We don’t really understand grace. Somehow, we talk about grace while working as if our approval from God were dependent on our efforts. We use work to avoid other issues. Occasionally, work keeps us from dealing with problems in our home, or it helps us to ignore recurrent sin patterns in our own lives. Work thus becomes a cover-up to bigger issues.

Some time ago, I wrote a post on what my workaholism is costing me. I still struggle with that issue, and I’ve learned that many pastors share that struggle. Here are some reasons we’re susceptible to this sin:

1. We’ve been trained to balance a lot while working hard.Sometimes we learned that trait in seminary when we worked multiple jobs while earning a degree. Our practice then has become a habit now.
2. We live in a world where achievement is recognized.Whether it’s right or not, those who get recognition in the church world are often those whose churches are the biggest and whose ministries are best known. Getting there requires work.
3. Many of us are competitive by nature.I’m not sure why that’s the case, but I do know that many of us would like to lead the largest ministry – and we work hard to try to get there.
4. We forget what we preach: that God is the One who reaps the harvest.We proclaim one message about God’s sovereign work while living as if nothing good can happen unless we’re in the middle of it.

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