Before we go deeper into what Wholehearted Work is, I thought it’d make sense to spend some time recognizing together what it is not. Over the next few weeks I’d like to dig into the idea of halfhearted work, and cover three phases that I believe we experience on our path to settling for it.
1⃣ First up, Disillusionment, when the reality of work isn’t what we’d hoped
Here are two examples of what disillusioned believers might sound like when talking to their friends and family:
“Work is taking up so much right now, I need to remember what really matters”
“I leave work at work. That place doesn’t get any more of me than it has to.”
I’m sure you could add plenty more to the list for me, as sadly, this is just all too familiar. Talking about work life balance is in great demand right now. Google Trends shows that searches for the phase have skyrocketed over the last twenty years.
If you don’t take anything away from Wholehearted Work, please consider this. God never intended for our work and life to be separated.
Ephesians 2:10 states, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." It doesn’t say, so that we can walk in them and then get back to what actually matters.
But let me shift gears to our core focus for this week with a quick story.
In the category of “life”, Carolyn and I recently tackled DIY built-in bookshelves for our living room. If you know me, you know this is way outside my comfort zone. But, by God’s grace, and Carolyn’s uncanny touch-up skills, I think we pulled it off! ha
During the project there were many moments of doubt and frustration. As a novice woodworker, I’d look at the work we’d done that night and think to myself, dang that’s pretty good. But then we’d point out all the flaws and worry about if it’d actually turn out in the end.
We finished it last week, ceiling paint and all. Yesterday I was standing in the room and thought to myself, dang, this is LEGIT! Our work had gone from good, to “very good” in my mind, and that brought me some serious joy.
I share this story not to hype up Carolyn and my DIY skills, but to remind us that our God was a working God, and He derived joy from His work. Something tells me the joy I felt looking at our living room is only a fraction of the joy God felt in Genesis when He “looked at everything He had made, and behold, it was very good!” Genesis 1:31
The thing is, halfhearted work is rarely joyful, and scripture is clear that God desires for us to experience more joy in our day-to-day work! As he says in John 15:11 - “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full”.
So if He made us to do good works, and he seeks to give us joy, what is it that get’s in the way of experiencing joy at work?
The Root of our Disillusionment
I believe at the center of halfhearted work is that we’ve stopped believing our work is fundamentally good. To give us some grace, it makes sense. We’ve only experienced work after the Fall and before Heaven.
The Fall of Adam and Eve is only two chapters later in Genesis, when God says to Adam, “cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life”. (Genesis 3:17)
This is the disillusionment. Work isn’t easy, in fact, its often painful1. Despite many of us knowing that God doesn’t promise our time on earth to be sunshine and rainbows, I think deep down we fight to prove that wrong.
I hate to be critical of America after our 250th birthday a few days ago, but I believe the American Dream only adds to our disillusionment. Consciously, or unconsciously, most of us pursue the comfort and financial freedom that dream promises if we work hard enough to earn it.
When the average day in our own work falls well short of these standards, it slowly chips away at our belief that work is good. Over time, we come back to saying things like, “they’ve still gotta pay me to do it".
So why do we settle? Why do we allow the false promises of this world to take such root in our hearts and minds? Well, if I can be a bit blunt, I think it’s rooted laziness.
We worship the pursuit of happiness and the quick-fix TikTok reels that promise it. By contrast, our God calls us to the opposite of laziness, He asks us to work and to persevere.
Romans 5:3-4 – Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.
James 1:2-4 – "Consider it pure joy... whenever you face trials... because the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete."
So, when you feel the lazy response of disconnecting from your work coming on, here is my challenge to you (and me) this week:
Work is God's chisel. Let Him work. A truth you can hold onto is that He is likely teaching you something that your loved ones will benefit from if you lean into it.
Work should cause you to seek the Lord. When you hit the tipping point this week, open up your bible and see what He has for you. Even if just for 5-minutes.
Work isn’t meant to be carried alone. When you feel like you can’t take it anymore, call a friend who loves Jesus and share your struggles.
Next week we will get more into this as we talk about detachment and the messiness of life on this side of Heaven. For now, I hope this stirred up some good things to wrestle with for the week 🙂
As always, please respond to this email if you’d like to chat and discuss anything from this or other posts! And if you have any friends who you think might derive value from exploring Wholehearted Work - I’d love for you to share it with them.
👉️ Sign up Here 👈️
With Heart,
Alex
1 Good but Painful references a framework provided by Jordan Raynor in his book The Sacredness of Secular Work.
