This week, I finished an online, on-demand, 10-week course titled “Stewardship and Productivity”. The course mentor is Reagan Rose, author of Redeeming Productivity. The course is hosted from the Institute for the Christian Life at The Master’s Seminary. ICL provides advanced doctrinal, biblical, and ministry training for church leaders and committed students of God’s Word.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve taken lots of online courses via Coursera but “Stewardship and Productivity” is my very first Christian course. I learned about it via NeedGod PH, the organizers of the Strange Fire Conference held in Bohol last May 7,2024. I attended that conference and got this very special offer, thanks to NeedGod’s partner organization, The Expositor’s Academy.
When I saw the course affiliation with The Master’s Seminary, I knew it would be sound biblical reformed teaching. To be sure, prior to registering, I looked up Reagan Rose on YouTube channel. His M.Div. from the Master’s Seminary and previous work as Director of Digital Platforms at Grace to You gave the assurance I needed.
“Stewardship and Productivity” teaches a biblical view of stewardship and productivity. I desperately needed this for several reasons.
First, my life is a mess. I need help getting my life sorted after 18 years of a godless marriage and suddenly a widow struggling with isolation and trauma.
Second, I was regenerated radically and very suddenly. This is causing me a lot of confusion over the abrupt changes in my thinking and behavior.
Third, I have resources. These are things that my husband and I invested in and I need to know how can I glorify God, the owner of everything I have, with what seem to be irrelevant resources in a small farming homestead.
And fourth, I have talents and skills. These I suppressed and hated simply because my husband showed no appreciation for them.
Before the course, I was just self-directed, filling my time with Bible reading, prayer, devotions and sad attempts to pull myself and my life together again. After the course, I had a stronger motivation to get organized, be productive and practice self-discipline without feeling guilty or burnt out. I’ve had such motivations before, but this time, I’m actually practicing what I’ve learned.
I’d like to outline some of the key learnings I got from the course. This helps clarify and reinforce the practice and discipline that I’d like to keep for the rest of my productive life for God’s glory.
First, there is no such thing as a neutral productivity method. Ultimately, there is no such thing as “secular.” All the methods available out there are either of God or of another god/s, and we should discern rightly. “Why We Need a Distinctly Christian Productivity is a very good reading on what sets a Christian theology on productivity from all the rest.
Second, time is short. We are but a mist that appears for a little while, there is much to be done and we were made in the image of a productive God. Thus all believers will be accountable for the work that they have done before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10).
Reaganś story about his ultra-productive Hebrew language teacher (and full-time pastor) at The Masterś Seminary made the point that if we really want to be more productive, we have to give up even legitimate unsinful pleasures (such as watching NFL football) to truly redeem the time as God commands.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:16
In the King James Version of Ephesians 5:16, the English word “redeeming” is used as translated from the original Greek ἐξαγοραζόμενοι (exagorazomenoi). While “making the most of” is the phrase used in other Bible translations, “redeeming”delivers a much deeper interpretation of the passage. Literally, the verse speaks of redeeming or saving the time from the days which are evil. I think this shows the urgency of our calling to be truly productive Christians.
“Will We Work and Have Jobs in Heaven?”
Now, this bit of reading at the second week of the course made me very happy. Here’s why.
I love my pigs. Raising, breeding and keeping pigs over the past 10 years gave my life so much joy and meaning. Now, I only have one pig, a sow. She is aged and can no longer breed. I love her. I raised her mother, father and grandparents on this little home farm.
But I’m getting a bit too old for pig breeding so I haven’t been keeping new pigs for breeding anymore. And one day, my sow will die, like the other breeding sows and boars I’ve had over the years. It is always, always heartbreaking.
But this lesson in Stewardship and Productivity suggests that I am going to have pigs in heaven.
Third, learning to identify my Domains of Stewardship was the first big step towards getting productive. These Domains are (1) Possessions (needing maintenance); (2) Responsibilities and Commitments; (3) Abilities, Skills and Talents; and (4) Relationships (need affection and time). By identifying what’s under these domains in my life, I get a great bird’s-eye view of what God gave me for stewardship. Good logical start.
