Time "On the Clock": The Other Side of Balance

As I said Wednesday, God calls us to a life of balancing work obligations and time away from work. A big part of that is time worshipping Him (which was the subject of Wednesday's post) and time with family and community (which will be the subject of Monday's post). But in between those outside-of-work commitments, there is an important point: God calls us to use our time at work wisely.

It used to be that perhaps the most flagrant abuses of "company time" might be daydreaming at your desk, taking a long lunch break, or having someone else clock you in early. No more. With many workers have access to computers, distractions abound. Now employees can check personal email accounts, facebook, blogs (including this one), and any number of other activities. Smart phones with all of those functions plus a number of games only add to the list of things that we can do in our work time that really have nothing to do with work.

But are those things really wrong. Here's a great post by Susan Dimickele on Social Networking or Notworking that really lays out some of the ethical challenges of this gray issue. On the one hand, these people (called "Tworkers") are spending company time on personal issues, which amounts to stealing from one's workplace. It's a big enough problem that a number of businesses are blocking social media cites from employees' computers. On the other hand, according to research that Dimickele cites, Tworkers tend to be more productive than those who do not distract themselves with social media.

For the Christian, another dilemma is the missed opportunities to build relationships with coworkers and others, relationships that might lead to chances to share your faith. Dimickele points out the irony in technologies that encourage virtual communities while tempting us to neglect the people around us.

Work-life balance is becoming an important value, particularly for younger generations of workers. And I believe it's a value that is consistent with the Bible's emphasis on times of rest and on the importance of family time. However, work-life balance also means that one must work. That may not mean abstaining from distractions completely, but it certainly does mean doing what it takes to be faithful to the tasks you are given.