CCEF Podcast: Where Life & Scripture Meet
Oct 19, 2026 · 37 min · 12 segments
When work feels repetitive, fruitless, or disconnected from our gifts, it's easy to wonder whether it really matters. In this episode, Gunner Gundersen talks with CCEF colleagues Lauren Whitman, Darby…
Lauren WhitmanGuest
Darby StricklandGuest
Todd StrydGuestI am very excited to talk about what is a very relevant topic, and that topic is, uh, when work feels meaningless.
And, um, before we dive into this and share a little bit maybe about our own personal experiences, uh, in this arena, I just wanna clarify, we are talking here about ethical work, uh, work that, uh, is done, uh, to God's glory, not talking about unethical things that really we should, uh, find a way to move on from and get out of and avoid.
We wanna talk a little bit about how we should think about our work when we know it's good work, yet it feels meaningless.
Um, just to kick us off, can you think of a season when maybe your own work or vocation felt meaningless to you?
When y- yeah, when you pose that question, Gunnar, I think about housework.
Um, there's just a season when the kids were little, and it was just ongoing, never ending.
But just even in particularly, I remember the homeschooling season, I just hated making my kids lunch.
Like, every day I have to [laughs] feed these kids three times a day, and when the question came what was for lunch, I just...
You know, it was what I was supposed to be doing and just not having an answer for that that was easy or enjoyable or wasn't a fuss or someone wouldn't fuss about, right? So even though I knew what I was doing was vital to their survival, just when it became tedious to me, um, it just really became a drudgery.
After college, um, I was a substitute teacher and then a teacher for several years, and of course, teaching in itself is, is very meaningful, and I, I didn't question that.
But I think my personal experience of, um, is this a fit for me and how I want to spend my time and how, uh, my, my gifts and skills are able to be used, I think there was, um, yeah, there was some dissonance there.
And the, and that was the struggle of, um, I know the work is meaningful, um, but it doesn't feel like a good fit, and having to, to wrestle through that.
And it seems like part of my job description was I was the designated deep fryer cleaner.
And so I would have to empty out this three hundred and fifty degree oil and then stick my head in there and clean it, and it, I was usually getting burned and inhaling chemicals.
And I think where it maps onto this question is it was just a very despairing end to my night.
Every single night, I l- I, I knew what was coming, and it felt like it was just gonna happen again the very next time I worked.
I am very excited to talk about what is a very relevant topic, and that topic is, uh, when work feels meaningless.
And, um, before we dive into this and share a little bit maybe about our own personal experiences, uh, in this arena, I just wanna clarify, we are talking here about ethical work, uh, work that, uh, is done, uh, to God's glory, not talking about unethical things that really we should, uh, find a way to move on from and get out of and avoid.
We wanna talk a little bit about how we should think about our work when we know it's good work, yet it feels meaningless.
Um, just to kick us off, can you think of a season when maybe your own work or vocation felt meaningless to you?
When y- yeah, when you pose that question, Gunnar, I think about housework.
Um, there's just a season when the kids were little, and it was just ongoing, never ending.
But just even in particularly, I remember the homeschooling season, I just hated making my kids lunch.
Like, every day I have to [laughs] feed these kids three times a day, and when the question came what was for lunch, I just...
You know, it was what I was supposed to be doing and just not having an answer for that that was easy or enjoyable or wasn't a fuss or someone wouldn't fuss about, right? So even though I knew what I was doing was vital to their survival, just when it became tedious to me, um, it just really became a drudgery.
After college, um, I was a substitute teacher and then a teacher for several years, and of course, teaching in itself is, is very meaningful, and I, I didn't question that.
But I think my personal experience of, um, is this a fit for me and how I want to spend my time and how, uh, my, my gifts and skills are able to be used, I think there was, um, yeah, there was some dissonance there.
And the, and that was the struggle of, um, I know the work is meaningful, um, but it doesn't feel like a good fit, and having to, to wrestle through that.
And it seems like part of my job description was I was the designated deep fryer cleaner.
And so I would have to empty out this three hundred and fifty degree oil and then stick my head in there and clean it, and it, I was usually getting burned and inhaling chemicals.
And I think where it maps onto this question is it was just a very despairing end to my night.
Every single night, I l- I, I knew what was coming, and it felt like it was just gonna happen again the very next time I worked.
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