Doing Extra: A Sign of Righteousness

People of our parents' generation put a lot of emphasis on character. Have we lost our appreciation for the importance of backing up talk with action?

Perhaps it's a common malady across cultures for middle-age people to idealize their childhood and think the world is going to Salt Lake City in a hand basket. I can remember comedians as far back as the 1960s getting laughs from the line: "Kids these days!" This column is not about trashing the younger generation or venerating all people born before 1940. All generations have their noble characters and their slackers.

Is the Hard Worker Extinct?

One of the joys in penning my latest book was talking to people of several generations about their work life. This included business owners, managers and regular employees. One of the common issues that several of them noted: people who don't carry their weight. At any workplace, a few people do more then their share, but some co-workers barely contribute at all. Most fall somewhere in the middle.

It led me to wonder: Is the hard worker of old extinct? My Mom definitely qualified as a hard worker. She served as an electronic technician, working her way up from soldering circuit boards to assembling and testing huge computer gauges. Whenever I met one of her co-workers, they almost always mentioned her work ethic. They made comments that sent me away smiling and feeling proud of her.

- "She does the work of three men."

- "Fern is amazing. I don't know how she gets so much done."

- "The whole place will probably shut down when Fern retires."

From my own experience as a manager for 20+ years with the government, I can attest that hard workers come in every age group, gender and size. (Some of my most dedicated workers were overweight.) Not all of super-producers were overtly Christian, but many of them did profess Christ in large or small ways.

Why Should Christians Work Hard?

Some believers try the direct approach to winning others to Christ. There is nothing wrong with talking to our co-workers about God, particularly at break time or when moving from one location to another. But people are more attracted to those with admirable qualities. By doing our best at work, we build credibility. The last thing we want people to say is that we spent all our time talking about our faith, but not much time working. We need to show our faith by our attitudes, actions and diligence. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Author Update

Thanks to all of you who pray for me and follow my burgeoning author endeavors. I have three projects in process at the moment. My next fiction work, Stock Car Inferno is in the final edit phase with my publisher, Brimstone Fiction. The release date will probably be in the September or October.

I am also super excited about my next non-fiction release, Taking God to Work: The Keys to Lasting Success with Steve Reynolds. It could be released as early as August.

Finally, I'm enjoying the writing phase of a new book about a missionary friend and his exciting adventures in Peru. This book is the wildcard of the three projects. If it is self-published, which seems likely, it could beat the other two out of the gate in the next few months.

So it's going to be a busy second half of the year. I am so looking forward to getting out on the promotion trail and seeing many of you. Until then, God bless and take good care of God's world. He needs your best efforts.