Editorial January 18, 1993 Issue

Evaluating our work

Russ Gerber

A business consultant, sitting across the table at lunch, surprised me with a comment about a major shift in his career. He worked for and advised some of the largest businesses in the world but had decided to phase himself out of that activity and devote his full time to working for his church. He loved his church and had worked for it on occasion in various capacities over the years. His shift in priorities was wonderful news, but I wondered what had prompted the change. "For one thing," he said, "I realized that I was spending most of my time just moving a lot of paper around." Actually, he was accomplishing much, much more than that, but I understood what he meant.

His concern is familiar to many people and can be a recuring one: Is the work I'm doing making a difference, the kind of meaningful difference I'd like it to make? Though our day may be filled with needful tasks, we might be left wondering if there still is something mission, something that will give us greater satisfaction, some way we can be more useful.

Perhaps that "something" that inspires us in our work isn't really missing at all but is dormant. And the point at which we stop feeling uninspired, and start feeling the spirit that genuinely enlivens and sustains us, comes as we expand our efforts to do good to others. That's when we realize that what we're really looking for was never lost and was never dependent upon a human routine. It's actually God's love, which man expresses as His reflection, love that is active, all-inclusive, and is evident in all we do when we're obedient to God.

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