and the global economy mean that more productivity is expected from us.  And the current recession has assured that job security is a thing of the past, as companies merge, fold, and constantly re-structure themselves.  That, of course, creates still more stress on workers.  For some of us, work has gotten out of control and is a major source of unhealthy stress.
          So, what does Christian faith have to say to those who work obsessively or find work to be harmfully stressful?  I would like to suggest two truths regarding work that we find in the Bible.
          The first is found in Exodus 20:2-5a.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or worship them...  You shall have no other gods before me.  You shall not make for yourself any idols.  I’m afraid that for some of us, work is taking the place of God.  It has become an idol.  That’s right!  Think about it.  Where do we look for a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives?  Work.  What determines our priorities and our schedules?  Work.  To what do some of us commit our ultimate allegiance and loyalty?  To our work.  And some of us determine our morality more by the corporate culture than by the Word of God.  It’s clear that work has become another god for some of us, an idol.  Meaning and purpose, priorities and how we spend our time, ultimate loyalty, and morality- these things should be provided by our relationship with our Creator, not by our work! 
          Besides, making work our god is a risky way to live.  Jobs come and go.  Our effectiveness in our work may change, as new technology renders whole careers obsolete.  One day we will retire, or illness may force us to stop working, and we’ll be in major trouble if we’ve relied on work to meet our spiritual needs.  No matter how fulfilling and rewarding our work is, few of us will always be working.
          Now, obviously there is a delicate balance here.  If we feel called to our work, if we believe in the importance of what we do, if we see the good that we are accomplishing through work, then we should take it seriously and be very committed to it.  That is a good thing!  And yet, even good things can become sinful when they are out of balance.  For example, eating food is a good gift from the Lord.  We need it and it is pleasurable.  But when we overeat, eating becomes gluttonous and we harm ourselves.  Even good things can become sinful when they are out of balance.  So we need balance between our work and the rest of life. 
          A second passage of Scripture develops this idea further.  You may recall these words from the 3rd chapter of Ecclesiastes, or from the old hit song by the Byrds (“Turn, Turn, Turn”) which popularized them.  (SLIDE #4)  For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.  A time to kill and a time to heal...”   The passage continues to list activity after activity before concluding.  “He has made everything suitable for its time...Moreover it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” (Eccl. 3:1-3a,11,13)  Notice that God intends that there be a rhythm for life.  There are times for this and times for that.  God created us to find joy in all of life- eating and drinking, family and friends, and our work life.  We human beings are designed to be more than workers.  We need more than work to thrive.
          Another way to look at this passage is to say that human beings have limits.  We must have adequate rest.  We must have time for human relationships.  We must have time for spiritual nourishment.  If we do not make time for these things, we eventually break down.  That’s just the reality of being human.  You may remember the legend of John Henry.  This American folk hero raced against a steam drill tunneling through a mountain.  Amazingly, John Henry beat the machine in getting through that mountain, only to fall dead from exhaustion.  Some of us are pushing ourselves beyond our God-given limits.  And it is killing us!  It’s killing our relationships, our spiritual lives, and even our bodies.
          Knowing the limits he had built into us, God gave us a great gift in recognition of those limits.  The sabbath.  A day of rest and reflection.  God knew our tendency to become obsessed with working.  And so he commanded us to take a day of rest each week.  A day to rejuvenate and a day to remember who we really are and what is really important to us.  It gives us a way to live within our created limits.  Some of you remember a time when our culture reinforced the practice of the Sabbath with “blue laws” which kept most businesses and amusements closed on Sunday.  But no more.  Now we must make personal decisions in order to carve out a day of rest and reflection each week.  The Sabbath day is a way to preserve some balance in our lives.  How are you doing with Sabbath observance?
To review, some of us are in danger of letting work become god in our lives.  Others of us are pushing ourselves beyond our God-given limits.  But what are we to do about this?  Some jobs are just very demanding.  I think of those White House staffers we see on TV from time to time.  They (and others) work long hours under tremendous pressure.  So, what are we to do in the face of the real-world demands that our jobs make on us?  Here are a couple of suggestions.
          As individuals, we can set some boundaries between our work and the rest of our lives.  Sometimes the excesses have been forced on us.  Other times we have readily accepted them, because they make us feel needed and important and indispensable.            But we need to set limits on the time we allot to work.  How many hours should you work each week?  How many days?  How much of your time should be reserved for your spouse, for your kids, for your grandkids, for your church, for your friends, for your service to the community, for your spiritual development?  Sit down, pray, and work this out.  Then you may need to sit down with your employer and negotiate a way to make it happen.
          Even prior to the economic downturn, sociologists were noticing a  trend they were calling “downshifting.”  It is a way to describe the fact that many Americans were scaling back both their lifestyles and their working hours in order to have better-balanced lives.  A Harvard economist and the Merk Family Fund found that 28% of those they interviewed had taken steps in this direction.  A recent Washington Post article documented how the recession has accelerated this trend.  I think this is healthy and I encourage you to look into how you might do a little “downshifting.”
          An American businessman was at the pier of a coastal Mexican village when a small boat with a fisherman docked.  The man was bringing in several yellowfin tuna.  The American asked how long it took him to catch those tuna.  “Not very long,” replied the Mexican.  “Why don’t you go back out and catch some more tuna?” asked the American.  “I have enough to support my family’s needs,” he replied.  “The rest of the day I can play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, stroll into the village where I sip wine and play guitar each night with friends.  I have a full and busy life.”
          The American would not be deterred.  “Here is what you ought to do,” he said, “and I can help you.  You should spend more time fishing and use the proceeds to buy a bigger boat.  Then with the proceeds from the larger boat, you could buy several boats.  With the larger volume of fish, you could sell directly to the processor, and eventually open your own cannery.  In time you would need to leave this place and go to a major population center so you could oversee your production and distribution.”
          “How long will all of this take?” asked the Mexican.
          “About 15-20 years,” replied the American.
          “But then what?”
          “Then, when the time is right, you can sell stock in your company and become a rich man!  You would make millions.”
          “And then what?”
          “Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village, where you would fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village, sip wine and play guitar with your friends.”

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