I discovered the world of productivity in late 2020 and immediately got obsessed. I could not stop watching videos, reading articles, and downloading apps to build my productivity system. Initially, I mainly consumed secular resources since productivity typically falls under the self-help category. But in God’s providence, I soon discovered the growing and exciting world of Christian productivity.
In the last few years, there has been a resurgence of interest in Christian productivity, and many books have been published on it, such as Do More Better by Tim Challies and Every Day Matters by Brandon Crowe. One of the latest books in this genre is Reagan Rose’s Redeeming Productivity: Getting More Done for the Glory of God.
The main problem with secular productivity is their selfishness. Although they provide excellent practical tips to make the best of our time, their motives are often less than desirable. The end goal of their productivity is our vain glory. We must be productive to be happy, make more money, build our platform, climb the corporate ladder, etc.
But as believers and slaves of Christ, our lives are not about us. As the Westminster Confession says, the chief end of man is to glorify God. Therefore, our end goal in everything we do is not us but God’s glory and pleasure. The world is right in telling us to be productive but wrong in telling us why.
So Rose wrote this book to teach us how and why to be productive because our motivation matters as much as practice.
He says, “Productivity books don’t just tell us how to work, they tell us why we work. They assume definitions for success, meaning, and effectiveness that run contrary to the Bible. And even Christians, if we aren’t careful, can start to believe those things too. We all want to get more done. But for Christians, why we get more done is just as important as how. So, the aim of this book is to address both the why and the how of productivity so you can get more done for the glory of God.”
Redeeming Productivity has ten chapters. Five chapters explore five pillars of Christian Productivity which are The Origin of Productivity (You Belong to God), the Purpose of productivity (You Exist to Glorify God), The content of Productivity (You were Saved to Bear Fruit for God), The Source of Productivity (You Are Uniquely Gifted by God), and The Motivation for Productivity (You Will Give an Account to God).
A practice succeeds each chapter that pairs with the pillar. These are: Craft Your Morning Routine, Get Organized, Track Your Commitments, Set Your Goal, and Write Your Well Done.
Having followed Rose’s eponymous ministry for a couple of years and taken all his courses, I was acquainted with most of the book’s content. Nevertheless, there are several things I love about this book.
First, it is thoroughly biblical; Rose’s five pillars of productivity are firmly based on Scripture. Second, Rose never lets us forget the ultimate purpose of productivity; he always brings both pillars and practices back to Christ. Third, the habits he proposes in the book are helpful, simple in application, and well-explained. And fourth, I love how Rose likens our productivity to fruitfulness and the teachings he provides on stewardship.
I only have one drawback with this book: it is not as practical as I would have liked. It was much more theological than expected, and even the practice sections were a bit more theoretical than practical. There also were not a lot of examples in some chapters. This might be a strength of the book compared to other productivity books, but I prefer my productivity books to be more hands-on.
Overall, Redeeming productivity is a fantastic and must-read biblical resource on Christian productivity. It will help you redeem the time for the glory of Christ and equip you with the tools to start. As C.T Studd so beautifully said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last”
*Moody Publishers graciously gave me a copy, and this is my honest review.*
