Spiritual Life & Work Life Balance... An Impossibility?
God on Monday – Reflections on Christians @ Work by Benny Tabalujan. Klesis Institute.
To start off, let’s get this straight: Work is anything that we do that is of service to others. So, whether we bring home a salary, or stay at home to take care of housekeeping and the ckids, or serve the community, it is all work. Hence, work is not the same as employment. If you find this interesting, then go get God on Monday.
Benny Tabalujan’s book God On Monday – Reflections On Christians @ Work takes itself very seriously in achieving its mission to give a spiritual perspective to Christians who are struggling with work-related issues.
He has been inspired with an approach which he calls the Integrated Work Model to illustrate the main thrust of his book – that Christians can and should integrate their work into their life of faith.
The model is simply based on the premise that if one’s identity is in Christ, then the integrity of one’s work would be based on this identity. This would then impact the conduct and attitudes of the Christian at the workplace. It is totally logical and Benny uses biblical role models like Paul and Joseph as well as various anecdotes from the successes and failures of companies past and present to show us that the Integrated Work Model works.
To discuss the model, the book is simply divided into three parts: Identity, Integrity and Intentionality. In each part, there are aspects that hard-driving, go-getting Christians will find relevant. For example, I agree with his opinion on rest in Part 1 on Identity. While we know that we need to rest, Benny points out that rest-work is part of the natural rhythm of life itself and we would also be fulfilling God’s injunction to stop to focus on Him, particularly on the Sabbath. He correctly points out that we have bought units of leisure to fill up our “rest” time, which really do not allow us to stop! So we watch movies, go on vacations, do sports, etc., only to tire ourselves out further from being on the go! No wonder we are not ready for work on Monday.
In Parts 2 and 3, I found myself being reminded that we have been brainwashed into believing that we can get a “balanced” life between home, income-generating work, and service in church. There is no balance simply because while our activities have increased, our time per day remains at only 24 hours, out of which about one-third must be spent on personal needs like sleeping, eating and caring for ourselves. So, Benny’s argument that we must look at integrating our spiritual activities into our work life is the only sensible approach to living life fully without burning out. If one were a child of Christ, emulating Him in every way, this would be a natural attitude to take to live our busy lives. So why is it that we live compartmentalized lives – almost secular for six days and religious on Sundays?
Benny’s take is that we have learned to do this because we have been seduced into thinking that we can put a positive “spin” to negative aspects of our performance at work and yet still call ourselves followers of Christ. The extent of this dissonance between what we say and do as Christians is seen in what Benny refers to as the “fracturedness” in our integrity. He suggests that this attitude also has roots in the way we view our success in life in terms of material progress rather than spiritual progress.
He also puts to us that perhaps a negative attitude towards work comes from the notion that it is irksome and burdensome, a necessary means towards achieving our desires when we are paid for our labor. He suggests that this is the direct result of the Fall in the Garden of Eden, simply because before that, Adam and Eve were given the task of taking care of the Garden (a.k.a. work) without seeming resentment or hardship. Hence, after the Fall, even work became tainted and painful – after all, birthing pains are referred to as “going into labor!” Since our wonderful creator God is able to make use of every circumstance to further His divine plan to redeem Man, even our work has a redemptive purpose. I never looked at work that way before and this certainly helps me further understand why it is that we have to grow and change even in our work roles – something potentially stressful and not always desirable.
Throughout this very readable, slim volume, Benny maintains the sympathetic tone of a mentor who wishes to bring some light into the valleys of darkness we face sometimes in our work life. He addresses relevant issues such as why we have good people behaving unethically at work, whether we will find that perfect job, if it is “un-Christianly” to be ambitious, why are we unemployed if God loves us, how much to tithe from our salaries, and even why Christians seem unable to evangelize in the workplace.
If you have been asking similar questions, have a read and see if you can find your answers!
Elaine Lim is a high school teacher who is still working on integrating her work life with other needs like getting enough sleep! She worships with her family at the Salvation Army Central Corps.