(By David Giarrizzo)

What a trip! Over the past week I have had the opportunity to fly to the opposite end of the country (central Florida), play the part of the best man in a good friend’s wedding, spend some quality time with my family and close friends, go to a theme park, worship with a small Reformed Baptist congregation, and catch up on some reading. Overall, it was a great time, but I’m glad to be home (as of 30 minutes ago).

As I thought about what I would write on for this week’s post, I found my answer in a book. There’s one book in particular that I have been meaning to read since I first heard about months and months ago that I was finally able to read this past weekend. It’s called Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God’s Will; Or, How to Make a Decision Without Dreams, Visions, Fleeces, Impressions, Open Doors, Random Bible Verse, Casting Lots, Liver Shivers, Writing In the Sky, Etc. by Kevin DeYoung (co-author with Ted Kluck of Why We’re Not Emergent and more recently, Why We Love the Church). It’s a short, easy read of only 122 [small] pages, and I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a very basic, very biblical understanding of God’s will and decision-making. While I do not want to present an all-out book review (for a couple of those, check out here and here), I do want to discuss some of the important points that DeYoung makes in his book on knowing the will of God in a few posts on the subject of God’s will, but more specifically how we as believers are to think and live.

Let me begin by discussing four different types of people that I categorized in my mind through reading Just Do Something. I figure there are many types of people with varying personality types, cultural traditions, work ethics, behavioral patterns, theological nuances, etc. But in terms of Christians who are to be at work serving the Lord, I came up with these four categories of people: Planners, Plodders, Players and the Paralyzed.

Planners—Visionaries, pioneers, innovators; plan ahead; often express leadership qualities; can see the big picture, but may not be as good with details.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5

Plodders—Hard workers day-in and day-out, task-oriented, patient, dependable; manage the details well, not easily distracted; able to consistently complete their work and meet their goals.
“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.” Proverbs 12:11
“The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.” Proverbs 12:24

Players—Entertainment-driven, looking for excitement & fulfillment through material objects; worldly, easily distracted, unreliable. (Consider the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:13.)

Paralyzed—Easily confused, easily distressed; indecisive, worrisome; procrastinators, excuse-makers; Do-nothings. (I think of Bunyan’s characters, Simple, Sloth, and Presumption, who Christian encounters just to the side of The Way in Pilgrim’s Progress.)

(Of course, each of these could probably be subcategorized or this list added to, but these are the four that came to mind while reading DeYoung’s book. If you come up with other categories, please leave your thoughts in the comment section!)

Many people go through phases in life where any of these characteristics could describe them; however, some people just simply resemble one type of person more than any other. For example, I know some plodders within our church congregation who have worked behind the scenes for years simply doing the work of the Lord through various ministries. Likewise, some generations seem to produce more of one type than another. I think of the plodders of my grandparent’s generation who were happy just getting a paycheck for doing an honest day’s work. I think of the baby boomers and the many innovations that came out of that generation (think: the internet). Then I think of my generation comprised of some Gen-Xers and some Millennials (I am a “cusper” because I was born in the early ‘80’s and can relate closely to both generations). This generation, as DeYoung points out in chapter 1, is a generation of “tinkerers.” DeYoung writes, “Our grandparents built. Our parents boomed. And my generation? We tinker” (p 12). I think that word “tinker” accurately portrays my generation: we mess around with things, probably because there’s so much to tinker with. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the blessings of technology for the Christian. But as we all well know, with technology also come many distractions. And I think that technology, as much as it has helped us do some things faster, it has likewise become one of the largest distractions to productivity.

Ideally, the church should be full of both Planners and Plodders, not Players or paralyzed parts. We should see our churches full of people with purpose and vision for the future. And we should see our churches busy in ministering and actively working to see the fruit of their labors for the glory of God (the faithful proclamation of the Gospel; the caring for the poor, sick, and needy; the sending and supporting of missionaries; etc.). Regretfully, though, some churches suffer and are inhibited by those who find more fulfillment in worldly pleasures and spend their time and energy on pursuing personal rather than spiritual gain; or by those who seem to do absolutely nothing for the benefit of themselves, never mind for the kingdom. These latter individuals are paralyzed by indecision. Additionally, as DeYoung acknowledges, they often excuse their life-long procrastination and sluggishness with statements like, “I’m trying to find God’s will for my life” or “I am praying for God to give me direction.” The problem is this: God HAS given us direction, He has shown us His will for our lives in His WORD!

Hebrews 1:2–“…in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” This is how God speaks to us today.

And God has shown us His will for our lives in 1 Thessalonians 4:3—“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”.

I look forward to writing more on this subject and further discussing other points that DeYoung brings out in his book, Just Do Something. For now, let me leave you with this:

Are you a Planner or a Plodder? How are you currently using your spiritual gifts to benefit the body? Are you spending too much time playing when there is God’s work to be done? Or are you paralyzed by fear, indecision, or confusion? As the old saying goes, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Start by getting up and doing something. But don’t just tinker with life; don’t tinker with the important things like God’s will, your spiritual growth, and ministering through the body of Christ. Whatever your hand finds to do, remember:  do it with all your might (Eccl. 9:10) and to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31)!

(By: Chad Bennett)

This Labor Day I was reminded that there was a time in my life when I was quite convinced of the inherent evilness of work. I was a college student (which may explain a lot) and was in the process of reading through Walden by Henry David Thoreau. The book begins with a chapter entitled “Economy” which is very much an attack on the idea of work. Several statements of Thoreau stood out to me then as appealing. I present you with a sampling of some of these statements: “I found that, by working about six weeks a year, I could meet all the expenses of living” (56). The idea of 46 weeks of vacation was especially appealing to me. He also said “it is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do” (58). He also stated “I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary” (81). While there is much value in Thoreau’s desire to simplify his life, for we are often consumed with the world around us, I soon realized that maybe he had gone too far in condemnation of work. This realization began first with a careful study of the source of work as discussed in Genesis 2. In verse 5 it mentions that God watered the earth but “there was no man to work the ground.” Then in Genesis 2:15 we read that “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” What is especially interesting about this is that it precedes not only the fall but even the command regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Before sin entered the world man was created and placed in the garden to work it for the glory of God. I at one time considered to be evil what God had created for His glory. So where then does our dislike for work come? One does not have to look much further to find the answer. Genesis 3:17-19 says, “And to Adam he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’” Because of the sin of man work is not what it was originally. My heart went out to Thoreau’s statement about the sweat of his brow because we all inherently despise work causing us to sweat. We know in our hearts that work should not produce sweat, it ought not be this hard; but when I looked for a cause of this corruption of the very nature of work, I found I could look no further than myself.

What I learned is that I hated work not because it is inherently evil, but because I am.