In church today John Underhill spoke on the topic of "Productive Spirituality." His primary point was that there is an abundance of things to do in this world, and many of them are not bad in the least. However, in choosing how to spend one's time, he argued that we should question whether what we are selecting to do is "productive." Is it contributing to being a fruitful Christian. He gave the example of his daughter reading a "fantasy" book and indicating that it was not bad in itself but that perhaps there were more productive choices that could be made.
I really struggle with this question. I have wrestled with it many a time, especially in regards to my work. I believe that God has gifted me in many areas and that with his guidance I could have a significant effect in bringing about his work if I was in full-time ministry rather than a full-time computer nerd. So the question, "Is activity A or B productive or fruitful regardless of whether it is good or bad presents" a real challenge to me. As a computer nerd am I being all that God wants me to be? (By the way, I found William Hendricks' and Doug Sherman's book, Your Work Matters To God to help wrestle with this topic. It doesn't provide the answers necessarily but it helps probe the issue within your own life.)
I confess that I have still not fully come to terms with the question of whether my work is the most "productive" choice I could be making but I have come to the point of believing that it is, none-the-less, the right choice for me at this time in my life. In other words, I am reasonably confident that my work is what God wants from me at the moment. The question as to whether a choice is "productive" can be significantly misleading, however. Sure in the case where the answer is yes you are fine. However, whenever the answer is no (perhaps most of the time) then little conclusion about the activity can be drawn (except to note that the answer wasn't yes). Furthermore, as I discussed a while back, there are times when choosing to do exercise or even veg. out in front of the TV is the appropriate choice, even when it would be difficult to argue that it is doing much to bring God's kingdom here on earth.
In summary, I don't think the question, is appropriate and the only time that it can provide any guidance is when the anser is yes. Choices about time are way more complicated than this question implies.
1:14:10 AM
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