Lines of Engagement #1: Dissatisfation
Getting into conversation
Have you ever noticed that office grumbling is rarely a spectator sport? Once one person gets going, it's hard to stay out. And the topics are unlimited - colleagues' behaviour; the way things are done; the rewards other people are given; how boring a task is. Dissatisfaction runs rife. I chatted recently with Peter, one of my non-Christian friends, who has just about everything you could ever dream of having. In a reflective moment, he surprised me by saying 'how unsatisfying' his life was. When I asked him what he meant, he started to talk about wanting a chance to help others and to put his money to good use. He no longer just valued the business of making money and the status attached to his success. I'm discovering that expressions of dissatisfaction - whether they're serious, like Peter's, or more superficial, like the usual office whinge - arise because most people don't want to live lives of insignificance. People know they'll feel satisfied if they do something that counts. It's hard to turn the usual whinge among a group of colleagues into a conversation of substance, but knowing your own perspective, and asking good questions of others, can really help. In fact, dissatisfaction about a particular work issue might be one of the few things you share with a colleague with whom you have yet to form a closer relationship - and it can lead into a conversation about what your colleagues consider significant and worthwhile in life.
Taking the 'dis' out of dissatisfaction
So what is a Christian perspective on work satisfaction? Let's look at some of the fundamentals.
- We work because God works, and we are made in his image (Gen 1.26-2.2). Since it's part of his creation, our work is good and is for God, as well as to support ourselves and others.
- Sin marred Adam's work and likewise mars ours, making it futile, toilsome and 'thorny' at times (Gen 3.17-19). This creates tedium and dissatisfaction.
- God is satisfied by his work (Gen 1.31), and our capacity and desire for satisfaction are a reflection of his own. However, after the Fall, satisfaction in work became a unique gift from God (Ecc 3.13).
- We now trust in Christ, who is making all things new (Rev 21.1-7). Therefore, even though work can seem dissatisfying and futile, contentment and thankfulness are hallmarks of new life in Christ (1 Tim 6.6).
That deeper engagement
You don't have to be perfectly content and thankful to be able to have a God-honouring, worthwhile conversation about satisfaction with a colleague - after all, no one's journey of faith is problem-free. Here are some questions you might like to try to take the conversation into more significant territory:
- What do you really like about your work?
- What meaning do you find in your work?
- What work have you found most satisfying?
- Do you have 'greener pastures' - things you'd love to be doing instead of what you're doing now?
- How does work fit into what you want to get out of life?
Depending on where your conversation goes (and there's endless potential here), it may be appropriate for you to empathise with your colleague's feelings of dissatisfaction, because no-one is perfect - so there is no perfect job, no perfect employer, and no perfect workplace. If your colleague agrees, this may create the opportunity to talk about the universality of sin, its consequences in our lives, and Jesus as the only source of forgiveness and renewal. In this context, the centrality of work diminishes, whereas the centrality of faith increases. You could also talk about what gives your own work meaning - like the opportunity to use your creative talents and meet human needs. You could examine the inherent value of various jobs, and you could talk about your belief that work is part of God's perfect design for his world and his provision for his people. Given enough time (and trust), questions like these may help you take the conversation deeper:
What gives your life meaning?
If you are able to ask your friend about the source of meaning in their life, they may talk about the value of friendships, family, community, achievement, or success. This may create opportunities to:
- ask about their priorities and values - including where work fits in;
- explain what you value and why - which could include talking about your own Christian world view, and your source of hope and meaning in Jesus.
What keeps you going?
Depending on how close your relationship is, you may have the chance to talk about how your Christian faith strengthens you in tough times:
- an example of asking God to help you be content and thankful, even when work is dissatisfying, and how God answered that prayer;
- the role that God's promises play in your attitude to work and life;
- an example of praying for God's help when work is difficult, and how you sensed God giving you that help;
- an example of a time when you realised afresh that the work you do is for God and has inherent dignity because of that.
Conversations are spontaneous - we can never control their flow completely. But if we think beforehand about how we can make our conversations more significant, they're more likely to turn out that way.
"People know they'll feel satisfied if they do something that counts."
Tim Vickers
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