Should Christians Be Busy or Unhurried?

Type of Doctrine: Typically Tertiary

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

-Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV

Why Does It Matter?

Some pastors and Christian teachers emphasize the true biblical teaching that we shouldn't waste our lives, but it is often applied in a way that leads to chaotic, busy lives. On the other end, some pastors and Christian teachers emphasize the true biblical teaching that we should eliminate rushing and hurrying from our lives. This seem contradictory. Which is it? Should we be busy or unhurried?

This is typically considered a tertiary issue where well-meaning believers can disagree and still attend the same church. However I suppose, that in certain difficult and extreme situations, a church's expectations could make it difficult to disagree and remain within the same church.

What Is It?

Should Christians be busy or unhurried? Here are a few considerations.

First, it may be helpful to examine the life of Christ.

Yes, Jesus is ultimately our Savior, but often he also functions as our model of holiness. Some look at the life of Christ and see how productive and efficiently he lived. In that sense, I suppose you could say he was busy. Others look at the life of Christ and see how patient and unhurried he lived. In that sense, he wasn't busy at all. (For example, he planned time for personal prayer, rest, and often frustrated other people by his lack of urgency.) Both are true! It depends on how you define busyness. He was both productive and unhurried. However, Jesus was not busy in an anxious, workaholic, and overwhelming sense. On the other hand, he also was not lazy. It seems like Jesus sought to be productive doing God's will in a generally unhurried manner.

Second, even though Scripture doesn't seem to address this issue directly, it would be helpful to consider a wide variety of Scriptures that speak to various aspects of this issue.

Some key Scriptures:

• We should use time well.

  • [Eph 5:15-17 ESV] 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

• We should do everything for the glory of God.

  • [1Co 10:31 ESV] 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

• We should be diligent rather than lazy.

  • [Pro 10:4 ESV] 4 A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

  • [Pro 13:4 ESV] 4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

  • [Pro 21:25 ESV] 25 The desire of the sluggard kills him, for his hands refuse to labor.

• We should work rather than be idle.

  • [2Th 3:10-11 ESV] 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.

• We should provide for our families.

  • [1Ti 5:8 ESV] 8 But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

• We should guard against oversleep and undersleep.

  • [Pro 20:13 ESV] 13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.

  • [Psa 127:2 ESV] 2 It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.

• We should rest; God made a day of rest for us.

  • [Mar 2:27 ESV] 27 And he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

• We should guard against greed and laboring hard to simply accumulate possessions.

  • [Mat 6:19-21 ESV] 19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

  • [Pro 23:4 ESV] 4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

• We should embody the fruit of the Spirit (a few that are especially relevant to pacing are peace, patience, and self-control).

  • [Gal 5:22-23 ESV] 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

• On one end of the spectrum, we should not adopt the world's frantic pace and motives. And, on the other extreme, we should not adopt the world's laziness.

  • [Rom 12:2 ESV] 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

• God is not in a frenzied hurry to accomplish his will and salvific purposes (or purposes to save people) in the world.

  • [2Pe 3:8-9 ESV] 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Third, we must consider the culture and context within which God has planted us.

Some cultures seem to be busier than others. Some seem to focus more on relationships while others focus more on accomplishment. Some are more communal and others are more focused on individuality. In America, our culture is hyper-focused on individuality and accomplishment. Thus, the culture itself tends to be a busy culture focused on building up accomplishments to bolster one's success and image. Sometimes we don't examine the water that we're swimming in (so to speak), and we can simply embody the culture's values in our churches and Christian lives. Jesus likely lived in a culture that was much slower-paced than ours.

Fourth, we must consider the role of technology.

Electricity, lights, the Internet, computers, phones, and many more technological improvements have also made it possible to work anywhere at any time. (Obviously, technology means that we can also busy ourselves doing things other than just work as well!) These technological improvements have also made us more connected (on the positive side), but they can keep us available at all times if we're not careful (on the negative side). In Jesus's day there would have been more natural boundaries on time. He wasn't available all of the time. He wasn't connected all of the time. Lighting up a room at night would have been much more difficult in his day. So, even though these technological improvements can help us be more efficient and save time, they can also lead us into busier, more hurried lives.

