No Shallow Work in God’s Economy
After the whirlwind of a year that 2020 brought us, perhaps this January we feel a stronger need to buckle down and see positive results—in anything. We might feel tempted to master new disciplines whether in our job, health, or spirituality. Yet no matter how much we try to make room for fruitful tasks this January, we will soon find ourselves entrenched in the mundane.
We’ll still send email after email, fold another round of laundry, wipe the same table with a washcloth, and fill out another piece of paperwork. This kind of work is the kind that author Cal Newport coined as “shallow work.” He defines it as “non-cognitively demanding” and work that tends not to add obvious value. Though Newport doesn’t make moral arguments in his book Deep Work, it doesn’t mean we aren’t already tempted to assign labels like good and bad to different levels of work.
We don’t need any help feeling poorly about monotony.
So how do we approach a new year, knowing that despite our best attempts, a good part of our days will consistently feel pointless?
Re-Evaluate Our Currency
Perhaps the first place to begin is to re-evaluate our currency. What equals value? Often, we look towards money, job status, or perhaps an end product for proof. In the shift to an online culture, currency has further morphed into something more fragile such as “likes” and “shares.” These trinkets of affirmation are a quick shot of dopamine for our minds as we relish the congratulations and feel like we did, in fact, accomplish something.
“We don’t need any help feeling poorly about monotony. ”
Yet these are affirmations we won’t usually get in our everyday “shallow work.” Who comes to tell us we did a great job loading the dishwasher for the second time today or filling out that form? Sometimes whether in our job or home life, the value of our work remains veiled. There’s a reason we flock to social media and find jokes and affirmations for our work “adulting.” We desire encouragement that the monotony that makes up the majority of our lives actually matters.
Though it’s tempting to buy into the currency of the world, God’s currency for the value of our work is so much different. The currency of the Christian is not necessarily something we can hear, see, or touch—but it’s ultimately the unseeable glory of the Lord. It is for his glory that we eat, drink, or do anything (Col. 3:23). This includes deep work that produces huge results right next to the shallow work that will be scrapped and thrown in the trash. For the Christian, all things are for him, through him, and to him for his glory (Rom. 11:36). Nothing is wasted.
In her book, Teaching From Rest, Sarah Mackenzie tells the story of an artist who painstakingly worked on an ornate wooden bird that was placed in a section of a cathedral that would eventually be covered up. When asked why he worked so hard on something never to be seen, he simply answered, “God sees it.”
This new year you will be pressed to do work which will remain hidden. You will pour hours into what seems like mundane tasks, and may see no visible value. Yet God will bring every deed, including all the unseen good ones, into light one day (Ecc. 12:14).
Just because we may not see the glory of the Lord that our work points to right now doesn’t mean we won’t one day. Our chief end is not productivity or congratulations, but instead to glorify God and enjoy him forever, and this currency is one we can receive no matter the type of work we are doing.
Re-Align Our Perspective
While it’s important to use the right currency to evaluate our work, it’s also helpful to re-align our perspective. We are prone to a shortsighted view of life, but this is the limitation of a creature. We are created beings, in a specific time, and with limited knowledge. We are not the Creator. We are not infinite. We are not omniscient. We just can’t see everything. Thankfully God can.
The Israelites couldn’t foresee how their wanderings in the desert would serve as a testament and witness to others for years afterwards. Joseph didn’t know what good God would bring from his betrayal, servitude, and imprisonment. Job was not privy to the grand scheme of his own testing. We too can’t see everything right now.
Like a farmer, Paul tells us that we are patiently waiting for our crop. Each day we sow to the Spirit, God is producing a harvest, though we don’t know how fruitful or what it will exactly look like (Gal. 6:7-9). Perhaps, our daily faithfulness in sweeping the floor will be used to form the character of our children as they grow. Maybe the gentle tone you take in meaningless meetings and email exchanges gives reprieve to your co-workers just as tired as you.
Small acts of kindness are not unimportant because they matter to God. They image his love and faithfulness to others.
“Small acts of kindness are not unimportant because they matter to God. They image his love and faithfulness to others.”
Who knows how God will use the pieces of our mundane moments to form us into the people he desires us to be. We simply wait and trust in his good work in perfecting our faith—whether it be through big ways or small ones (Heb.12:2).
We adjust our perspective to the perfector of our faith, Jesus.
The Middle of the Book
One of my favorite moments in reading a book is when a sentence or concept near the end hits me with force. Often, I’m left with tears in my eyes over a theological truth, or in the case of fiction, the beauty of the storyline. Though I bet if I were to share such a line or truth with somebody else, it would most likely fall flat. They haven’t read the two-hundred pages leading up to that moment or truth. They weren’t primed in the observations—and sometimes boring work—you had to go through to actually get to that moment.
I wonder if in some respects our lives can be the same way. Perhaps, these days of mundane tasks will reveal greater truths that we never would have realized had we been without them. Scripture confirms this as it says God works all things for the good of those who love him (Rom. 8:28). Even the mundane. I know I’ve already seen evidence of this in my thirty-two years, and I wonder how much more I will know God’s faithfulness, care, and his overall character through fifty more years of faithful repetition.
This year when the mundane and pointless tasks start to fill our days, remember that we have a better way to look at these moments. Each circumstance God gives us prepares us for a future glory—one where we will finally have a full perspective and will gaze on the full glory of the Lord (Rev. 21). We’ll see that the end result of our deep and our shallow work is better than any other currency this world offers.
Brianna Lambert is a wife and mom to three, making their home in the cornfields of Indiana. She loves using writing to work out the truths God is teaching her each day. She is a staff writer with GCD and has contributed to various online publications, such as Morning by Morning and Fathom magazine. You can find more of her writing paired with her husband’s photography at lookingtotheharvest.com.