Have you noticed that when you catch up with someone, their answer to “how are you?” almost always includes the words “busy” and/or “tired”? I believe one of the biggest reasons for this is our poor understanding or poor application of a “theology of work and rest.”
In Tim Keller’s book, Every Good Endeavor, he explains that God’s good plan involved a constant cycle of work and rest since before sin entered the world (Gen 1:31-2:3). He says that work is “as much a basic human need as food,” and that rest is “actually a way to enjoy and honor the goodness of God’s creation and our own (Ex 20:8–11).”
Since the fall (Gen 3:17-19), the curse of sin shows up in our vocation when we start to either despise work and crave leisure, or obsess over work and ignore rest. Sometimes it’s a sign that it’s just time to tip the balance back in the other direction, but often it can be a sign of idolatry creeping in. Keller explains that what makes work so exhausting (physically and emotionally) has to do with where we look for life. If we get our “sense of self” through productivity and success, we’ll burn out. If we work just for the paycheck so we can “enjoy real life,” our workweek feels like a pointless grind. Both attitudes are an attempt to earn your identity, which Keller calls “the work under the work.”
But if we can experience gospel-rest in our hearts, if we can be free from the need to earn our salvation through our work, we will have a deep reservoir of refreshment that continually rejuvenates us, restores our perspective, and renews our passion. Keller’s solution is to focus on who you are working for. “You are adopted into God’s family, so you already have your affirmation. You are justified in God’s sight, so you have nothing to prove. You have been saved through a dying sacrifice, so you are free to be a loving one. You are loved ceaselessly so you can work tirelessly in response to a quiet inner fullness (Is 40:31).”
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