Business Bondage Symptom #2: Overwork

reprinted by permission from Business by the Book by Larry Burkett

Our lifestyles today demand more and more indulgences to keep us content. Often this necessitates two incomes and many extra hours on the part of either or both spouses. Compared to the dedicated businessman or businesswoman who is trying to build a small empire, the average worker is a sluggard.

It is not unusual for a person building a business to work 80+ hour weeks regularly, and in some cases 100 hours or more. Unfortunately, many people think this is both necessary and normal (I did for many years). So, not only do they drive themselves to extremes, they also demand the same of everyone else.

It is true that a 40 hour week will rarely, if ever, build a successful business. But a 100 hour work week reflects a gross imbalance of priorities, not dedication to being a good leader! I can state without hesitation that no one can maintain the correct balance between work, family and God if he or she is working more than 60 hours per week. There may be occasional periods when an excess is necessary and unavoidable, but even then the relationships suffer.

I can reflect on my college days when I worked 10 to 14 hour days at Cape Canaveral in Florida and carried a full school load as well. Those were some long days and weeks! But, I could see no other alternative at that time, since I knew no bankers who were crazy enough to lend me money to go to college.

It took me nearly six years to finish, and then I went into business with a friend who had started an electronics company. I simple substituted the hours in school for the hours at work and continued the same pace. I actually believed this was the normal pattern for success, because it was the pattern of most of the successful businesspeople I knew.

What I didn’t realize then was that most of them were working on their second or third marriages and businesses, and were repeating the same patterns that had wrecked the previous relationships. To my knowledge, none were Christians, although some were professing church membership (a membership they seldom took advantage of).

Then, in the midst of trying to achieve the world’s idea of success, I found the Lord as my Savior and realized that my priorities were out of balance. I began taking a half day off on Sunday so that I could go to church, but then I started falling back into the old routine. I tried but could find no way to alter the habits of a lifetime.

When I had been a Christian approximately six months, I had an experience that jolted me.

I had been at the routine or working 20 hours a day and sleeping a little on the side. I came home about 2:00 one morning and crawled into bed. Then I awoke a few minutes later with one of those “revelations” from the Lord. I felt God was speaking to me through a passage of Scripture that was clear in my mind, and I spent the next two hours trying to locate the passage. (I knew so little about the Bible at that time; I didn’t realize there were concordances available to help locate elusive passages).

I eventually found the Scripture and I will never forget it: “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors; for He gives His beloved even in his sleep”. (Psalm 127:2).

You can’t say it clearer than that.

I had promised God when I became a Christian that He would never again have to deal with my disobedience (ignorance perhaps, but not disobedience.) I asked only that He would make His will for my life very clear so that I wouldn’t misunderstand it. His Word said it for me: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll whole-heartedly obey. Make me walk along the right paths for I know how delightful they really are. Help me to prefer obedience to making money” (Psalm 119:33-36)

From that point on I made a commitment to never again spend excessive hours pursuing success. I limited myself to 48 hour work week maximum and have maintained that schedule (or ever fewer hours) ever since. I find that I accomplish more and use my time better than when I worked twice as many hours. I also won’t have to look back at 65 or 70 years of age and say, “I wish I had done that 20 years ago.”

If you find you can’t keep your time in the right priority, I would suggest a plan that a friend shared with me several years ago. Just ask God either to give you the wisdom to maintain the correct priorities or remove the temptation by shutting down the business!

Perhaps the worst offender I ever knew in this regard was a pastor. He shepherded a large evangelical church and spent almost every waking moment there. Even when he was at home his mind was at his office. As he felt justified because what he was doing was “for the Lord” (a common cop-out for someone who uses Christian work as an ego booster). Although this pastor had problems at home, in his marriage and family, he prided himself that he never allowed his personal problems to interfere with his ministry activities.

Then the local police chief called to say that his 16 year old some had been arrested for drug possession – again. The previous day his wife had suffered an emotional breakdown and had been committed to the psychiatric ward at the local hospital. Initially, this made little impression on the pastor, and it fact he had prepared a sermon on suffering for that Sunday.

But as he prayed about his message that Sunday morning, he realized that his whole life was a lie; he was in bondage to his own ego and pride. He would have counseled any other church member to drop the business and get his life straightened out.

At church that day, he stood in the pulpit and told his congregation, “My life is a mess and I’m a phone. My wife is in a mental ward, my son is in jail for handling drugs, and I don’t know if God still wants me in the ministry. So, I’m resigning as your pastor. I’m going to try to salvage my relationship with God and with my family. If I’m successful I’ll be back, if you still want me. Otherwise, I will assume God has other plans for my life.”

The silence hung thick as the pastor walked out of the auditorium. Then one of the deacons came to the podium and said, “I believe God is at work here—finally. My wife and I have been praying for something like this for a long time now. Let’s pray for the pastor and his family”.

The pastor was gone for nearly six months, during which time the church used several interim pastors and guest speakers. He spent his time ministering to his wife and working with his son in the detention home. After six months he felt he had redirected his priorities, and he asked the deacon board to reconsider him for the pastorate.

But he set a condition for his return.

Every deacon had to agree to a pact of total accountability with him and each other, including their finances, time, Bible study and prayer. Second, they had to agree to as total survey of the church to determine how many members were actually Christians. Those who were not Christians would be asked to join a new members class, regardless of their social status or length of church membership.

After much debate, the deacons agreed to the plan, and the pastor returned. His first official act was to post a sign above the entrance to the sanctuary: “Only sinners are welcomed here”.

That church never again was the same.

The biggest change in the administration of the church was that the pastor required the deacons to assume the role of leaders and relieve him of the necessity to do all the counseling, development and planning. The pastor had learned what many other Christians never learn until it is too late: God doesn’t need us to burn out for Him. He would much rather have us wear out gracefully.