Jordan Raynor: Work-Life Balance: Purposeful, Present, & Wildly Productive

So what percentage of Americans do you feel like are stressed and overwhelmed right now but percentage what he think I looked it up. Since I made you know you get a phone in your head here like I was honestly thinking as were coming out of the pandemic. It is said, 83% of Americans feel stressed and they have symptoms like yelling at their spouse. Uncontrolled mood swings. I just while we are living in a world that is chaotic and it's affecting us affecting our marriages and it's really affecting our kids yet. I think one of things is underestimated and so to talk about today is rest Sabbath rest family life today help you pursue the relationship of time. They will sit and you can find his family life today.com or on the family life, family life today Sabbath rest. I think does a soul good does our bodies good. It does a marriage and family. Good what is that word but that would mean rest yeah we do that very well. Let's talk about we get Jordan Rayner back in the studio with us.

Jordan welcome back. Family life today.

Thanks for having your book redeeming your time subtitles. The seven biblical principles were being purposeful that I expected present on. We talk about that yesterday a little bit but then you this this phrase wildly productive. Not just productive wildly, wildly light again so honestly I pick it up them like that's what I want right you know, I know you talk to corporations you help leaders on their name.

If you do it all your written books you've I love how you you love how God creates and created us to create. But as you think about being productive, wildly productive, help us understand rest because I don't want your principles to help us be productive. How does rest fit in there. It's this counterintuitive idea that there are at least three God designed rhythms of rest that make us more productive for our goals that were chasing after life and I did most important for our souls right there way of preaching the gospel to ourselves and remind ourselves that were not the ones keeping the world spinning so real quickly. They are number one by hourly breaks BI-hourly breaks, taking breaks roughly every two hours. Start your workday. That's how you can insure your maximally productive number two getting an eight hour nightly sleep opportunity which I know sounds insane, but the signs really clear on number three weekly Sabbath. There's more and more data coming out showing the people who observe the Sabbath on a regular basis live longer.

Corporations who recognize the Sabbath with their teams are strongly outperforming their competitors see Chick-fil-A and none of this should surprise us because it's how God worked when we have to wonder, what is the ideal mix of work and rest. God tells us in Genesis 1 and two. He worked six days and he rested one, but I know that you guys I grew up in the church and we never talked about Sabbath ever. I didn't know a family who Sabbath and we did talk about the fourth commandment which PS is the only one that were cool, ignoring, and Jesus world like this, life sucking, legalistic sure and what I discovered in my family is.

It is anything but Sabbath. The way that God intended it to be, is for man.

It is for us as Jesus said, and we've just discovered, as this beautiful we caught an island of get to in a sea of have to.

Is this life-giving David is become truly the lifeblood of our family is so with that look like. Further, the renters of your three little girls.

You're married mean it's easy to sit here and talk about Sabbath, which means a day of rest. So do you actually do Sabbath. It's not easy to talk about when you got 3 to 1 of Sadie's eyebrows are to do that's hard to do is argue because his parents know there's no such thing as a day off from court." Walk right through the office but parenting my kids is way harder work and going to my office right so for us.

We Sabbath from Saturday sundown to Sunday sundown and ironically starts with work. We were just talking before recorded about when you go over the holy land, watching people prepare for Sabbath. It's a big deal because it takes a lot of work to rest with 24 full hours so were cleaning up the house running the dishwasher were planning out what we want for food. The next day were making plans with family and friends for Sunday and we shut everything off right if their dishes left in the sink there to stay there for 24 hour wait so you're either doing dishes, no starting at dinner on Saturday. No dishes, no taking out the trash.

No productive talk about work. We truly cease. I think about the key thing Kristin got a song right. All strivings cease. We stop doing things that we have to do, but for us it's far less about what we don't do far more about what we do partaken on Sabbath. We spend more time in God's word because we let our kids what a full-length movie if I do Sabbath Sunday only treat they want a full-length movie and drink a hot cup of coffee. Please don't judge. Yes, I jump tricky lattes every Sunday morning we feast on God's word. We feast with great food. We our favorite take-out.

We get donuts for our favorite spot in town and go to church a feast with their church family on the warden worship usually Sunday afternoons are pretty low-key but again nothing life sucking were not vacuuming, picking up the house were just playing games, playing cards, swimming in the pool with the kids. Jordan yet. There's work to be done.

Things around the house that need to be my only day in years paying no not for us. We cram it on the Saturday we get all that housework done on Saturday that we need to get done I'm honestly again I alluded this before.

This helps me be more productive during the week, but I honestly think it's mostly a means of stopping and recognizing as a child. I'm a child of God before and the worker be of God.

