All Work No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy

I once got an opportunity to sit in on a meeting of Christian business owners. This forum was specifically for owners of business who want to run their organizations according to God’s principles. The leader of the group was quite a godly man and was full of wisdom. We watched a video from a Casting Crowns a Christian music group who are not afraid to put songs out there to challenge our worldly ways of thinking. This specific song was “American Dream” and talks about how a man works all day and night missing his wife, kids and life. He poured so much into his job that he was missing the things that were really important. He thought he was giving his family the finer things by making more money but he was depriving them of what they needed most in life; a husband and a father.

As the discussion went on in the group about work life balance, I was glad to hear the business owners talk about how they work hard to balance their time at work and their time with their families. There were really strong points made about how important they know it is to focus on God, their families and work in that order.

Then I asked the question: How many of you have people who work for you that seem to be there way beyond 40 hours per week. Each person in the room raised their hand. Then I said, “Don’t we have an obligation as Christian leaders to tell them to stop working so hard…to go home and be with their families? If we all feel so strongly about that, how could we let our own employees go down this destructive path?” The room fell silent.

Most of us as leaders have problems getting people to work, not to go home. Each of us likely has led someone who “works all day and lies awake at night” as the lyrics in the song say. Are we really leading if we let them work themselves out of being a husband and a father?