Some of my friends work very, very, hard. They seem to live by the commandment, "Thou shalt be busy all the days of thy life." But when I inquire as diplomatically as possible, "Are you a workaholic?" the reply is usually predictable. "Of course not! Just busy!"

Personally, I am not a workaholic. I have neither the am­bition nor innate mentality to fall into that category. Further­more, my well-rehearsed skill of procrastination is incom­patible with the very concept. Not me! Busy, at times, but not a workaholic.

Even so, I strongly suspect that I am surrounded by work­aholics both at work and at church. To avoid even the remote possibility of becoming "one of them," I have observed them carefully to be able to recognize the symptoms and their side effects in their earliest stages.

In our brief study we will ignore the hard-core workaholic. There are those whose symptoms are all too obvious and often over-publicized — the top executive and practitioner in the business and professional world, enjoying six digit in­comes generated by sixteen-hour workdays. They are way out of our league!

Instead, we will focus our attention on the people in our own immediate circle, those who are "just too busy." We submit that being "too busy" is workaholism, too. From a long list of symptoms, let us consider three of the most blatant ones.

1. Working Too Long⤒🔗

Up and ready before any rooster even thinks about crow­ing, our workaholic is already on his way to the office, behind the wheel of his truck or getting the shop and tools prepared to keep the approaching work crew busy. Time to go home arrives rather late in the day.

By actual quitting time, it has been quite a day. Except for the demands of dinner and a glance at the news via paper or T.V., there is little ambition and energy left to share with the crew at home — wife, children, dog or cat.

For some, regretfully, such a way of life has become an unavoidable necessity. The obligation to meet the bills for mortgage, utilities, groceries, tuition, clothes, and a variety of other essentials leaves few other options.

For others, the rat race is often fueled by pure ambition, the obsession with work itself, a false notion of the Puritan work ethic, and dubious understanding of the fourth com­mandment. Strangely enough, the commandment "com­mands" us to rest from our work. If there is any rule of conduct here for our modern life it is certainly to remind us that Jesus demonstrated the need for rest and relaxation, that God has a pattern of work — rest — worship for our lives, rather than that Sunday is the day that the Lord has made for us to catch our breath.

Inability to rest and slow down sooner or later will de­mand its toll. Workaholism does not come without its pricetag. Some will get hurt. Symptoms and victims are in­evitably related.

Its first and immediate victim is the family. There is little time to be together, to do things together, to go places together, or even to communicate with one another. When the evening meal is consumed in shifts, devotions exercised on the run, the home becomes a house which serves as an around-the-clock station to punch in for a quick transfer to another activity. Spouse and children have learned that home is not a place to which to invite friends because there is hardly a spare minute left to entertain them. The family guestbook records few entries.

Is the Christian (Reformed) home immune to that lifestyle? The family is a fragile entity. What keeps it together? Cer­tainly, one ingredient is a healthy respect for work, its con­sumption of time and energy, and its ultimate purpose. We must work to make a living, to be sure, but we must also work to lead a life.

Another victim may well be the church. It, too, feels the impact of those who are "too busy." There are two sides to this particular picture

First, the unrelenting pace of work has made our work­aholic an "untouchable" for the fellowship of believers. There simply is no time to participate in congregational ac­tivities, no evening free for Bible study, no time to serve on consistory, no time for anything except to take Sunday off in order to renew the rat race on Monday.

It does not take the children very long to figure out the value of church life. It is not very important. Elders and pastors know of generations of families who have lived on the periphery of church activities. Forever on the rolls, but eternally inactive. Priority has gone to work and the daily routines of life. When there is no time for the spiritual dimen­sion of life, there is likely just more than a symptom of workaholism. It may have become a disease.

2. Loading Too Much Hay on the Fork←⤒🔗

The other side of the picture is equally unhealthy. It ex­hibits a symptom often seen in the leaders of the church — the pastor, consistory members, committee chairmen, and key people for special projects.

It is quite true, of course, that to get something done, one must give the task to a busy person. Perhaps busy people have learned how to get assignments done in minimal time. But when too much hay is pitched with one fork, the solu­tion is to activate another fork or two before exhausting another worker. Much work in the church needs to be done, but surely not by one or a few chosen people.

We have the notion that much of our labor in church has to be done by an elder or deacon duly installed. An ex-elder is usually not permitted to go along on family visits; an ex-deacon is no longer permitted to count the money; neither is first choice to serve as chairman of a key committee. They are "out." Perhaps, after two years, they may be "in" again. Then they will be qualified to spend three of the four Mon­day nights at church, teach catechism, and be chairman of a busy committee.

The assignment of being an elder or deacon becomes a period of "doing time." "How long are you still in?" "Two more years to go." "My last year."

There was a time when I congratulated the "winners" after a congregational meeting. I still do, but I am a bit more cautious. There are so few replies of "thank you." "What I need is sympathy," is a more familiar response. What do I tell my sons when they come "to the years of discretion" and catch on to our practice of church work for "interested" members only?

Do we tempt our young people to graduate from church when they make profession of faith rather than to commence a life of service? Our adult Sunday schools are often filled with captive audiences who attend because they have to bring the kids anyway. Is it a typical church where the parents drop off the kids or leave them behind for church school while they go for coffee, or am I observing the exception?

3. Inability to Say "No"←⤒🔗

This third symptom is perhaps a difficult one to avoid. One reason is that there is so much to be done and often too little time to do it. Due dates! Deadlines! Next meeting! Agendas! Lesson preparation! Committee reports!

When my children took it for granted that dad was on his way to another meeting as I put my jacket and shoes back on after dinner, it was time to cool it. Slow down. Say "no" to another committee assignment.

A recent speaker we had on campus suggested that work was not primarily given to us for our enjoyment. He tried to turn our attention to the concept of "servanthood," work­ing in order that we might serve others.

I don't have the ability to refute that argument. But pro­jects at work, at least mine on the job and at church, are exciting. Sure, I can handle it! But there are times when another project must be turned down.

Then, too, forever saying "yes" really robs other members of the opportunity to use their talents. Fellow believers become the victims, despite their own smugness in "letting George do it."

Our fellow church members are the losers when church workaholics take over. For many, it is so much easier to "sit and listen" than to "stand, or do, or speak or walk." We have neither the courage nor the practice to tell the workaholic to sit down and listen for a while in order to let some other talent grow and blossom.

In some churches we see the phenomenon of "talent surveys." It is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, too often "surveyors" fail to see that "surveyees" are not about to move unless personally invited or urged to do something.

Have we exhausted our list of symptoms and victims? I doubt it! As a post-script, it leaves me with a nagging ques­tion. Is workaholism a sin (crime) or a disease?

I have a personal dislike of casting all the known ailments of men and society in the disease category. It seems an easy way out.

If sin is "missing the mark," then our confused and twisted concept of work is off base, too. It, too, can lead directly into a work-related illness and perhaps suicide. Our big assignment is to study the nature and purpose of work. With one of God's greatest mandates to us, we can not afford to be off target.