I have a relationship I can experience love and acceptance from the father even when I'm not doing a single thing like really fuel your and your really recharge rest and that love rest in the gospel by literally resting with your hands and experiencing that love, that is, regardless of our output. I'm loving this deal like this because the ad for 30 years year workday has been Sunday the pastor and so here working and then you would be with the liens on the sidelines. So that's work so year Sabbath are Sabbath was Monday, but her kids were in school, so I'm hearing this thinking like we don't do this, so therefore we do this, go insane if I saw dishes on the counter in but I like the idea of take-out ranking thrown on the trashcan idea. I would guess most of you are like me that your thinking.

I haven't been doing this.

What would it look like if we committed to, we could say let's commit get some of your small group some friends and say you guys. Let's do this for a few months and then get together and say what has this been like for your family and maybe on Sunday here together with families or kids are playing you're talking. I like sitting by the pool here in the word case, let's do it.

I mean, the thing that I think as I was reading through redeeming your time is you don't expect that to be one of the seven principles you knows like I want to be wildly productive. I got to get things done. I got have a plan and that that's all in their but you make it a big priority that no rest actually gets better results and I make it a big priority because it is a priority for Jesus and God the father who observed the Sabbath was a we can get all sorts of debates as is Sabbath commander not blob. Here's the deal, to work, and rest in the image of God is to work six days and rest one done that for us our own good that was made for man, not man for the set of rest tonight the beginning. So why did he do it. I was about the Saturday when I was crossing the street with my kids Christmas trees. My five-year-old when I cross the street with my five-year-old I make a big to do about looking both ways. I dramatically swing my head to the left is a no cars this way. I dramatically swing my head to the right say the same thing. I don't need to do that check for cars in the split second but I do because my daughter needs.

I think this is got to be part of the reason why God rested in the beginning he didn't need to put he knew that we would need to. And so he's been modeling it for us. Like any good parent does for their children. You preach on this a few times and again said I was a good preacher on it but I didn't always live it, I didn't.

I know you're better at than I am. Yeah I'm here's our friend ever sit down, but I found out one time when I was getting ready preach on it that bowling alleys have you ever heard this rest there bowling pins.

Now, when I heard this unlike know they don't. I literally went into a bowling alley. I go up to the owner was right right across from one of our campuses are church and I said hey you know there's is rumor you guys like rest your bowling pins.

He goes, of course, want to show you and I like what there we go back behind all the bands I've never done this my life and there's a whole room he goes. This is where we put on.

We set them there for a week, sometimes a month we bring him back on the lanes and they jump because there rested would like.

If that's how God designed the world including our bodies. It makes sense. We will jump with life will be more productive if we obey the 10 Commandments I made about 10.

He makes Sabbath. One of the top 10 in your saying your job, your production is good be exponentially better. If you actually obey this commandment I've seen in my own life. I'm on by far the most productive streak of my entire life. Let's call it the last five years is funny. I was traveling this summer vacation of my family and I saw a mentor to mentor me for about a decade.

I had seen them in quite a few years. By five, six years and afterwords he texted me he said hey I don't know what it is you are so much more at peace so much less anxious and just so much more rested than I've seen you ever in your life anything and he went out of his way to say and it's not vacation rest like this is different is a serious believers.

I just got back I just had Sabbath really that's it. So not only am I more rested not only in my less anxious. I've been wildly productive.

By God's grace alone in the stretch of five or six years since we started doing. I'm a huge advocate and again not a legalistic way you quoted Jesus Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The problem is we just haven't opened up the gift is been sitting under the metaphorical Christmas tree. The church for decades and nobody seems to be open and my prayer is that more Christ followers would open a gift experience. The gift of Sabbath rest so that number one.

We could express more God's presence and number two, we could be wildly productive for the good works that he prepared in advance for it.

It's amazing that he said that to you at this season of your life because you're in one of the busiest with a seven-year-old five-year-old two-year-old most of our listeners are gone. There's no way this dude is live and where I'm living, because you can't rest with that season of your life that years your choosing.

Even in the craziest time and it's going to getting grazers and become teenagers. I have a feeling you keep doing it.

I think we will. And I got I got make this clear to his allotted to Boston. Well, there's no way you and your wife can do this. My wife experience a Sabbath as much as I do, we both get eight hours of sleep. This is possible. I think it was possible for the record that right. I got sick seven hours sleep forever. I didn't Sabbath forever, but it is possible with God's grace and the right tools and and live a life more in line with what I think we see Jesus's life in the Gospels.

While I love this part of that. Now let's go to the other part.

We have respite let's talk about work to because one of the things you talk about his work is worship and how God gave us work before the fall. It was a gift to us. So let's can you get in this area little bit.

