Know-Love-Obey God

Scenario 1:

The customer is turning up the pressure. If we don’t deliver the product soon enough and with sufficient quality, we will lose this buyer to the competitor. I am the lead designer for this part; no one else can do what I do, so I have to work extra. Just until this contract goes through.

Scenario 2:

We’re having layoffs like crazy. Am I next? I’d better step it up around here, or else I’ll lose my job. I have to work extra, or else they’ll see they can do without me.

Why is overworking a tendency for so many? What explains the workaholic phenomenon? Here is a two-part theory: 1) thinking I am too important, and 2) thinking I am not important enough.

1. I think I am more important than I am (Scenario 1).

It is a fascinating attribute of Christian community, that everyone is important, yet no one is indispensible. By the latter, I don’t mean that we can do away with a person, and the rest of us will walk along unaffected. I mean that this or that particular person is not essential to accomplish God’s purposes. In other words, nothing hangs on me, nothing depends on just me. It is all God’s doing, and He uses the people He chooses.

I think Jethro had the right idea.

When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?”

(Exodus 18:14)

Jethro observes that Moses is doing everything “for the people” (not his family); that in trying to do everything for the congregation in neglect of his family, he is not accomplishing much; that he is taking more than his share while the others do nothing; and that he is working “from morning till evening” (taking note of his working hours).

Moses’s response is not uncommon:

Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God. When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.”

(Exodus 18:15-16)

Workaholics stay late at the office because, like Moses, they are heavy on the “me” and the “I.” They think, “No one can do it as well as I can. If I don’t do it myself, it won’t be done well or the way I want it to be done.” The workaholic erroneously thinks “everything depends on me.”

Jethro gives the reality check (and humility check):

“This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.”

(Exodus 18:17-18)

I can’t help but notice that Jethro is motivated by his love and concern for both Moses and the people.

When Jethro, the father-in-law, saw the folly of Moses being overloaded, I think he was concerned for his family, too. Jethro had just travelled from Midian, taking his daughter and two grandsons to see Moses, his daughter’s husband and grandsons’ father, in the wilderness. He tells Moses he is being a workaholic. Could Jethro be confronting Moses for his daughter’s and grandsons’ sakes?

When Jethro confronts Moses, he doesn’t just stop at identifying the problem. He also offers a solution (verses 19 and following).

2. I think I am less important than I am (Scenario 2).

One potential danger of thinking, “It doesn’t depend on me” is going too far the other way into thinking, “I’m not important at all.” By God’s design, the Body of Christ is a Body, each one helping and enhancing the others who are different, and each one of utter importance, no matter how insignificant he may appear.

In an employment context, this, too, can lead to workaholism. A worker who thinks he is unnecessary might grind himself to the bone to try to keep his position or prove his worth to the organization.

I especially experienced one side of this theory when I was the program manager for a women’s retreat. Instead of spreading the tasks to others who not only would excel in each task but enjoy doing it, I took it myself. Originally, I thought I would simply plan the content of the retreat. But, ironically, the “control freak” in me got out of control. I did far too much, falling into the “it all depends on me” trap. Though the retreat itself did not crash and burn into a disaster and calamity, I did. I suffered emotionally and spiritually, and the aftershocks hit my family hard.

Father, let me not walk away from my mistakes without learning from them. Teach me, for the future, that my adequacy is not in myself but in You, and also that I have worth in You to the point where You call me Your coworker. Thank You for the privilege, honor, and amazing joy of being surrendered to You, for Your purposes. Teach me to run hard and do my best, yet without overdoing it. Teach me to rest even as I strive. Amen.

This Wednesday Ann Voskamp hosts a community of those who share about Rest. Visit Ann’s place on Wednesday to read other posts on Rest.