I love this part of these blog posts. I love the word productivity. I love calling myself a producer. It implies as sense of activity that I seek with every breath. It's part of my being. I breath productivity; not because I'm amazing at it, but because I want to be.
And yet, let me be vulnerable. While I love the idea of being a producer, it's something I severely struggle with. There's a sense of striving, fighting for worth, acceptance, and longing in what I produce that's always been with me. I sleep very little, I work very hard, and it's a fight to put work down and play with my kids. On father's day Nancy ask the kids what dad's favorite thing to do was. Their response in unison: "work on the computer!" Ouch, I thought, is it that true? Out of the mouth of babes come my failure at productivity as much as my desire for success.
My point is this: When we, as producers, place our skills before God he does two things: first, he grows our productivity; second, he grows us in how we handle our productivity.
Called to be Producers
Definition of a producer: a person or thing that makes or causes something.
I remember when I realized God made me to create things, make things, and fix things. It was during a Bible school in Montana. It was one of most life altering moments for me. I realized that God in his grand scope had create me unique to make things, bare fruit from the work of my hands. I used to sit on a mountaintop, look out at the forest of trees, and pray: God what have you made me for? Will you do it! Will you make me able to do what you're calling me to!
The arch of scripture maps out a life of productivity. First, Genesis 1:28 says that we are to "care for all of creation…" God placed everything in all of creation under our care for us to continue to nurture to it's fullness: the trees that yield seed, the beasts of the earth, the birds of the air, and everything that creeps on the ground. Then, at the crucial moment of Christ's redemption, he is leaving earth to rule and reign. He turns to his followers and tells them to go proclaim the gospel to the ends of the earth (Matt 28:18-20). The way Mark stats it we are to: "proclaim the gospel to the whole of creation (16:15)." We are to continue to care for all of creation in a gospel-centered life of productivity. Finally, at the end of scripture, in the last two chapters of Revelation, John gives his vision of the new heaven and new earth. He tells of a garden city, the ultimate picture of rebirth and redemption amidst the life of a fast-moving, culture-breathing city.
You are called to make things, fix things, and solve things. It's built in you; it's built in creation; it's built in redemption. The fact that before the fall, in the middle of redemption, and in the future to come we see moments of creativity and productivity through it all, is an incredible thing. It means you should seriously be asking the question: What has God created you to make, to produce?
Called to Bring Glory to God in What We Produce
There are many things you are called to produce. First, there's your life before God. We are to dedicate all of our endeavors, hobbies, and rest to God. He makes all things new in our lives. Second, there's your live in relationship. We are to hold our relationships with one another higher than any thing we produce. The tragedy of this is often seen in the life of the film maker or writer who makes great art while at the same time train-wrecking their personal life. Third, in our creativity and production we are to innovate, entrepreneur new ways of fixing and changing the world. This could be through great pieces of art, excellent teaching in education, creating start up companies, making a drug to cause a cure, or planting new communities of people around the world. Look at the beauty found in Exodus.
Not only is Exodus the story of a people who've gone from a rescued people to a people called by God. It's also the story of beauty in building the tabernacle of God, the presence of his very being resting on his people. In 25:23-30 Moses tells of building the table of presence. It's where the bread is placed before God. The detail is incredible. The intentionality astounding for a bunch of hermits walking around in the wilderness. When God brings his glory it lands in a sacred space of created beauty.
I think about this when I cut wood, paint, nail, and screw reclaimed wood to form beauty in the middle of broken images. My current creative obsession is taking broken down pallets (the kind you see riding on the back of semi trucks caring loads of products to be sold at your local Target.) and turning them into something beautiful. They're made quickly, fall apart fast, and are often left on the side of the road to rot or be crushed. I take them, tear them apart and rebuild them as canvas (and soon to be coaster and serving trays). Every time I paint the arch of a brush stroke, it's unique to that moment. My prayer is that I will bring glory to God in my productivity. But there's also a dark side.
Called to Handle our Productivity Well
"Did you sleep last night?" Nancy asks me. "Kind of," I say, "I guess I slept a few hours. I wanted to get part of the first painting finished before next week, so I stayed up pretty late, like 1:30-2am. And I wanted to write this morning so I woke up at 5am to get it done early." God in his grace has given me an incredible tolerance for productivity (call it a tolerance for pain). I can work for long stretches at a time. I can sleep very little, work a lot, and find a great deal of fulfillment in the whole process.
However, this also comes with the dark side or being too driven, working too hard. If you were to peg me on either the workaholic or lazy side of life, I'd fall on the former. I'm a natural workaholic. They asked for 'tryouts' and I raised my hand right away. God continues to hone my rhythm of life. While its something I struggle with his grace abounds and convicts me when I need to slow down and breath. Isn't this true for all of us in our struggle with productivity?
Often we can find ourselves on one side of this pendulum or the other. We can work too much or not enough. Our personalities, temperaments, and skills sets often put us in one side or the other. But what's interesting about life is that we can also find ourselves pendulum swinging from one to the other. Maybe in college we didn't work enough; now later in life we work too much? Perhaps depression or change of pass has slowed us down? Maybe financial constraints make us work harder than we ought?
James tells us that even in all of this: what we go through cause us to grow. "The testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (1:3-4)." What's astounding about this verse is the nature of productivity within faith. Faith is not dormant; it produces change in us as we open ourselves first and foremost to a life of faith in Jesus Christ. No matter whether you make things, fix things, or solve things your life of productivity is meant to bring you closer to God as you handle productivity well.
Three Questions to Guide You:
1. What are you good at? Often, what we are good at is right before our very eyes. We are good at many things, wanting to be great at something. In his book Good to Great Jim Collins says the mark of a leader is humility - not proud in how good you are at what you do - and determination - you find one thing to do and you do that thing, relentlessly, for as long as you are able.
2. What can you make, fix, or solve? We are not just innovating the new, but redeeming the old, refurbishing the rusted, and fixing the broken. So many of you are great at fixing things, solving problems, and changing the world. You down play it because it seems common place. It's not. You should continue to find your calling as a solver.
3. How are you using that for God's kingdom? Ultimately, God is moving to break in with his kingdom. We want to see the oppressed set free from addictions. We want the hungry fed, the fatherless cared for, and the elderly loved. We want people to know God and give their lives to him. Creativity and innovation have not always run current to each other in a kingdom way of life. However, as God-inspired producers in the epoch of our time we must hold them hand in hand.
