How can we maximize our performance for the Lord?
Discussion question for June 11, 2010.
There is a potential dualism between performance for the glory of the Lord and performance for the sake of righteousness. Believing that we are saved by faith, and not by works, how can we improve our ability to serve the Lord? What practical ways can we manage our life or lifestyle to increase effectiveness? Where do we draw the line so that we do not boast? What motivation is appropriate for serving the Lord?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
One of the important tools for maximizing performance is time management. This is much more than just filling up time with various activities, but has to do with setting priorities for the way time is invested. Those priorities indicate your core values, purpose and frame of reference. Time management allows us to spend more time being effective for the Kingdom by reducing waste.
It is also important to maintain a good (heavenly) perspective about life. As it says in Psalm 39:4-6 we should consider our days and how fragile is life on earth. The comparison should be made to our eternal life with God, and then what seems important here and now is properly tempered by the Truth. With God on our side (and inside) we can live and plan according to what we CAN DO rather than focusing on what we CAN’T DO.
Jim Loehr writes in The Power of Full Engagement that our energy must be managed even more carefully than our time. If our energy is stressed and pushed beyond our comfort zone, then it will grow. But the stress must be accompanied by a period of recovery or the result is fatigue from over-training. If our energy is conserved instead of being pressed into service, then it will atrophy. A balance between effort and recovery is vital for enhanced performance. This is, of course, what God prescribed in commanding us to take Sabbath rest.
The most important part of the question is to understand our own motivation for pressing in or pulling back in effort. If our performance is done for our own benefit, then it is idolatry. If our performance is done for the glory of God, then it is an act of worship.
Motive is an elusive thing, because our self-protection mode covers up when we are actually doing things out of self-interest. So the true motive can be hard to ascertain. God is our exceedingly great reward, and all our performance should be done for His benefit. When we do, His blessing falls on us as a response. This is a description of relationship, and the distinction between the two (God and me) gets lost as the relationship gets stronger.