The Most Important Five Percent

Jul 22, 2025
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By Maddy Svoboda

The Work That Has No End

Postured Well

There is a saying from the Babylonian Talmud (everyone’s go to source for Instagrammable inspiration) that I have found helpful. In the Avot D’Rabbi Natan, you will find the words ‘do not fear the work that has no end’. It is a call to embrace the continuous and liminal nature of endless tasks in the same direction. 

Our theme as Tasmanian Baptists this year has been ‘Intergenerational’. Our hope and desire is to see all generations come together in vibrant faith and mutual discipleship (learning and sharing), worship and mission. Just in case you were wondering, this would fall smack bang into the category of ‘work that has no end’. 

At the beginning of this year, my wife Immi and I welcomed our fourth child and third son, Benjamin, into the world. It has been a whirlwind of elation, emotions and exhaustion, but as we were welcoming Benji into our family, there were articles coming out saying that our global community was welcoming a new generation: generation Beta.

Who knows what is going to come to fruition with this generation; they are coming into the world at the height of AI’s powers and into a chaotic maelstrom of cultural, economic and political forces but it hit home to me how much this work of being intergenerational has no end. 

It will require the best from us as we yield to Jesus so that when my newborn son turns 18 in 2043 (writing that sentence was not a fun one to write), we are postured well to equip him to abundant life and faith in Jesus. So how do we posture ourselves in that way? I shared some of my thoughts with the Baptist pastors at our muster in June, however, I feel that it is not just helpful for pastors and church leaders, but wisdom for us all wherever we are at on the journey of life.  

The Most Important Five Percent

The first thing is to discern, prioritise and invest in our most important five percent. In his book ‘Leading on Empty’, Wayne Cordiero has a theory that 95 percent of your life can either be done by someone else or you can train someone to do. There is only five percent of what you do that only you can do. No one can be trained and you wouldn’t want them to be; No one else is responsible for my intimacy with God. Nor can anyone can be a husband to Immi or a father to my kids. No one else can cultivate my friendships and family relationships, physical fitness, mental health or invest into the God given calling that is mine. 

I have heard the analogy that all the responsibilities you carry are juggling balls. Some balls are rubber; you drop them and they can bounce; they can survive. There are others that are crystal. You drop them, it will do damage. They will break. Drop them enough and they will be irreparable. These ones are the most important five percent. 

In a world that is increasingly turbulent and where people of all generations are wrestling with questions of identity, purpose, meaning, belonging and where is the good life found, if we have done the work of investing in our five percent, we can walk alongside people through those complex times and share out of the richness of a life well lived alongside Jesus.  

So, do you know what your most important five percent? What does good stewardship in those areas look like?

Maddy Svoboda

Rev. Maddy Svoboda is the pastor at Summerhill Baptist, and represents the Greater Launceston churches on the Tasmanian Baptists Mission Leadership Team.

The Work That Has No End

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