Balancing work, play AND ministry…
Mar 1st, 2010 by ljkim
Most people these days think life is about balancing work and play… We talk about “work life balance.” We also talk about how hard work life balance is…and, to extend the metaphor, how easy it is to fall down. But life in the Bible really has three points and I think it makes the whole balancing act a lot easier! So what are they?
Your WORK is the stuff you do where you provide a service to people and you get paid for it. I’m a big believer in following your interests when it comes to work. Grace and I just watched a documentary on how these math geniuses love Origami, and found practical uses for it in pharmacology (to fold proteins) and engineering (to fold things like large solar panels into the bay of the space shuttle)… If you can make a living doing Origami, I think you can find a way to make a living doing almost anything that you enjoy and are passionate about!! Or at the very least find something that you can enjoy while offering a beneficial or useful service to others… [Btw - yes, the picture above is of an origami art piece, a single piece of paper folded without cutting]
But here’s the problem with work: one, you burn out. It doesn’t matter how perfect you are for your work, you will burn out on it. And the more interesting a job you have, the less sympathy you’ll get from people over it: imagine being stressed out after a long day of folding paper, or being a test driver for Top Gear, etc… Ha, you’ll get no sympathy from me – but the stress is real no matter what the job is! That’s why you need Play. Back to that in a moment.
The HOLY life is the good life…where you get to do things that interest you in your work – save the world through your ministry – and play, enjoy fun for the sake of fun, people for the sake of who they are, enjoying the good things in life.
On top of that, the second problem with work is that unless you’re really good at lying to yourself, you’ll eventually find it not-meaningful-enough. You’re made for more than your work. Sure making money makes your job feel more important than it is…but in your most honest moments you’ll feel like you’re wasting your life performing banalities… That’s why you need MINISTRY.
Understanding MINISTRY takes an enormous load off your work! Your work is not supposed to fulfill you as a person. Your work is not supposed to save the world. Your ministry…is more fulfilling, and it IS the way in which you contribute to God’s work in saving the world.
And if you understand God’s idea of work and ministry – then you can also really begin to enjoy the role of PLAY in your life! If you’re offering good things through your work, and saving the world through your ministry – you can really be free to PLAY and have fun. But you need all three… See that?
The HOLY life is the good life…where you get to do things that interest you in your work – save the world through your ministry – and play, enjoy fun for the sake of fun, people for the sake of who they are, enjoying the good things in life.
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