A Biblical Overview of Productivity
A biblical understanding of productivity is crucial for long-term results.
As a believer, you should maintain a distinctly Christian perspective of productivity. Otherwise, you risk having secular ideologies infiltrate your measurement for success, fruitfulness, and time management.
Previously, I’ve defined Christian productivity broadly as “stewardship.” Productivity is not merely restricted to monitoring a to-do list but being faithful every day with what God has entrusted to you. For productivity to truly change your life, it’s not enough to determine your personality traits or vocational desires. Instead, you should be “transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2) and allow God’s Word to inform and root your aspirations for a productive life. A biblical understanding of productivity is crucial for long-term results.
To that end, if asked to provide a scriptural and theological basis for a distinctly Christian worldview on productivity, I might provide the following.1
1. What You Are (a creature who belongs to God).
One of the most offensive yet liberating messages of Christianity for the 21st Century is this: you are not your own but belong to the God of the Bible (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
That means if you don’t become a Christian, life will never truly be fulfilling or make sense because you haven’t submitted your life to your Creator. But if you are a Christian, your life is no longer about your dreams, desires, and ambitions alone, but all about the glory of the One who saved you. Indeed, you are blood-bought, “a people for his own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).
You are a creature. Using the word “creature” might seem like an archaic word from a bygone error, but understanding yourself as a creature reminds you that you are not the Creator. Idolatry occurs when the Creator-creature distinction is not properly recognized. You are finite, with limited resources and power, and must learn dependence on God. You are a creature who belongs to God.
2. Why You Exist (to glorify and enjoy God forever).
Presbyterian or not, this Q&A from the Westminster Shorter Catechism should motivate you:
Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
You were created to glorify and enjoy God forever. “Glory” is one of those religious words that gets tossed around a lot but not defined. The Hebrew word for “glory” comes from the word “weight.” So living for the glory of God at least means giving weight to what God is like in your life. And since your motivation is to glorify God, you can find true enjoyment in getting things done — even in menial tasks.
Understanding God’s glory in your productivity transforms work. You are not just working through your to-do list to get through the day but to glorify God. Working in such a way as to give weight to God’s character is satisfying since that’s why you were created.
3. Why You are Saved (you are blessed to be a blessing).
There are many implications of salvation. Blessed to be a blessing is one of them.
Yes, escaping God’s wrath is personal and individual. We should rejoice in our salvation ― but there is more to being saved than going to heaven (as glorious as that is).
Probably because of the individualistic culture that we live in, but it is not infrequent that I meet a Christian who thinks about his or her Christian life in individualistic terms. Yes, your forgiveness of sins and receiving Christ are important. But there’s more to your Christian life than this. In other words, the act of God saving you is not solely for your benefit. Your salvation is not just for you.
In the book of Genesis, God blesses Abraham (Genesis 12). He starts a covenant with him, which has implications throughout the entire Bible. Part of the reason why God blesses Abraham is so that he will, in turn, bless others (Genesis 12:2). You are not Abraham. Don’t oversee yourself in the story. But this Abrahamic calling and covenant are undoubtedly a key theme in Scripture.
In some ways, what is true of Abraham is also true of you. If you are a Christian, you are called to be a blessing to others, not merely to hog all of the benefits of salvation for yourself.
4. What You’ve Been Entrusted With (you are the manager, not the owner).
We might think: I own my car. I own my house. I own my body. Or, the money that I have is mine, the gifts that I have are mine, the time that I have is mine. But this mentality fails to see God’s ownership over everything.
You are not the owner. You are the manager. God has not given you anything. He has only entrusted you with what you have. In return, what God commands is faithfulness.
Seeing yourself as a manager, and not as an owner, changes your perspective on the allocations of your resources. It relieves you of the pressure of having secular measurements for success, but also holds you accountable toward faithfulness.
No believer can be perfectly faithful in all things all the time. We are fragile and faltering sinners who are weak in many ways. But just because you cannot be perfect doesn’t excuse you toward a life of apathy and indifference. Every believer should live with the healthy expectation toward some degree of faithfulness with the resources entrusted to them.
5. What Will Happen (you will give an account to God).
The church has a deficient view of Judgment Day. Why? Probably because the culture loves to say, “Only God can judge me” or “You are so judgmental.” We’ve heard almost nothing but negative sentiments about the idea of judgment that we have overcorrected and now the impending judgment of God does not carry the weight in our lives that it should. But let the Apostle Paul redirect your views on judgment: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10).
It’s gloriously true that you are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. But although saved by grace, you are saved to work. Judging and judgment is a good thing. And God will judge you for your works, for what you do. You will give a verbal account of your life.
Far from unhealthy fear and paranoia, like being called into the principal’s office, the judgment of God motivates believers toward godly living and effective time management.
One of the most insidious things you can do with time is waste it. If you truly want a long and lasting view of productivity, then the basis of a productive life must be rooted in the Scriptures.
Influenced by my friend Reagan Rose’s The Five Pillars of Christian Productivity.