Be Efficient & Effective In All That You Do
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(3) For by the grace given me I <Paul> say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the Faith God has distributed to each of you. (4) For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, (5) so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. (6) We have different gifts, according to the Grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your Faith; (7) if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; (8) if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully..’ (Romans 12:3-8)
One issue that the President’s current ‘DOGE’ team is investigating, in addition to ‘fraud, waste, and abuse’ of taxpayer funds, is the bloating of personnel working for the Federal Government. As a former government contractor, I personally have seen groups within both the federal and contractor workforce where the number of personnel could easily handle a 50% to 66% reduction and continue to operate effectively. Quantity is not always a substitute for quality, and it is my experience that if a group is led to work efficiently, it will work effectively. If a group is allowed to ‘slack’ and become inefficient, the group will maximize in numbers to be minimally effective.
It will be interesting to see how agencies react to budget and personnel cuts, after years of unchecked growth and allowing the individual contributors to become inefficient in their daily tasks. Many are already being cut for being probationary employees who are just starting in their roles, and likely many more who are not performing at a high level will also be let go. Some will be let go despite being highly productive employees, simply caught up in the cost-cutting that is occurring. Pray for those who will be affected, and may the Lord provide them the strength to overcome the challenges that come with becoming laid off. Having faced layoffs a couple times in my careers, both as the recipient getting laid off, and as the messenger laying off employees, it is not pleasant on either side of the ‘axe’.
To lead a balanced life, one should be equally a ‘consumer’ and a ‘producer’. Aligning with God’s will, whether in industry or within serving the Church, we should strive to be both efficient and effective in our performance. We may not all be the same, but we all should perform to the best of our abilities. Paul in Romans 12 explains that the Christian, specifically in our service in Christ, that if we have a particular gift or skill, we should use it to the best of our abilities and with our full effort.
Our service in Christ also goes into our workmanship in our secular occupation. Whether we are blue, white, or grey collar in our occupation, for a Christian how one performs reflects on our Lord – a poor effort by a Christian can provide a negative connotation to a co-worker that may perceive ‘Christians are lazy’ and thus won’t want to become one.
If one is a top performer and is laid off, the reaction to getting laid off is also a reflection of one’s Christian Walk. As with performance, a negative connotation may give Jesus a ‘black eye’ while a positive, dignified response would show the grace and forgiving nature of Jesus. This does not mean one should celebrate their termination with cheers, but to show peace and maturity in approaching it better received by those watching (and may determine whether one is brought back later by the employer or quickly forgotten).
Focusing on serving the Church, there are several Scriptures, especially in the New Testament Epistles, that discuss are individual roles with the Church. Each of us has a role to play; and part of it is to help balance the load over many. ‘5% doing 95%’ means a few are overloaded while the majority are coasting along. This is not something that any of us can point fingers at another and say, ‘Do your part!’, as that person may be doing all that they can do, based on the gift the Lord has given them. This is something that each of us can ask to the person staring back at us in the mirror (to put another way, something to ask yourself). Are you living up to the full potential that God has entrusted us with?
Each of us have a piece of the puzzle that together will help portray the picture of Christ. Your piece may not be glamorous and it may not gain much attention from others. We see every Sunday the Pastor and those who are in the music ministry (and of course those of us who teach on Sunday or Monday), but we don’t see those who come in to clean the church. We don’t often see those who are doing things behind the scenes; the bill-paying, the accounting, the reporting, answering the phones, setting up schedules, mowing the grass, picking the weeds – these jobs are as important as the Pastor’s, as if the grass is overgrown (due to no rain, this won’t happen soon), the floor is crummy, or the bathrooms are filthy; people likely won’t come no matter how great and poignant the Pastor’s sermon are.