For many American Christians, just like the surrounding culture, busyness and overwork is the norm. Many times churches and church leaders are some of the worst offenders. We baptize it in kingdom-language. Many of us are even busier than the surrounding culture. But spiritual maturity and fruit usually don't come quickly. The spiritual life is more like farming than fast food. The title of Eugene Peterson's book is instructive, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society. Discipleship does not happen on a conveyor belt. Often busyness crowds out the spiritual disciplines, relationships, and rest. True, we don't want to give our lives to excessive entertainment, but we also cannot live as if we're omnipotent (have unlimited power) and omnipresent (in all places at once). We are finite.

Consider this rich quote by Alan Fadling in his excellent book An Unhurried Life:

"Overwork is heart-hardening. People who are driven, who tend to be workaholics, are more prone to developing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). Such hardening happens to our spiritual hearts as well when we are too busy. But what if we think our work is God's work? What if we find ourselves in the strange neighborhood of 'overworking for God'? Why do we do this?

Sometimes we get snared by the belief that we are what we do. What we do is an expression of who we are; what we do does not establish who we are. This reversal of primary identity and secondary identity can energize unhealthy drivenness and be deadly to our soul. Such hyperactivity may produce impressive quantitative results, but the consequent heart-hardening hinders the degree to which the Spirit might energize these efforts. As evidence, consider the common lack of the Spirit's most basic fruit--patience, kindness, peace or gentleness, to name a few--in such leaders' lives.

Do we believe that numeric success is reason enough to disregard the lack of deep spiritual fruit in our lives? Are we willing to settle for obvious, outward success when the chances are slim that God's Spirit is the source of such work and thereby ensuring its lasting fruitfulness?"[1] 

And, as Fadling points out, consider the implications of this type of hyperactive pace on churches:

"What about our experience of church today? There seems to be a common assumption that being a more committed Christian will involve an increasing level of programmatic involvement at church (or at least in church programming): weekly worship services, youth or children's ministries, a men's or women's study, a regular small group, service projects and so on. Is it possible that all of this 'doing' might need to be undone at some point so that we can make enough open space and unhurried time to enjoy the God we follow, and to hear his invitation to follow him and serve his particular purposes in our lives?"[2] 

Some Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, Scripture does not give a specific prescription for each of us that includes exactly how to live, how to balance our lives, and how to manage each minute of our time. This is an issue of conscience.

Well-meaning Christians will disagree on details. Our different approaches may also reflect our personalities, gifts, season of life, family-size, type of work, etc. However, Scripture is clear that we should work hard, rest, sleep well, spend time with family / friends, and spend time in church worship / community. Scripture also shows that we should avoid overwork, underwork, laziness, greed, and the like. Throughout Scripture I don't see God hurrying. When Christ was on earth, I don't see him in a hurry. Therefore, I wonder if our hurrying is either a result of poor planning or biting off more than we can chew.

So, it seems to me, we should strive to land somewhere between busy and lazy. We can attempt to discern from the Lord what his will for our lives and seek to accomplish it with unhurried, unfrenzied yet hard work. (Obviously, there are also different seasons and life situations where life may seem slightly more full. For example, parenting young kids, needing to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, etc.) I know that striving to live this way can be hard. It often requires us saying no to good opportunities, but it can also be very life-giving. If we don't strive to live in this manner, then we can find ourselves overwhelmed by trying to do too much. In fact, we could possibly even find ourselves doing more than God wants and at a faster pace than he desires. Many of the poor examples and temptations in Scripture show a person failing to wait on God. They seek to live at a faster pace than God desires.

Maybe Paul's statement is the most helpful on this topic:

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:15-17 ESV)

Live wisely. Don't waste time. Don't be foolish. Understand the will of the Lord. The will of the Lord includes your rest, relationships, and spiritual disciplines!

We're probably all prone to one of these two extremes. So, perhaps, if we are finding ourselves overly busy or lazy regularly, we need to explore deeper heart motives and issues that are leading us to live in this way? Here are a few questions to help examine our hearts:

• For the overly busy:

  • Why do I overcommit?

  • Am I trying to please someone? Myself? Why?

  • What am I working so hard for? (Success? Significance? Approval? Accomplishment? Productivity? Image?) Is there an idol here?

  • Am I trying to please God by living at a faster pace than God desires?

• For those prone to laziness:

  • Why am I undercommitting?

  • Am I trying to please someone? Myself? Why?

  • Why am I avoiding hard work? (Love of comfort? Ease? Approval?) Is there an idol here?

  • Am I being faithful to what God has asked me to do at an appropriate pace?

End Notes:

[1] Alan Fadling, An Unhurried Life: Following Jesus' Rhythms of Work and Rest (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2013), 51.

[2] Ibid., 53.