Being Productive

Posted by Christian St John in Faithblogs | 0 comments

Last week I had to change the wireless internet router in my house. The old one (old? I’ve only had it two years) just wasn’t man enough for our new home – the signal strength was weak, it wouldn’t play online videos without buffering every 5 seconds, download and uploads were painfully slow. So I went and bought a brand new router and it seems to have done the trick – everything’s a lot faster now. Hence, I won’t waste valuable time waiting for online content to load and so on, and as most of my work is currently online, this new router will help me to be more productive.

However, it seems that every year I spend a small fortune on electronic gear. In the last six years I have personally bought three new laptop computers, three printer/faxes, four wireless routers, two external hard drives, an external CD writer, three cell phones, and so on. All in a quest to be more productive. And when I think of all the money I have spent, I hang my head in lament. But then I begin to think about how productive I have been…

I have built two church websites, two blog sites, and of course, HardcoreFaith.com. I have used my laptops for preparing my sermon and teaching outlines, and used them to preach with – instead of using paper (see, I do my bit to conserve this planets resources!). I have written countless papers, essays, and articles. I am working on a book and I have all of my notes safely backed up. I have printed off hundreds of church bulletins, fliers, advertisements, teaching resources, and so on. I have uploaded my video sermons and family photos to hosting sites on the Net. And I have surfed the Net to find resources like sermon illustrations, blog software, video editing software, and so on.

Although I have spend a great deal of time and money to make myself more productive I know that in all reality it was a necessary evil (I hate spending money!), as over the years I have saved myself a great deal of time and effort by having the right gear.

When it comes to the world of technology things can often get very confusing as there are new developments and breakthroughs being made every day. And as much as I love the fact that there are tools that make my job far easier, it is sometimes dizzying just trying to keep up. However, when it comes to my spirituality I know that the only “gear” I need is my trusty sword… my Bible. Whereas the world of the computer, the internet, the i-Pod, the Netbook, and so on can be extremely complex, the world of the believer is very simple, “have Bible, will follow.”

Unfortunately, over the past few years we have tried to make Christianity and following Jesus extremely complex. There are numerous “must have” books and teaching resources out there that tell us how to have “the best, purpose filled, healthy, financially stable, spirit led lives” we can possibly have. And many, many people buy into this line of thinking. I have know people who religiously read Lucado, Warren, Hybels, Swindoll, and the like, but fail to read their Bible at all. Why is this? I have no problems with any of the authors mentioned above, but I bet they will be the first to tell you that if you have a question or problem first go to the Bible.

But we over complicate things. As I said above there are books, teaching CD’s and DVD’s, computer software, and even websites for everything and anything you could possibly imagine when it comes to living the Christian life. From extreme fundamentalism to extreme liberalism there’s something for everyone. And whereas most believers own a copy of the Bible, the question I would ask is, “How often do you read it? How often do you study it? How often do you live what it says?”

Maybe the reason we fail to interact with the Bible more often (yes I use the word “we” as I am guilty of neglecting the Word over other resources too) is maybe because, in this high-tech, frantically moving increasingly complex world, it’s so simple, in that, if we have questions, problems, concerns, hurts, fears, and so on, we are told in Scripture to go to first and foremost to God, not as a last resort after checking out what’s available online or in our local Christian bookstores.

And one of the best ways we can interact with God is through His living Word, especially when it comes to Christian living.

As a tech-nerd I unashamedly declare, I want to be as productive as I can be, so I do what it takes to be so. On the back of that thinking the question that comes to my mind is, do I desire to be as productive as a believer?

Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
March, 2009

Picture by CJLUC