A common lie about work

Do you know what the arrival fallacy and the idea of a 4-hour work week have in common?

They both have a terrible understanding and vision for work.

And they’re lying to us. Both ideals derive from the belief that work is something to avoid or overcome. They’re built on the belief that work itself is a curse.

But that’s not what Christians believe about work. We believe:

• Work is a gift given to us by God.

• We were made for work because work is good, enjoyable, meaningful, and dignifying.

• God works not because He needs to but because He wants to work.

• And we are made in His image, which means that wanting to do good and meaningful work is part of our nature as well.

Rest is also a good gift from God that many of us can afford to enjoy more often.

But Tim Keller points out in His book “Every Good Endeavor” that the prescribed balance is to work six days and to rest one.

Keller notes that this formula reveals that we are made to work in large doses. It’s good for us.

Living lives full of nothing but leisure and rest is not good for us simply because we’re not made for that.

I’ve grown wary of the desire to “arrive” in my work. I’m wary of the desire to reach the “top” so that I can spend the rest of my life not working anymore.

And I’m also wary of the desire to work in super small doses.

I don’t need to finally arrive, and I don’t need to reach a point where I’m barely working.

I need a better vision of work.

Instead of escaping work, I need to find the deep meaning and value in the work I’m doing or find work that is meaningful to me.