That Happy Certainty - Gospel | Culture | Planting
  • Writing
    • Not in Vain: 1 Corinthians Devotional
    • Explore Lamentations
    • eBook: Good News People
    • eBook: Filtered Grace
    • Gospel Coalition Articles
    • Church Society Articles
    • Threads Articles
    • Explore Ecclesiastes
    • Explore Galatians
    • Evangelicals Now Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Join Us
Writing
    Not in Vain: 1 Corinthians Devotional
    Explore Lamentations
    eBook: Good News People
    eBook: Filtered Grace
    Gospel Coalition Articles
    Church Society Articles
    Threads Articles
    Explore Ecclesiastes
    Explore Galatians
    Evangelicals Now Articles
Book Reviews
Interviews
Join Us
  • Writing
    • Not in Vain: 1 Corinthians Devotional
    • Explore Lamentations
    • eBook: Good News People
    • eBook: Filtered Grace
    • Gospel Coalition Articles
    • Church Society Articles
    • Threads Articles
    • Explore Ecclesiastes
    • Explore Galatians
    • Evangelicals Now Articles
  • Book Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Join Us
That Happy Certainty - Gospel | Culture | Planting
Uncategorized

OmniGodliness – Productivity at all costs?

I love being productive. I love Getting Things Done and OmniFocus and Evernote. I love blogs like Matt Perman’s What’s Best Next. I love syncing between devices using the Cloud so that I’m not even  aware of doing it. I love boshing through a To Do list like there’s no tomorrow.

to do listBut perhaps too much focus on productivity can also distract us from what really matters. Productivity tools are exactly that: tools. Tools to help us in the particular roles and responsibilities we have. And for Christians that means tools to help us serve God, his people, and his world.

And yet sometimes I sense within myself that the completion, perfection, and achievement these tools offer instead become a means to serve simply me. I slip into measuring myself by my productivity, and that is what matters most to me in a day. Life become about me being productive at all costs, and God help anyone who puts themselves in between me and my To Do List.

And so my heart was prodded when I read this:

“The gospel teaches us that we are not machines, we are creatures, and in our creatureliness, we cannot work out with any certainty the various values of individual actions. If we think we can identify and accurately calculate the fruit of our labours, we fool ourselves into thinking we are God.

…

The application of modern management practices to the Christian life ends in ungodliness because it results in the maximisation of things that can be quantified – like hours spent, sales made or products produced. But godliness cannot be quantified in any absolute sense. At least in part, this is because it is a matter of the heart.

…

We will not grow in godliness by squeezing more productivity out of life, but by learning to obey the word of God in all its fullness.”

Paul Grimmond, “Trusting in the Dark,” in Facing Depression Together (ed. Paul Grimmond; Matthias Minizines; Kingsford, Australia: Matthias Media, 2010). 8.

What do you think? Agree? How do you balance productivity and having a gospel motivation?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
January 29, 2014by Robin Ham

About Me

Hello, my name is Robin. Welcome to That Happy Certainty, where I write and collate on Christianity, culture, and church-planting. I’m based in Barrow in South Cumbria, England, where my family & I are part of Grace Church Barrow.

‘Not In Vain’ – 1 Corinthians 31-day devotional

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Top Posts

  • "We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience"
    "We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience"
  • Learning to Lean in 2021
    Learning to Lean in 2021
  • 7 Reflections on Preaching through Genesis 1-11
    7 Reflections on Preaching through Genesis 1-11

Refill on inspiring Christian links each week and join 1,017 other subscribers...

Thank you for subscribing! Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

Please enter an Access Token on the Instagram Feed plugin Settings page.

“If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and grateful to God. But because we often fear and doubt we cannot come to that happy certainty.”
- Martin Luther

© 2018 copyright That Happy Certainty // All rights reserved //