Fourth, that frightening word “discipline” in “self-discipline” is really just “self-management”, a call of discipleship to Christ. It’s not currying favor with God, asceticism or a one-time exercise of the will. The course offers lots of sensible ways of cultivating self-discipline, particularly, on “How to Make Daily Bible Reading a Habit” and “Smartphones and Distraction.”
I can’t stress enough the need for self-discipline in both: Bible reading and smartphones. When I followed the advice given in the course, my grounding in God’s Word got stronger and the distractions that damage that grounding got less.
Fifth, burnout isn’t just overworking. Itś a heart matter. Burnout is arrogance and pride needing humbling in God’s grace.
Reagan’s article “The Christian Benefit of Solitude in Nature” resonated in me strongly because I live in a place surrounded by nature. When he said, “I was in Yosemite National Park a few weeks ago and I kept finding myself uttering involuntary thank yous under my breath with each vista”, I knew exactly what Reagan was experiencing.
During some of the low points of my spiritual life, amidst my early morning task of feeding the pig, I find myself in the garden surrounded by God’s incredible creation. Stopping to whisper humbling “thanks yous” at the sight of God’s revealed power in His creation brought me the peace I needed.
And sixth, there are good tools and methods. We can use these for task management, time management, strategic communication and information management. And these tools and methods aren’t outlandishly complicated or infiltrated by ungodly philosophies. By the seventh through the tenth week of the course, these tools and methods are discussed in detail.
With Domains in Stewardship properly defined, I got on with Morning Routine Planning and from there, into Time Blocking. Suddenly, my planner and calendar made so much sense! Reagan recommends digital tools which are no doubt helpful, but he doesn’t discount the good old paper tool. I have my planner and calendar all on paper and now it all works like a charm.
Before, all I had was a calendar/planner with a list of Things to Do that gets ticked, and the unticked ones get pushed forward. I would be at my table wondering which to do first. Soon enough it was 11 in the evening and I hadn’t accomplished the most important items on my list. And that drags on for months and years. This is really the problem encountered by people whose tasks are self-directed.
The lesson at Week Nine made me cry.
It was about Strategic Communication. Reagan talked about a strategy of ministering to people in a prayer list. This would be part of Stewardship of Relationships, one of the Domains of Stewardship. Reagan talked about some sort of pastoral care, with pastors, ministers and church leaders involved in visiting every family in the congregation once a year, teaching them, instructing them and basically just ministering to them in their home. This was from Richard Baxter’s “The Reformed Pastor“, a call to arms for pastors not to just preach at the pulpit once a week but to be engaged in personal ministry.
I cried because of the experiences I’ve had trying to communicate with the pastor of the church I’ve been going to, and attempts at fellowship with its members. The non-responsiveness of the pastor, the unavailability of busy people and the disappointing legalism of the few people I engaged with, over the course of weeks and then months, made me lower my expectations of church. The loneliness and isolation I live in grew stronger. Well, people are busy, they have families, jobs and friends while I don’t. Lowering my expectations meant I went out more with unbelievers who had time (and my chance to evangelize to them!) and my fellowship with God grew even stronger.
Yet because Reagan depicted a beautiful picture of church fellowship, I cried each and every time I thought of it. I also started thinking about how much church leaders and pastors could benefit from a simple course of strategic ministry communication!
So, I finished the course, started my calendar/planner and have this last important thought: As I progressed through the course, I lost track and momentum of what I should do, the steps that will lead to benefitting from the course. So I labored to go back to the key action points of the course and wrote them down (on paper!) for implementation.
Reagan’s reminder, “don’t get OCD about it, but be wise“, helps me get back on track.
What are the benefits so far?
Although my Morning Routine and Task Management Planner is still a work-in-progress, I was able to:
- Finish a painting that’s been on my table for the past 2 weeks;
- Write about a basic Events Management seminar I joined a couple days ago;
- Send encouraging messages to new friends from church;
- Install 3 new hanging pots around the house, sell some potted plants, and plant new ones; and
- Write this blogpost!
For me, this is incredibly productive for just two days and covers the Domains of Stewardship I have defined. But those aren’t just two regular productive days. Those are two days well-redeemed!
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 KJV
Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.
Colossians 4:5 KJV