Glorifying God through Productivity
The world’s vision of personal productivity promises to help you make more money, secure greater fulfillment, and achieve your desires—it’s personal productivity for personal gain. However, Christians see God’s glory as their ultimate aim, and they see productivity as a set of skills to maximize their effectiveness in reaching that end.
Because productivity is often associated with worldly ambition, believers can be tempted to write off the topic as something reserved for the business world or for those who have an ungodly obsession with avarice and achievement. The truth, however, is that there is no group for whom productivity is more important than Christians. Believers in Jesus Christ can leverage the skill of personal productivity to bring glory to God in at least three ways.
1. Personal productivity helps believers glorify God by making us more intentional in bearing the fruit of good works.
In John 15, Jesus uses the metaphor of a vine and branches to teach His disciples how good works are a byproduct of their union with Christ, saying: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
The fruit of good works comes via our connection with Christ, the true vine. But Jesus goes further, stating, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). Here, He connects the bearing of much fruit with glorifying God the Father. To be productive in bearing the fruit of good works is to bring glory to God.
Personal productivity certainly does not replace our connection with the vine in fruit-bearing. It can, however, act as a trellis for our fruit-bearing. Connected to Christ, Christians can grow in the skills of goal setting, time management, and prioritization in our efforts to bring glory to God.
2. Personal productivity helps us glorify God by improving our ability to redeem the time.
Time management is one of the most essential productivity skills. In Ephesians 5:15–16, the Apostle Paul emphasizes its importance for our Christian walk: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15–16).
God’s Word calls us to make “the best use of the time,” or as the King James Version puts it, to “redeem the time.” Acknowledging this truth is one thing, but it is quite another to seek to grow in effective time management purposefully. Christians who want to glorify God should eagerly pursue the skill of time management.
Redeeming time requires wisely choosing commitments, effectively managing a schedule, and the settled determination to avoid wasting time and employ each moment as faithfully as possible. We live in a fallen world that requires work among thorns and thistles, rest, and attention to unanticipated needs. Even still, as we learn to better manage our time, we increase our capacity for faithfulness and thereby glorify God with the time and tasks He sets before us.
3. Personal productivity helps us glorify God by improving our stewardship.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30, Jesus tells a story of three servants entrusted with varying amounts of money while their master leaves on a journey. The servants represent followers of Christ, and the master is Jesus. In the story, upon the master’s return, the first two servants are praised and rewarded because they invested the money and made a good return (Matt. 25:15–16; 19–23). The third, however, is chastised and punished because he does not even attempt to use the master’s money wisely (Matt. 25:18; 24–28).
Both of the faithful servants are commended and rewarded similarly (Matt. 25:21, 23). What differentiated them from the third servant was not the amount the master lent them but their diligence in productively employing those resources in the master’s name. They were efficient, going “at once” to invest the money—effectively, “trading with them”—and as a result, they were productive, earning “five talents more” and “two talents more,” respectively (Matt. 25:16–17).
Likewise, faithful Christians wisely and diligently invest whatever God has entrusted to them—be that time, talent, or treasure—motivated by a desire to see His name magnified. We glorify God when we view our lives as a stewardship from God and act accordingly.
The Christian life is not something we approach passively. Vigor must mark our pursuit of the kingdom, as we joyfully pursue bearing much fruit, numbering our days, and stewarding our time. So, pursue the skill of personal productivity not for self-aggrandizement but for the glory of God.