Yesterday, one of my co-workers (and closest friends) was sharing with me about Patrick Lenzione’s book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. Lenzione says those signs are Anonymity, Irrelevance, and Immeasurement. In other words, “I don’t feel connected,” “I don’t know that my job makes a difference,” and “I don’t seem to have much influence over job success.” Yikes. Sounds like a sad life, right? But wow – how can we help missionaries escape those feelings? Specifically, how does your organization or church help people connect to the significance of your purposes? And how do you make that a part of our regular rhythms? Assuming they’re well-connected, how do we help people genuinely *feel* that connection? Please click in the comment box and help us understand. Please. (Thanks Jon!)
8) A Penny For Your Thoughts About This Patrick Lenzione Book Please?
How can I submit my memoirs on 64 years of churchplanting in Japan with God and mostly under God…
Hi Richard. We’re not book publishers here at Brigada — but we did post a PDF of your memoirs here:
https://brigada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Richard_Goodalls_Memoirs-2024.pdf
If the signs of Anonymity, Irrelevance, and Immeasurement describe you, then you are a normal human, living disconnected from the Holy Spirit. There is no way to escape those feelings via human will. Anonymity, Irrelevance, and Immeasurement are all part of the curse that man inherited when he was given a nature that was disobedient to God.
Many organizations, institutions, and churches try to give value to God’s created beings via human rhythms and commitments so that they *feel* connected. We are called disobedient children, destined for the wrath of God, yet they try to teach us that we can change our will so that we do not feel isolated, disconnected, and unworthy. All efforts of the will and human reasoning lead to religion.
We must understand the Good News if we are going to be free from Anonymity, Irrelevance, and Immeasurement. Jesus is the Good News, but we must choose one last time with our human will and put an end to our disobedient will. We must truly see the death our deceived human will drives us toward. We must genuinely come to the end of ourselves and admit we are not worthy to be considered a son/daughter of God.
We must not only see the death that dwells in us, but we must also see Jesus, who did not live a life of anonymity but did only what the Father told him. Jesus was so relevant and closely connected to the Holy Spirit that he was considered one with Him. The name of Jesus was elevated to a higher measure than all other names.
The key is FAITH; knowing that death will have its way in our will, we choose to have our will crucified, born again, and receive a new spirit and a new heart, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. With Jesus abiding in us, we will never feel alone, irrelevant, or unworthy. Christ really does give life to His people and saves them from their stubborn will, if we reckon our will as dead and live by faith.
Excellent thoughts, Scott!
I was recently impacted by part of Jesus’ John 17 prayer where He says to His Father that He wants us to see His glory. If Jesus wants that in the context of talking directly to God the Father, it seems like wanting to be seen and known is a legitimate need. In my mind, efforts to affirm that we see and know others… for example acknowledging their stories, might play a role.
Good thinking, KK.
Having spent several years on the field, I appreciated the three question posed ( “I don’t feel connected,” “I don’t know that my job makes a difference,” and “I don’t seem to have much influence over job success.”). Others have shared some very good responses, but I’d like to respond to these a bit differently. Feeling connected anywhere (let alone the mission field) can often be a reflection of one’s personality preferences. And there is some research that suggests that certain personality types will struggle with connecting and maintaining relationships in expatriate contexts, including my own dissertation study which was driven by watching some American missionaries crash and burn on the field while others seemed to thrive. As for the second question, questioning if one’s work is making a difference can be signs of a need to reevaluate calling, ministry fit, or even mission fit with one’s organization. Finally, feeling like one doesn’t have influence over job success should begin with defining success. Some mission organizations prioritize the tallying of conversion numbers fastidiously (I worked with one). As the book of Acts teaches us, however, it is God who is responsible for growth. My experience has been that forming relationships with others in ways that afford opportunities to display Christ-like characteristics takes precedence. Doing so typically requires significant investments of time and effort, with no guarantee that spiritual fruit will be evident in one’s own lifetime.