Productivity is something that applies to all of us, every day. It makes possible everything else we do. Often, productivity is defined as the ability to accomplish "what matters most." But if God exists, then he is what matters most. So what does God have to say about productivity?

1. What’s Best Next: How the
Gospel Transforms the Way You
Get Things Done
Matt Perman
Blog: www.whatsbestnext.com
Facebook: facebook.com/mattperman
Twitter: twitter.com/mattperman

2. My aim:
I want to show you that the gospel changes the
meaning of productivity in some quite
surprising ways, and how this impacts the way
we go about everything--ministry, our
professions, our home lives, our community
lives, secular work…everything.

3. So, I have three questions and one other thing:
1. Does God want you to be productive?
2. What does it mean to be productive?
3. What is the best way to be productive?
4. A few specific tips

4. But first:
Why this matters just as much as good
theology.

5. 1. Productivity is actually a component of our
theology

6. The Bible is just as detailed--and surprising!--
in its teaching on leadership and productivity
as it is on more doctrinal things such as the
sovereignty of God.

7. Yet we often neglect this, not recognizing it is
a key part of Christian doctrine.
This means that understanding productivity is
exciting in itself as well as super relevant for
living a God-centered life.

8. 2. Productivity is really the doctrine of Christian
love.

9. When we are talking about productivity and leadership,
we are actually talking about the biblical doctrine of
love. Why? Because if we don’t know how to lead and
be productive in biblical ways, we are being unloving.
Poor leadership, poor management, and poor personal
management are all unloving. This is a fundamental
reason why this all matters so much.

10. 3. Or, in other words, this is the doctrine of the
Christian life.

11. 4. There are lots of bad ideas on productivity that
will get in your way (and dishonor God)!

12. 5. God intends (requires) us to understand how
to get things done as well as theology.
(Or, how I got in to productivity with a
theological foundation.)

13. When I got out of seminary, I was immediately
tasked with three huge tasks in my job: launch
a nationwide radio program, run the web
department, and manage the bookstores.
I found that knowing theology alone wasn’t
enough. I also had to learn how to get things
done.

14. In my quest, I discovered that there was a lot of
great secular stuff, but nothing God-centered.
I realized we needed a fully integrated approach
that was gospel-driven but which also learned
from the best secular thinking.
Since nothing like this existed, I sought to develop it.

15. 6. For any organization, researchers have found
this to be true:
Great mission + poor management = people get
burnt out and leave
(no matter how great the mission is)

16. So great missions need to be tied to a clear
understanding of how to get things done.

17. Now, the chief questions

18. 1. Does God Want You to be
Productive?

19. Yes!
Jesus demands a return on your life

20. How do we know this?

21. 1. The Parable of the Talents

22. Matthew 25:20-21
“And he who had received the five talents came
forward, bringing five talents more, saying
‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I
have made five talents more.’ His master said to
him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You
have been faithful over a little; I will set you over
much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

23. This is the essence of a productive life: a life to
which Jesus says, “Well done!”

24. Jesus says “well done” to the servants that took
what he gave them and invested it to bear fruit.
That’s productivity! We are to take whatever the
Lord has given us and return back to him more
than we were given.

25. But what did Jesus say to the servant that buried
his talent?

26. Matthew 25:26
“...I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here,
you have what is yours.” But his master
answered him, “You wicked and slothful
servant! ... You ought to have [at least] invested
my money with the bankers, and at my coming I
should have received what was my own with
interest. So take the talent from him and give it
to the one who has the ten talents.”

27. Note: Not to risk is considered unfaithful.
Faithfulness does not mean living a safe life,
but actually involves doing risky things. A life
where you never take risks is a faithless life,
because it requires no faith.

28. 2. We will all give an account of ourselves and
how we spent our time to God

29. Romans 14:10, 12
For we will all stand before the judgment seat of
God....So then each of us will give an account of
himself to God.

30. 3. Jesus commands us to know how to get things
done as part of the path to making ourselves
productive for him

31. Ephesians 5:15-17
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise
but as wise, making the best use of the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore do not be
foolish, but understand what the will of the
Lord is.

32. What does it mean to walk “as wise” people?

33. What we tend to think of first: Evangelism
“He who wins souls is wise.”
Proverbs 11:30

34. But note also: Productivity is also called “wise”:
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways
and be wise. Without having any chief, officer,
or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and
gathers her food in harvest.”
(Proverbs 6:6-8)

35. Hence, we are not to think of productivity as
applying only to “spiritual” things.
We are to manage our time well and know how
to navigate life.

36. 2. What does it mean to be
productive?

37. Since the essence of a productive life is a life to
which Jesus says “well done,” we immediately
see that the meaning of productivity is radically
transformed by the gospel.

38. Productivity means getting done the things God
wants done.

39. What does God want done?

40. Loving your neighbor.

41. God wants you to live a life of love.

42. Ephesians 5:15-17
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise
but as wise, making the best use of the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore do not be
foolish, but understand what the will of the
Lord is.

43. To make the most of the time--that is, to be
productive and redeem time from evil uses--
means to live according to the Lord’s will. And
what is his will?

44. Ephesians 5:1-2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us.

45. Matthew 22:37-40
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: you shall love your
neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments depend all the Law and the
prophets.