I think we've neglected this a lot in the church we forgotten this.

Number one, God himself worked before. He told us that he is loving or holy or omnipotent. Genesis 120 Tulsa he's a God's creative. This is totally unique in the history of world religions.

Every other origin story says that the gods created human beings to do the lowly manual labor in the world and serve the gods, only Christianity starts with the God who works both with his words. See Genesis 1 and with his hands planting a garden in the East and eat and see Genesis 2 and he formed Adam with his hands out of the desk exactly right. Tim Keller commented on this says that God did manual labor. That's heretical.

I think that's spot on. One God works into your point, he created human beings to work part of the fall. Genesis 126 to 28 says God blessed them and said fill the earth and subdue it to create an work and rule and subdue work was the blessing of course we all know Genesis 3 human beings send work became difficult and toilsome.

But here's the end of the story. The nobodies are given the church thing that drives me nuts. One day work is going to be perfect worship once again, heaven is not in the clouds playing harps for all eternity. It is here on earth in Isaiah 65 says God's chosen ones, that's us who are in Christ Jesus will long enjoy the work of their hands, writes a beautiful promise if you hate your job today. It's a beautiful promise, but if you love your job. Hopefully this fuels your joy in your anticipation and your motivation to go out there and share the gospel with your kids with your neighbors, and with those you work with now. Have you always been this guy without ever a time when you were not redeeming the time your job wasn't sure. Just look at you like okay is this how you came out of the womb occurs is something you just cultivated over years. I haven't cultivated a thing. The Lord's done this in the roof to crystal clear about that.

I will say this, I went years. The first five years of my career, having no idea that my work mattered to God. I was working as a tech entrepreneur still chairman of the board of the big tech startup. I used to run and I believed what my church was teaching me implicitly and if I'm Frank sometimes explicitly that if I really love Jesus I would go moved to a mud hut, 5000 miles away from home or I would go plant a church. I would be a pastor or court" full-time missionary wasn't anymore. Those I'm all about that got corny that please go do that but it took a mentor pulled me aside one day something about plenty church and he just he's like yes is really dumb guy led Bible studies of my church is the guy I really respected.

I didn't understand.

He was Jordan. I've seen you serve your customers and your team to the ministry of excellence. I have seen you feel the father's pleasure as you do your work as an entrepreneur, I see you even attempt to make disciples as you run your businesses why do you think you have to go plant a church. To quote unquote to ministry and I never heard that perspective before.

But then I started reading what Luther wrote what Calvin wrote calling us all priests of the kingdom. Whether were milk maids or farmers or bankers or what ever. All of us are doing God's work. I went back and I read Genesis 1 and two in my mind was blown so much so that now I'm creating this content full-time because I think every Christian needs to hear that you are not on the sidelines of kingdom work God has drafted all of us in the service. He is called all of us to go and make the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven and redeeming your time is a critical component to being able to do that effectively and so when you hear people say to me.

I can't wait to retire I want to retire.

If I could retire at 60, that would be ideal. I just want to play golf.

What are your thoughts. It saddens me. I don't feel condemnation towards that. Although I don't see any biblical support for the idea of retirement, but it makes me sad because I think this a pervasive idea that's built on this un-biblical lie that what we do 40 and 50 hours a week has no bearing on eternity. This is a lie straight from the devil all throughout Jesus ministry all throughout Scripture it's teaching us that what we do mysterious as it might seem, has a chance of impacting and even shaping heaven by doing our work with excellence and with love and most importantly, in accordance with God's commands, we were not waiting for the kingdom to appear in a flash.

Jesus said it was good to come slowly like a mustard seed he said is going come slowly like yeast working its way through a bunch of ditto and it comes, at least in part through the spirit working through you and me, that's the mission the church and all of us are part of that story yet. I know that as a pastor I often said from the pulpit and I don't think people believe me, but I also often said I'm jealous of what you do and I think they're sitting there thinking on Joe's I'd like to be a you know you're in full-time ministry and like you are a full-time Christian worker in a setting I will never get to be in in a cubicle at a business or a plumber in somebody's house or a doctor or stay at home on you name it. Just always like you get to meet people on there for me, you'll reach out in a way I never could. There never to come listen to me preach what you have been gifted by God in a different way. It's so exciting to use it. I think so often. If you like no-no. It's a lesser calling know it is a high calling to understand my gift is to be used to glorify God, but it isn't so much what I do. Although it is, it's who and how yes I'm interacting with right that's my understanding of it.

And oh by the way, we are talk about this a little bit earlier before the program we are entering into a period of history. People just aren't walking and that the doors of the church to learn about Jesus for the first time they're not so where they can see the one true God. To see him working alongside you in your office during a scene with your filmmaker in the films that you create that subtly and maybe sometimes explicitly pointed Jesus there to see Jesus in culture, which is why the church now more than ever has to do what they did in the beginning, which is scatter.

