Confessions of a Workaholic

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Confessions of a Workaholic

• March, 2008

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Summary

• Work is good and ordained by God for His glory
  and our benefit.
• Our fallen world has distorted Gods original
  intentions for work.
• Our fallen natures bring a number of false
  perspectives and beliefs to the area of work.
• The result is a spiritually dangerous combination
  of forces
• Sabbath rest, Christian Community, and
  stewardship of time, talent and treasure are
  antidotes

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Our Call

• God is a worker and we are made in His image
• The first job description Work the earth and
  take care of it (Gen. 215)
• God also says
• Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
  as working for the Lord, not for men, since you
  know that you will receive an inheritance from
  the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you
  are serving. Col 323,24
• We are earn our way and care for the poor for
  others (1Th. 312, Isa. 587, Mt. 2531-46)
• Called to stewardship of time, talent and treasure

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Fallen Aspects of Work

• Christian work ethic has been separated from
  Christian truth
• Working for self interest as the driver behind
  the economy vs. working for a higher authority
• Have lost a sense of higher purpose for work.
• Work no longer has its intended transcendent
  purpose as a means of serving and loving God
• Have come to believe that the provision depends
  on us and is to our credit

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Our Fallen Nature

• Seeking our worth outside of God, in our work
• One of the key messages of the fall itself. (Gen.
  31-6)
• Ascribing idolatrous importance to
  goals/achievements
• Operating on ingrained belief systems
• I am what I do
• My worth is tied to my accomplishments, success
• Result
• Being driven more than called
• Loss of balance

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Confession

• My self-worth and identity have been deeply
  rooted in work
• Symptoms
• Achievement addiction
• Approval addiction
• Busyness addiction
• Financial security myth
• Results
• Work as the center of life/meaning
• Work as the center of community

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Signs of Misplaced Identity

• I am what I do
• I am what I have accomplished
• I am what I am good at
• I am what other people think I am
• Can you write a Bio without reference to what you
  do for a living? What would it say?

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Identity Gods View

• Child of God, created in His image, for His glory
  (Gen 127, Isa. 436-7)
• Created to enjoy God and do the work He has
  prepared for me (Ps 1611, Eph 210)
• God made us significant, wrote eternity on our
  hearts (Ecc 311)
• Search for identity is intended to draw us to Him
• Hunger for self-worth is God given and only He
  can satisfy it.

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Signs of Achievement Addiction

• Perfectionism
• See nothing wrong with compulsion Just want to
  do a good job
• Success Happiness
• Deception
• We must continue to measure up
• Fear of Failure
• Threatens significance
• Threatens security
• Many high achievers are driven beyond healthy
  limits

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Achievement Gods View

• Meeting certain standards to feel significant
  reflects Satans distortion of the truth
• If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your savior,
  God has declared you righteous
• We have been justified, totally apart from our
  ability to perform.
• Ro 324 Ro 51-2,8-9 Ro 81 33-34 2Co 521
  Gal. 324 Titus 37
• Message of Ecclesiastes (312-14, 512-62)

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Signs of Approval Addiction

• I must have the approval of certain people to
  feel good about myself
• Mood determined by others response to me
• Self concept determined by others
• Fear of rejection
• All human acceptance is conditional acceptance
• Must keep earning it
• Insincere praise manipulative, rejects us as
  people

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Approval Gods View

• We are fully reconciled to God through Christs
  death (Col. 121-22)
• Holy, blameless, beyond reproach
• The cross has made us acceptable
• No one can bring a charge against us, God has
  justified us (Ro 833)
• We must choose between seeking the favor of men
  or of God (Gal 110)

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Signs of Busyness Addiction

• Busy people are important people (a badge of
  honor)
• Important people are busy
• Accomplishment defined by busyness
• Relentless pressure gt guilt when it stops
• If I am not busy, am I still important?
• Constant, destructive stress
• Tyranny of the urgent
• Tyranny of dominant people
• Inability to say NO, loyalty test

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Busyness Gods View

• Jesus was not committed to what the crowd wanted
  but to His mission
• He often withdrew for rest and prayer
• Parable of the Sower (Lk 81-15)
• Mary and Martha (Lk 1038-42)
• Sabbath rest vs. leisure time

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Financial Security the Myth

• Trust in the pay check
• Trust in my net worth How much is enough?
• The need to control things that God never
  intended me to be responsible for
• God can take me to any place of dependence He
  chooses, for my own good
• The enemy uses our legitimate needs against us to
  build a love of money and a fear of loss

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Financial Security Gods View

• The need to control the meeting of our needs is
  sin (Mt. 625-34 Jer. 2911-13)
• We must choose between love of God and love of
  money (Mt. 6 24)
• Everything in heaven and earth belong to Him (Ps
  241)
• We are His money managers not our own providers
• He prospers us for His glory not ours (2Co 9)

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Key Lessons

• Seeking our self-worth outside of God is the root
  issue
• Since our justification is based entirely on the
  blood of Christ it is the height of pride to
  think that good works can make us acceptable to
  God
• If we base our self-worth on the approval of
  others, we are saying their approval is worth
  more than Christs sacrifice
• If I think of myself differently than God does,
  who is wrong?

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Key Lessons

• Work is a means to an end, not the end. What is
  the end?
• Gods glory
• Gods Provision
• Service to Gods people and Gods creation
• If I seek Him first, He will provide and I will
  be free
• Working myself silly to provide what may not be
  in Gods will is a waste of time and energy
• Building bigger barns is worse than a waste of
  time
• I was taught to use the fallen nature of people
  to motivate
• What do you think of the morality of the claim
  that many companies place on the lives of their
  employees?

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Antidote

• Work life balance is part of our life long
  struggle against sin and worldliness
• What does it mean to be in the world, not of the
  world?
• Biblical Sabbath
• Inner spiritual walk
• Community and accountability
• Understanding Biblical stewardship
• Time, Talent, and Treasure

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Success exposes a man to the pressures of people
and thus tempts him to hold on to his gains by
means of fleshly methods and practices, and to
let himself be ruled wholly by the dictatorial
demands of incessant expansion. Success can go to
my head and will unless I remember that it is God
who accomplishes the work, that he can continue
to do so without my help and that he will be able
to make out with other means whenever he wants to
cut me out. Charles Spurgeon