Why Workaholism Isn’t Fruitful

Blog by Alan Fadling

Drivenness doesn’t always look bad. In fact, it often looks like dedication. Leaders who seem endlessly busy are often admired. But beneath the surface, there can be something broken.

Eugene Peterson once described busyness as a disguised form of laziness. In Subversive Spirituality, he wrote:

“Busyness is the enemy of spirituality. It is essentially laziness. It is doing the easy thing instead of the hard thing. It is filling our time with our own actions instead of paying attention to God’s actions. It is taking charge… A busy person is a lazy person because they are not doing what they are supposed to do.”*

He illustrated this with the story of a church elder who attended every meeting and chaired every committee, but in the process neglected his own family. The congregation admired him. His family did not.

This is the anatomy of being driven: impressive activity that hides deep neglect. It is a way of living that fills the calendar with urgent tasks while avoiding the truly important.

Thomas Merton named this clearly: “Unnatural, frantic, anxious work… cannot properly speaking be dedicated to God, because God never wills such work directly.”†

Workaholism drains us. Grace nourishes us. The false vines of fear and self-importance cannot sustain us. Only abiding in Jesus, the true vine, produces fruit that lasts.

Reflection Questions

• Where do you see the temptation to measure your worth by busyness?
• What might your drivenness be distracting you from?
• How would your leadership change if it were rooted more deeply in abiding than in achievement?

Footnotes:

*Eugene Peterson. Subversive Spirituality. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994, 1997. p. 237.

†Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. New York: New Directions Books, 1961, p. 19.