Bible Students

Some Thoughts on “Margin” by Richard Swenson (chapters 1-5)

This week’s reading covered the first five chapters of the book, Margin, which seeks to cover the importance and protection of the “margin” in the life of the Christian. A margin can be understood with a specific example: The Sabbath. The Sabbath is a margin, where the individual stakes out a place for rest, relationships, and devotion to God, apart from business, work, and stress. The author begins in chapter one with a discussion of what a lack of margin looks like in everyday life.

Margin is the idea that pastors only have so much they can do or give before giving out. Marginlessness is when people do not have a margin and give themselves to everything, stretching themselves too thinly. Marginlessness is a new invention, where people are far overworked. Even Christians are overworked, especially pastors. Individuals neglect their margin for the sake of progress, especially in work, which often results in a greater pay. However, cutting down on the margin may result in a serious cut of income, but it will be a great investment. 

Today, due to the lack of margin and the overpresence of “productivity,” individuals do not give themselves time to heal. This productivity often leads to pain. Pain is not actually a bad thing, but in the context of productivity it can quickly become a bad thing. Pain is good when it is used in small quantities. Pain warns of danger. However, pain can also be overwhelming when too much, and result in a shut-down, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Pain is there to help people know when something is wrong. Pain is an ally which moves people away from danger. When individuals do not have margins, they feel pain. 

There is a cure to the pain of being overworked. The formula for happiness is not ease or progress. Pain and progress have joined forces against people. The formula for happiness, rather, is a margin which allows one to rest and have a proper rhythm of work. Progress is such an ingrained idea that Americans can not even think without it. Due to the social presence of progress, individuals are expected to continue to work and create new innovation, constantly giving themselves to new things. The most progress leads to the least amount of margin. 

Progress attempts to go faster and faster, taking more and more time, energy and space in the life of the believer. This speed leads to overload, which overcrowds the rest of the life of the individual. Progress is not evil, but progress must be limited. The individual must have room to breathe, to heal, to do things other than progress. The lack of margin is a great area of pain which many people do not think about. There is more to life than going fast. 

Progress should be controlled, and should not be able to control the individual. The individual must have authority over their own progress if they are to have any hope of establishing a margin. If progress controls the individual, there are no breaks. If the individual controls progress, they can limit the stress and pain. If they are in control, they do not have to apologize for redirecting themselves from progress. Margin nurtures relationships with others, self, and God. A lack of margin brings progress, but not any relationship. Most pain individuals suffer is found in the social, emotional, and spiritual spheres. 

Now, what does progress really mean? Progress is often understood today to be the progress of technology and its application, since this is the most rapidly developing sphere. It is a material and wealth-centered progress. However, God does not see those two spheres as answering the most important questions in life, relating to purpose. The purpose of life is not in the material (only when contrasted to spiritual) or wealth of this world. The answers are in the spiritual, the relational. True progress should be measured by the love of God, not the amount done. Put in a more common phrasing, the individual’s progress should be measured by who they are, not what they do. 

The individual does not know how to deal with the present, and they do not stop in order to find out how the problems are solved. One of the reasons today is so different is that the future has come so close. Rather than a linear line of growth as in the past, today’s progress is exponential. Progress became exponential and the room for margin disappeared. People do not know what margin is, and so they do not fight for it. 

Stress is an epidemic in America. Stress is a normal thing, where people respond to a normal stimulus. However, when stress goes overboard, it is known as distress. A person can work for 16 hours a day without stress, but when stress is introduced they can work far less. Some people even desire a small bit of stress to live comfortably. Type A people have a hard time resting and have health problems because of it. Depressed or anxious people have stress from things that have not actually happened. Elderly have worse stress than the young, as their bodies react more seriously. Overall, people are generally stressed out today. Stress needs to be recovered from progress. Human performance is best when there is a small amount of stress, without the distress humans face today. Stress should return to what it should be, which is a useful tool of motivation, not a harmful tool of motivation. 

Relationships seem to hinder progress, but they are a great margin to have. Burnout is a result of having no margins. People want to push themselves as far as they can before collapsing. Where should the line be drawn? There is not a hard line, so people feel they can continually push themselves. Often overload sneaks up on people when they continue to push themselves to the edge. When there is too much load, the body and mind breaks down. A lack of margin is often easily identifiable by one saying they are too busy for something. They do not want to do the thing and hide behind being too busy. It is a lack of caring for personal relationships. It is better to not judge the slacker than to accidentally judge the overloaded. Some people can not say no, and attempt to be all things to all people at all times. Lastly, there is an expectation overload, where people are expected to push themselves as hard as possible without breaking. God has given individuals many people to love and serve, which can not be done if they are a broken, overloaded person. Chronic overloading is not God’s will. 

Overall, this section has helpfully introduced the concept of making time for rest, as well as the problems with the constant progress of today’s society. I believe one of the most helpful margins I have sought to implement into my life has been the Sabbath. While I have not always been consistent with this practice (especially of late), I can see its benefits from the time I have chosen to observe it. I must not be brought into the illusion that I have less time than I actually do. If I must hinder my progress for the sake of having a margin, then I must do so. Luckily, I have plenty of time for rest, relaxation, friends, and devotion throughout my whole week. I hope the remainder of this book will cover some of the practical ways a margin can be placed on the life of the believer.