Don’t Worship Work
Importance of Community, Family, Fitness and Sabbath
The temptation to do the same is obvious for entrepreneurs. We can take the responsibility God has given us (the call to create we talked about earlier) and run with it. We can use that as a permission slip to be a workaholic. Even worse, making work an idol that steals our affections from God. Its not hard to discover the costs of placing our time/energy/efforts exclusively in one place.
So how do we keep this all in perspective? How do you ensure that you’re fostering strong values in your lives and the culture of your venture. We’ve looked at God’s Word and found a few in Community, Family and Fitness.
Community: The role of entrepreneur is a lonely one. Even for those of us who have lots of friends and co-workers, we can still feel isolated. Objectively, it doesn’t make sense. How can I be isolated if I have a lot of people around me? The key has to do with being fully known and fully loved. And for entrepreneurs, the barriers to entry for that type of relationship are high. Which might be why entrepreneurs are (Stats from previous podcast)
2X more likely to suffer from depression
6X more likely to suffer from ADHD
3X more likely to suffer from substance abuse
2X more likely to have suicidal thoughts
To stay healthy, it means stepping forward. It takes stepping out of our protective shell and giving others the opportunity to love us. It’s never easy, but we have to decide to either strive alone or thrive with others. Faith Driven Entrepreneurs choose the latter.
Family: How do we do prioritize families? We instill a culture that says there are no heroics in staying in the office late at the expense of family. We prioritize one night a week that’s dedicated date night. Get a babysitter and spend the evening loving and affirming your spouse.
This isn’t going to happen naturally. In fact, submitting to our families is probably the least natural thing a person can do. But when we partner with our spouse—when we view them as an aid to our work, not as an obstacle—we get to experience the closest thing we can find to Christ-like love this side of heaven.
Fitness: The main reason to encourage fitness in your company is because our bodies are a part of who we are, and God loves who we are. There’s a reason God made humans with arms and legs and torsos and all the muscles and sinews that hold those things together. We are His creation. And it’s our responsibility to honor what God has made.
Sabbath: Discovering the Command to Rest is not an easy thing. But did you catch that keyword … This isn’t a list of suggestive ideas. Or quick productivity tips. In the first days of the world, he sets in motion a clear directive. Find regular rhythms of rest and renewal. It's no coincidence he also reassures us that when we seek him he can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. So find a stopping point on that to-do list. Recalibrate your heart. Find Rest.
When we take care of ourselves, we show the One who made us that we care about who He is what He has created.
Initiatives:
Create values that align with who you are a Christ-follower and who you are as a business leader.
Set the right priorities.
Find ways to value our faith, family, and fitness in addition to our work.
Talk to co-workers, co-founders, and spouses to get on the same page with what’s important and why.
Scripture references:
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important? The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. - Mark 12:28-31
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. - Ephesians 5:21-25
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:15-17
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
