A Cure for Futility

Scientific management theory is the analysis of processes in order to improve productivity. So, to that end, does God also subscribe to this theory?

I once heard interviews with survivors from World War II. The soldiers recalled how they spent a particular day. One sat in a foxhole; once or twice, a German tank drove by and he shot at it. Others played cards and frittered away the time. A few got involved in furious firefights. Mostly, the day passed like any other. Later, they learned they had just participated in one of the largest, most decisive engagements of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. It didn’t feel decisive at the time because none had the big picture.

Great victories are won when ordinary people execute their assigned tasks.

Perhaps you sense you’re in a spiritual rut. Stay at your assigned task! Obedience to God—and only obedience—offers the way out of our futility.

So, is the body of Christ simply one big spiritual workflow? In the context of this devotion, it sure seems that it is. But God also must subscribe to the human relations theory of management, because He is also concerned with our needs and meeting those needs (1 Peter 5:7–”Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”