I like the IDEA of a clean workspace. In theory, I'm totally down with it. Sounds like a dream come true. Love it.

But actually cleaning is a different story. I don't want to do that. Not at all.

In other words: I like the result but not the process.

I'm currently trying to rack my brain with things to do other than what I know I need to do: cleaning. Normally my office space is allowed to become a disaster zone. Things I "might need soon" stack high on my desk. The floor is littered with papers I took out of my bag but never found a home for. Too often, a giant horde of empty Dr. Pepper cans stare me down and remind me that I am yet again craving Dr. Pepper.

However, tomorrow my office space is becoming a movie studio. I'm being featured in a documentary about young Christian creatives and I'll be filmed talking about my creative journey in my office. He'll also get some b-rolls shots of me producing The Bible...but Funnier and doing other creative things in the room.

So technically I need to make it not look like a tornado touched down in my 10 ft by 10 ft room. Even though the messiness is authentically me, I don't want the world to see that for themselves!

I like the result. Not the process.

The truth is, though, that I don't value a clean space as much as I might say. For to truly value something is to take action. You can say you want to "stop poverty" but those words are meaningless unless backed up. You can say you love your neighbor, but do your actions legimtiamtely fall into the category of 'love"? As James writers,

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?"

(James 2:14)

James is asking a rhetorical question and goes on to explain why the correct answer is "no." In other words, our deeds prove our convictions. It's just like the slogan we used for my eighth grade student council's yearly theme: "Don't just talk the talk. Walk the walk."

Works do not save you. That's not what James means. But good works flow by default from a heart overflowing with faith. A person's true convictions are found not in what they say but in what they do.

So, okay, fine, whatever. I don't actually value cleaning. If I did, I'd make time for it and would get to it more often. But a clean room doesn't matter if you don't have a clean heart, a heart set on God that demonstrates that faith through positive actions.

Well, better go tidy this pigstye up. Probably just gonna shove everything in the closet. :D

In sickness and in health,

Jake Doberenz