Confusing Activity with Accomplishment

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Thursday, October 11, 2007 - Confusing Activity with Accomplishment

Are you confusing activity with accomplishment? Jesus instructed us to, Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment (John 7:24). We have to learn how to distinguish, in ourselves and those who work with us or for us, the difference between activity and accomplishment. Accomplishment requires some activity, for sure, but activity does not always indicate that anything worthwhile is being accomplished.

Steve Marr points out three groups of people who look good, but do not deliver:

#1 – The Boasters

These are the people who talk a good game. They have grand plans and can be very convincing in talking about all they are going to do. But if you ask them what they have done, you’ll get a different story. Proverbs 14:23 says, All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. So, don’t be fooled by the person who boasts a lot. And watch yourself. It’s a lot smarter to wait until you’ve achieved your goal to talk about it, than to set yourself up for embarrassment and ridicule by talking and not doing.

#2 – The Movers

These are people who are always busy, always moving, but never seem to get the job done. Often these people have very poor work habits. They start and stop a lot, they don’t stay focused very well, they don’t organize their activities or plan their priorities. So, they just keep moving, keep talking about how busy they are, but they accomplish little. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they should, run in such a way as to get the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24). Running–or moving and keeping busy–is only effective if we do it in such a way that we get the prize, and that prize is to please the Lord with meaningful accomplishments.

#3 – The Non-Finishers

These are the people who start strong, with a burst of energy, but never seem to get to the finish line. They have lots of half-finished jobs. They lack the discipline to stay with it until it’s done. I know how easy it is for me to fall into this trap, because my attention span seems to be very short. Therefore, I have learned to impose discipline on myself in order to force myself to finish one job before I start another one. Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, The end of a matter is better than its beginning. If you tend to fall into the non-finishers category too often, train yourself to finish one thing before you start another.I believe it’s important for us to ask ourselves: Am I confusing activity with accomplishment? Have you been deceived into thinking that because you’re always so busy, you’re doing what you should be doing?