We think of Paul as the skies but all of his time preaching post-Damascus lie.

Paul chose to work as a tent maker why so that he could win the respect of outsiders see first Thessalonians. We gotta do the same thing. And oh by the way we love preach the great commission of Jesus words in Matthew go and make disciples of all nations. I'm sure you know some sure you study the original Greek here. Go to the participle.

Let's go yeah Aris text IRA parameters. Put your glasses up on your face.

Here we go.

The Greek word that we translate to go and go make disciples's were criminal herds: terrorist tents, passive participle, which means modern translations of this verse pretty poor, a much better translation is as you are going make disciples. The going was assumed by the way, Jesus never went more than a couple hundred miles away from his hometown is the greatest disciple maker the world has ever known. It wasn't about how far he went. It was about what he did while he was go. I think that changes everything, because as we are doing that if we have that in our minds and our perspective. It allows us to raise our heads to see people to ask at like God how you want to use me today in my job. I'm thinking of stay-at-home moms who are at the parks with their kids, you know, and I remember I wasted so much time in that stage of my life thinking I life I was around all these other minds and I had an opportunity just to see them to talk to them. To love them. Dave and thinking of you and all the times you've coached teams in those times even encourage guys or boys that you coached and other dads like you impacted so many Baha'is when we can lift our heads and see people the way Jesus does, we really are walking out the gospel yeah and I would just add you know you and redeem your time as a man as a woman is a worker as you're walking into your job, whatever job that would be pray God use me today to shine for you and lead people to you. I cannot tell you the guys I get to lead to Christ as a high school football coach. Not because I got him to come to my church, but because standing on the sideline and conversations. They asked me questions like like one guys or one that you curse every other coach curses you know curse.

Let me tell you, you know, is just amazing to think God wants us to read redeem our time and he was using to bring glory back to himself such simple ways to keep her eyes open to how the Lord can use us if were paying attention so good that Stephen a Wilson with Jordan Rayner on family life today. Don't go anywhere in just a minute will hear from Jordan on how doing something well even something simple like time management can be a way to reach those around you with the hope of Jesus. The first Jordan's book is called redeeming your time seven biblical principles for being purposeful, present, and wildly productive. If you or someone you know could use some help with using your time well think that's everybody you get a copy@familyliketoday.com now get the president of family life David Robbins with me and David always talk about spending time wisely. I don't know about you but it gets me thinking about kind of the. The most important things in life right euros were wrapping up this week it's been a end of the week. Roger's been reflecting a lot reflecting on ministry and life and all that God is doing and it has me reflecting on those of you who are family life partners. People that give monthly that allows family life to do ministry because what happens when you give is that you change families you change families with the power of the gospel you change families by bringing God's word in the grace and truth of God's word to more and more people. Recently we heard from a family life today listener who told us, and I'm quoting her here.

I keep coming back to listen because family life constantly offers hope through the gospel of Jesus. I need to be pointed to Jesus and they do this all the time. This podcast encourages me to hope in Jesus, thank you to the family life crew and I just want to say thank you for those who give in an ongoing way you help us bring the gospel every day and bring the depths of who Jesus is, to homes around the world and if you are interested in becoming a family life partner and changing one home at a time zone invite you to give and be a part of pointing families to Jesus every day.

Yeah, that's what it's all about. Thanks, David. You know all this week with your donation as our thanks. We want to send you Bob Lapine's latest book, build a stronger marriage send you a copy when you give this week@familylifetoday.com or when you call with your donation at 800-358-6329 is 800 F's and family L as in life, and then the word today. Right now, here's Jordan Rayner on how something even like good time management can be an opportunity to reach those around you with the hope of Jesus.

If we are distinctly Christian.

We are doing our work so exceptionally well. We are redeem your time. We are the most productive people in the office but at the same time not anxious in observing the Sabbath and not checking emails at midnight. People are going to ask why other world people can't understand we ought to be living our lives in doing our work in ways which people have to ask the question to which the only answer is Jesus Christ. That's how the kingdoms can come in part to us being faithful in those things at living life strangely different from the world will inevitably cause people to scratch their heads and wonder what that difference is in us such important perspective from Jordan Rayner not come up next week. The Wilson's are joined by former baseball player Chris Singleton to tell a heartbreaking story of how the grief of losing his mother, turned into a story of hope on behalf of David and Wilson. I'm Shelby Abbott will see you back next time for another edition of family life today. Family life today is the production of family life crew ministry helping you pursue the relationships that matter most