46. But we often misunderstand what it means to love
others.
First, we think it is boring.
Second, we think it happens mainly at church, or off
on mission trips, rather than in our everyday
vocations--at school, at work, in your dorm, at
home.

47. Why do we think it’s boring?

48. The concept of Christian morality has been
hijacked by boring people who have reduced
morality to the avoidance ethic (and, it’s
deranged cousin, the boycott ethic).

49. In contrast, loving others is exciting,
adventurous, and fun. We are not mainly to be
about avoiding evil, but proactively doing good.

50. Titus 2:14
“[Jesus died] to purify for himself a people for his
own possession who are zealous for good
works.”

51. Ephesians 2:10
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

52. Charles Spurgeon:
“Let us be on the watch for opportunities of usefulness; let us
go about the world with our ears and our eyes open, ready
to avail ourselves of every occasion for doing good; let us
not be content till we are useful, but make this the main
design and ambition of our lives.”

53. We love others in our everyday lives. Good
works are anything you do in faith. This is the
Christian doctrine of vocation, which is the
foundation and context of our productivity.

54. Here’s how I define productivity:
Unleashing your gifts, talents, and energies for
the good of others to the maximum possible
extent, in all spheres of life, for the glory of
God, on the foundation of the gospel.

55. Note also:

56. 1. Effectiveness (getting the right things done)
matters more than efficiency (getting more
things done quickly).

57. This means waste is not always bad. For
example, be willing to just plain throw things
away in order to save time.
Waste the right things so you don’t waste the
wrong thing—meaning your time and,
ultimately, your life.

58. 2. Productivity is about intangibles, not just
tangibles.

59. Relationships matter just as much as concrete
tasks!

60. 3. What is the best way to be
productive?

61. This is the issue of having a guiding philosophy
for your life.
Why should we have one? Two main reasons: It’s
simpler, and it’s biblical.

62. The best way to be productive is
radical generosity. That is, love.

63. Ironically, productivity is not about making our
own lives better, but finding ways to do good
for others and make their lives better. And,
when we do this, we actually benefit as well.
(Often in this world, and always eternally.)

64. This is what the best business thinkers are
realizing.

65. Tim Sanders
“The most important new trend in business is
the downfall of the barracudas, sharks, and
piranhas, and the ascendancy of nice, smart
people.”
(Love is the Killer App)

66. Keith Ferrazzi
“I came to realize that first semester at business school
that Harvard’s hypercompetitive, individualistic students
had it all wrong. Success in any field, but especially in
business, is about working with people, not against
them….Bottom line: It’s better to give before you
receive. And never keep score. If your interactions are
ruled by generosity, your rewards will follow suit.”
(Never Eat Alone)

67. Jim Collins
“Contrary to business school doctrine, we did not find
‘maximizing shareholder wealth’ or ‘profit
maximization’ as the dominant driving force or
primary objective through the history of most of the
visionary companies. They have tended to pursue a
cluster of objectives, of which making money is only
one—and not necessarily the primary one.”
(Built to Last)

68. Merck & Company, Internal Management Guide
“We are in the business of preserving and
improving human life. All of our actions must
be measured by our success in achieving this
goal.”

69. John Young, Former CEO, Hewlett-Packard
“We’ve also remained clear that profit—as
important as it is—is not why the Hewlett-
Packard company exists; it exists for more
fundamental reasons.”

70. This is what the Bible teaches.

71. Proverbs 11:24-25
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another
withholds what he should give, and only suffers
want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.

72. 2 Corinthians 9:6-8
The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also
reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will
also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he
has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And
God is able to make all grace abound to you, so
that having all sufficiency in all things at all
times, you may abound in every good work.

73. Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend,
expecting nothing in return, and your reward
will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the
evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is
merciful.

74. 4. How do you do this?

75. Put others before yourself--not just in your
personal life, but in all areas of life.

76. And always be seeking to share your
knowledge,
networks,
and compassion.

77. 1. Always be on the lookout to do good for
others, in every area of life, not just at church.
Make benefiting others your motive AND the
standard by which you determine what’s best
to do next.

78. 2. Take joy in doing good
(This is Christian hedonism!)

79. 3. Institutionalize the doing of good. When
leading and running ministries and the church,
explicitly create policies that put others first,
rather than exhibit the self-protective mindset
that puts the organization first and sees people
as a problem to keep in check.

80. How is this gospel-centered?

81. The gospel is not only the means by which we
become saved, but also the model for how we
are to live once we have been saved. The
gospel both saves us and shows us how to live.
You see this all over the place in the motivational
structure of Paul’s thought (Romans 15:1-3; 2
Corinthians 8:9; etc.)

82. What will the result of this be?

83. If you do this in the power of the gospel--that is,
not for acceptance with God but from having
been accepted by him apart from your works--
the result is that God will make your happiness
his own charge.

84. Jonathan Edwards:
“If you are selfish, and make yourself and your own private interests
your idol, God will leave you to yourself, and let you promote your own
interests as well as you can.
“But if you do not selfishly seek your own, but do seek the things that
are Jesus Christ’s, and the things of your fellow human beings, then God
will make your interest and happiness his own charge, and he is infinitely
more able to provide for and promote it than you are. The resources of
the universe move at his bidding, and he can easily command them all to
subserve your welfare.
“So that, not to seek your own, in the selfish sense, is the best way of
seeking your own in a better sense. It is the directest course you can
take to secure your highest happiness.”

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