6/6/2025
Ever hear of the phrase work life balance?
It reminds me of another phrase, leave work at the office.
What’s behind these ideas, and do they lead to good advise? That’s what I’m pondering this morning.
The first thing that comes to mind is a competition between work and life. I’m not sure what is meant by life. Is it everything that’s not work? I’m assuming that what is meant by work is a job we have that allows us to be paid for doing something. Like teacher or doctor or carpenter. Or missionary? Or pastor?
I’m one person. One life made up of family, sleep, hobbies, work, church, exploring, hopes, dreams, and opportunities. I don’t want those parts of my life in competition with each other. Of course some parts are more important than others. My work with Cru is right up there. I think of that as my vocation. I am a full-time employee of Cru. That means certain expectations. Same with Heather. And the fact that we raise our own support to our staff account and are paid from that doesn’t change that we are under authority. The fact is that I love my work. And I love my family. And I love the other parts of my life too. And they are all a part of who I am.
So how do we keep work and life in balance?
Maybe we don’t have to.
Maybe we don’t need to keep work at the office or family at home. Maybe we can approach this like many families did before the great industrial revolution, when dads began leaving home for large chunks of time for work. That was new. Before the industrial revolution, our society was very agrarian. We were farmers and ranchers. Families pitched in together in most aspects of the business. I don’t think life and work were separated. I think all the parts of life, including work, were just life. I like that.
So instead of balancing work and life, we can think of integrating work as a part of life.
Work does not have to be a means to an end. It is a part of God’s good creation. We were made for work. We were made for family. We were made for relationships. It’s all life. When I take one of our kids with me to a Cru related something somewhere, is that work, or parenting? It’s both.
So as an alternative to work life balance… Life Integrated.