Photo by Anna Shvets: https://www.pexels.com/photo/farmers-working-on-plantation-with-greens-5231143/
A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who hastens to be rich will not go unpunished. - Proverbs 28:20, NKJV
Our culture has taken the word hustle and turned it into something unhealthy, this notion that you always have to be moving, keep the plates spinning, striving for the financial and career success that you want and believe you deserve. This hustle culture leaks into our ministry, of course, and production is especially prone to hustle culture—more excellence, more gear, more people, more, more, more, more, more. If we’re honest, we’re usually the one knocking on the executive pastor’s door for more money because this console or that light or this camera will take us to the next level. There’s always another level.
If we’re paying attention to hustle’s fruit, we’ll see some bad apples...
If we’re paying attention to hustle’s fruit, we’ll see some bad apples that we’re warned about in the gospels and the epistles, things like envy, discontent, and pride. There’s a silent killer waiting for us in achievement, the idea that we did this on our own, that we don’t need the Father’s help and never did in the first place. If you can come up for air for a second and take a look at the news cycle, you’ll see what hustle culture has done to the church as leaders and ministries collapse on top of one another because their drive for more outran their character. Hillsong. Mars Hill. Bill Hybels. Ted Haggard. Just do some light googling and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Now, I’m not saying we should stop caring. Production needs some hustle. Good hustle is essential to it, the kind of hustle we learned about in little league. Don’t walk to the outfield; hustle. Don’t wait for that grounder; run up on it—hustle. That little base hit line drive to left-center might be a double if you hustle. If you didn’t play baseball, you learned about this some other way. Jim Elliot said it like this: “Wherever you are, be all there. Live life to the hilt.”
The words in scripture that we see for “hustle” are faithfulness or diligence.
The words in scripture that we see for “hustle” are faithfulness or diligence. These words imply a readiness supported by a strong work ethic. Their opposite would be laziness or sloth. They urge us to come to our days with careful intent, not with reckless drive. They are good means to good ends, not ends leaving behind justified means and collateral damage.
Donald Miller said in a tweet or blog one time that he’s had to think about himself as a farmer, not a bestselling author or entrepreneur. He realized that he could go out and hustle to make extra things happen for book sales or business growth, but that would be at the neglect of tending good things the Lord gave him right now. So he decided to settle into a rhythm of faithfulness and waiting. Faithfulness with what he has, and waiting for the Lord to direct a path to growth.
I think Don’s onto something. It’s no coincidence that scripture breathes the earthy air of agriculture. Yes, some of that is because of the time and cultures that produced the writings; they were largely agrarian. But the Lord chose those images and metaphors with intent, to settle our hands onto a plow, our hearts into the rhythms he designed, to work with the seasons and times, not against or ahead of them.
Jesus was busy, but he didn’t hustle, and the truth is that we get to see just one tenth of his life in any sort of detail. The rest is summed up in one sentence: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” So we have to assume he was at home, taking care of his family as the eldest son of a single mother. Family dinners each night, synagogue on the weekends. Scholars are now fairly certain she oversaw a stonemason business, something he likely received from Joseph before Joseph died. Jesus the subcontractor, being faithful.
Lord, make us as faithful and diligent. Make us as content, to walk with you not ahead of you. To embrace your rhythms, your temperament. Lead us beside still waters, to prepared tables in the presence of our enemies, knowing that sometimes our enemy is our own ambition. Make us satisfied with your presence and the paths of righteousness you’ve set before us, seeking first your kingdom. We rest in your goodness.
