The Perfect Job
Can a job at Google make you happy?
In DiscipleMakers we often talk about what we'd like to see happen in our ministry in the future. Sometimes, we purposefully think big: what could God do? In the Systems Department, we've often pointed to one particular thing as a Big Hairy Audacious Goal: that Systems would grow in its impact on God's Kingdom such that people would turn down job offers from Google so that they could join us.
Why say it this way? Simple: Google has a sort of corporate aura about it. A job with Google combines high pay, prestige, and a sense of changing the world for the better. If there's a perfect job out there, surely it's with Google, right?
A counterpoint to this way of thinking is presented in a recent post on TechCrunch called Why Google Employees Quit. It presents excepts from an email discussion among former Google employees. Don't worry, it's not a collection of flames. The messages collected there simply describe some of the highs and lows of working for Google, from the perspectives of people who decided to leave the company.
One post stood out as being particularly thoughtful. A guy named Phil said, "Those of us who failed to thrive at Google are faced with some pretty serious questions about ourselves.... Google is supposed to be some kind of Nirvana, so if you can’t be happy there how will you ever be happy? It’s supposed to be the ultimate font of technical resources, so if you can’t be productive there how will you ever be productive? The truth is that Google can be a really horrible place to work if you happen to run up against its shortcomings."
No job, whether with Google, DiscipleMakers, or anywhere else, is perfect. If you look to your job to give purpose to your life, you'll be disappointed.
Instead, look for a job that connects you to a purpose valuable enough to be worth giving your life to.
Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:38, ESV) In God's eternal economy, there is a high demand for people who devote themselves to serving in the Lord's harvest field. The world may not value this service, but God does.
Yet it is not the job itself that is glorious, but its purpose. That purpose is the proclamation of the gospel to lost souls. And that's why we believe serving in DiscipleMakers' Systems Department is a opportunity that stacks up favorably against what anyone else might offer. If you believe in our mission, would you pray with us that the Lord would send more laborers into His harvest?
