Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work and Wealth (Book Review)
During the current “coronavirus crisis” (try saying that 5 times real fast), our family has had very little to complain about. We have everything we need (food and shelter), and a couple of well-stocked (for now) grocery stores within a reasonable walking distance (personal cars have been disallowed by Peru’s newly minted dictator).
And of course, like most people, we’ve enjoyed a lot more free time to read, study, pray, reflect, and converse, both as individuals and as a family.
Which also means more time to read!
I am constantly at risk of being more of a book collector than a book reader, but now I have no excuse. So this past week I finally sat down to finish a short book that I ought to have been able to complete a long time ago. Ironically, the book is called “Ploductivity”, and the central idea is that we can accomplish a lot if we are consistent and disciplined, which has never been my forte.
I tend to procrastinate when it comes to more daunting tasks, putting them off until I have a big block of free time (which rarely happens), so this book was written just for me, if I could ever get around to reading it! I new that if I couldn’t find a way to be disciplined enough to work through a simple book on productivity, there was probably no hope for me.
But I did it! In between walks to the grocery store, playing catch with my kids on the roof of our building, and watching nearly the entire free world go nuts on Facebook, I plodded my way through this wonderful little book:
Ploductivity: A Practical Theology of Work and Wealth
by Douglas Wilson
The Foreward was written by Doug Wilson’s daughter, Rebekah Merkle, an author herself. She helps to show, for those who aren’t already familiar with Doug Wilson’s ministry, how unbelievably productive his life has been; and mostly through faithful plodding!
The book itself is divided into two parts:
The first is a series of simple, yet profound, theologies of various subjects related to productivity in the modern world: Work, Wealth, Tools, Media, Markets, Progress and more.
The second is a series of wise and biblical (synonyms, right?) observations on how to learn to be more productive. Some of these chapters, or essays, seem fairly mundane (The Power of Plodding, Work at a Pace You Can Maintain), while others run slightly against the grain (Ambition is a Good Thing).
Much like the topic which it tackles, Ploductivity does not offer hundreds of life-altering “shortcuts” (although he does give a few), but a strong biblical foundation for building a more productive life.
In my reading this past weekend, one particular quote jumped out at me, due to to the current “lockdown” so many of us find ourselves in, where we are being deprived of many of the things we hold dear:
“There is not one blessing that we enjoy that was not given to us by the hand of Jesus Christ. If we insist on ignoring His lordship, His blood, His authority, and His kindness, then the time is coming, and now is, when He will chastise us by taking it all away. If we seek first the Kingdom, then other things will be added. If we don’t acknowledge Him, worship Him, bow down before Him, He takes away that which was blocking the view, which in our case is all of our stuff.” (Ploductivity, pg 62)
For instance, here in Peru millions of people are struggling to purchase basic necesities due to the government’s highly restrictive measures. And although the authorities might be acting foolishly, God is still using what is going on to teach us and to discipline us for our good.
I highly recommend this book if you struggle with procrastination or laziness, or even if you just feel like you have more things on Your “To Do” list (or, “To Read” list) than you can possibly keep up with.
You can get a copy yourself, either from Amazon or direct from the publisher (Canon Press):
