Email: The Killer Family App

My good friend Steve and his family from Detroit are in town visiting this week and we had a good discussion about email last night. I was explaining to him that before or after work hours, with rare exceptions, I no longer check my work email.

Period.

I don’t even look at the subject line.

Or open the work email application at all.

The reason I no longer do this is because of what happens afterwards. Either I end up having to reply to the message, taking away from my family that I am with at the current time (physically gone), or I don’t reply, and think about what it is that I just read, until the next day, when I am able to reply (mentally gone). Either way, it takes me away in some form from my family, and I end up not fully engaged with them or whatever it is that I am in the middle of doing.

A Real Christian Businessman needs to realize that if you can just leave the email work at work, it will keep your mind clear. It will allow you to fully be in the present – fully engaged in what is in front of you now. The culture would tell us that we need to keep up with our email so that we can be a good provider for our family, be “on top” of everything. But being in the present is one of the best gifts that you can offer your family – they love for you to be with them 100%!

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” I Cor 10:13 ESV

It takes some time to master this discipline. Checking our email is very tempting! It is almost like riding down the wrong road; you travel down it for so long and get so used to the bumps that once you get off of that road and onto the smoother path you don’t even realize how much better it is. God will help you if you ask Him though -Are you willing to at least try?