The Cult of Workaholism

A couple of hundred years ago, leisure was reserved only for the rich and powerful. The average person didn't have the time nor money to be able to enjoy leisure. They might rest from work, but they didn't have leisure time. In fact, leisure was a mark of status and so being able to not work was something of value.

But the world changed. Perhaps slowly or dramatically, we have found ourselves in the reverse sitation.

The more important you are, the more you are expected to work. And if you want to prove you are "important" you have to work more than other people.

Our value is increasingly becoming tied to our work and utility to society.

In some ways this is an improvement over what came before. We used to value people based on their

• Sex
• Race
• Title
• Class
• Accent

Okay, we still value people via these factors to greater and less extents, but now we've added our productivity or work to the mix, in some places surpassing all other factors. But there's a dark side to this "meritocracy" which the inventor of the term was all to aware of.

When you have less economic value, you are of less value.

Under the view of meritocracy, someone who is too ill to work, has no value. The old who had retired are not of value either. And someone who works a less paid or less intensive job is not as valued.

This was the irony intended in the book "The Rise of Meritocracy", the intention of the system was to abolish discrimination based on class, but it ends up creating an underclass of citizens.

We have also created a system of endless work.

In order to be of value, we have to work harder and more than anyone else. We have to produce more economically so that we have status. We have to be busy to show our time is valuable. Worst of all, we "don't have time" for activities of kindness and goodness that aren't valuable.  

Workaholicalism is against the Gospel

This is fundamentally against the Christian Gospel. As a Christian, you are valued because you are made in the image of God. There is nothing you could do that would make you more valuable, and nothing that would make you less valuable.

Some might fear this would lead to idolness and lethargy, and it can. But the risk of a different evil does not redeem an existing one.

There is, however, a different way we can work.

Working out of grace

When we work from grace, rather than needing to prove who we are and how good we are, we work because of who we are. Our desires to love and to serve lead us to the work we should.

In some cases we may work longer hours for a particular moment, (as Jesus did when he healed on the Sabbath) but it won't feel like an obligation. But we can also stop working. We can know that we don't need to prove ourselves or our value. We can truly rest.

There is a danger here. That statement "we may work longer" can turn from a grace filled freedom into a law-crushing need. The rare exceptions can become the all to frequent norm and rest can disappear.

My issues with workaholicalism

I've become more aware of this issue in myself. Not just in the office, but the church too. I feel like I need to justify my value and so work and do things to be "valuable".

I've agreed to more and more tasks to try and be "useful" to people, so they'll want me around. It's not a terrible way to stay employeed, but without limit, it leads to burnout.

I now find myself overcommitted. I've agreed to many good tasks but with a new child due to arrive and starting new activities, I am starting to ask people to do more. I have to trust others to do what I would do and train them to take over.

This should mean less recognition, maybe fewer positive words, but I'll be able to fully devote myself to that task that I do, and work out of rest. Most importantly of all, I will have more time with God than time serving God.