Work, Rest and Play

Phil and Tez reflect on working life

Photo by Zeb Johnson on Unsplash

This post explores work, rest and play not so much in competition with each other (although that is many people’s experience) but in the context of a unified life of worship. We think there may be an angle on this for the Christian manager that the secular literature may be missing.

Our propeller diagram, which emerged from a retreat we both attended, may help think this through.

The famous advertising strapline, ‘A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play’ was continuously associated with the brand from the late 1950s through to the mid-1990s. It was sidelined for 13 years and then re-worked in 2008.

When the line was shortened to simply 'Work, rest, play' it portrayed a balanced lifestyle, energising each aspect of our lives with a positive 'can do' attitude. One television advert amusingly featured an eccentric group of bell-ringing monks. As it happens monks have a lot to teach us about work and rest.

The old proverb ‘All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy’ is sometimes accompanied by a second line which says, ‘All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy’. Either way there isn’t space for rest. Dashing from the office to the squash court and back isn’t very restorative. There is clearly a balance to be struck between work, rest and play.

Rest isn’t only about tiredness, however. God didn’t rest because he was tired. On the seventh day he consciously paused to delight in creation. Rest is more than the absence of work or play, it has purpose in its own right.

The boundaries between these aspects of our lives are fuzzy. Work is typically about activity with a purpose greater than our own goals. It is often done for remuneration; it may offer opportunities for personal stretch and development. The workplace may be a focus of fellowship. At worst, the workplace may be toxic, for many just a difficult environment to be endured.

To unpack this, we have added one more ingredient, worship. Incorpoating worship into all three aspects of our lives led us to this Venn diagram shaped like a propeller. It’s not the whole story, but it might work well enough to get us airborne.

Play or recreation is often about doing things we choose to do, often with family and friends There may be no particular agenda: the world may be no different as a result, (Mark Buchanan, The rest of God) but maybe we are. Play may feed the mind, build the body, or hone new skills. It may be an escape from work but equally there is scope for ambition, competition and frustration.

Meanwhile, rest may come simply with inactivity, sleep being an obvious example. It may come with stillness or silence or both. Stilling the mind can come to an active body (with the rhythm of exercise perhaps). We may similarly still the body while we are mentally engaged. The Psalmist tells us that we need to be still if we want to spend time with God. Just as God rested to pause and delight in his work, we might consciously reflect, meditate or contemplate in the same way.

Both work and play can steal our rest. Sleepless nights, worrying about work, come to most of us at some time. We can even get so addicted to our recreation that it consumes us. It’s a three-way tug of war for our time.

Some of these thoughts were triggered while at a Christian retreat, wondering if being at the retreat itself was work, rest or play or perhaps all three. Sara and Sam Hargreaves, the worship leaders that weekend, describe worship as a state our hearts are in (The rest is worship). If God is to be part of every aspect of our lives, how that might happen in our work, our rest and our play?

This is a picture of worship writ large. Elsewhere, (see here) we reflect on opportunities for worship in the workplace, perhaps simply in trying to do things God’s way. We may care for our employees, delight our customers, trust and then thank God for guidance and provision. The real challenge our propeller chart raises is what is the real overlap between our work and our worship? Is it sporadic and transactional or is our work bathed in worship?

To flip the question, what does the part of our work that doesn’t overlap with worship look like?

Similarly, recreation and play provide opportunities for worship, especially where there is an overtly Christian angle to our activity. And what do we make of that part of our play that is far from worship? What about distractions that only postpone the need for proper rest and relaxation, binge watching box sets, excessive retail therapy or late nights that leave us hollow or headachy in the morning?

If worship at work is about honouring God in our employment and using our work to make the world a better place, then worship in play and in rest must be about using our non-working time to walk with God in similar ways. Our propeller chart also encourages us to think about how we can play with Jesus and how we can rest with Jesus.

Play is about doing things for our own welfare and enjoyment. Walking with Jesus in our play is about choosing recreations that look after our physical, mental and spiritual health. Why shouldn’t God want to be alongside us as we exercise, or making music with us or speaking to us through the novel we are reading?

Rest is not just respite from work, or even a reprieve for the weak. Rest is an opportunity to remove the distractions that distance us from God; a walk in the outdoors, no social media, reflection and thankfulness. Sometimes we may even need a day off from church, especially when church feels like work.

We’ve only scratched the surface with the propeller chart, but already, we’ve realised that it’s not about episodic injections of worship into our work, rest or play, or even about lists that change the balance between worship and non-worship down all our days. It’s about rethinking how they all fit together.

A break with a chocolate bar may sweeten our work, rest and play, but getting the balance right in worship is the lasting achievement.