Recently, we looked at the origins of work in The Biblical Value of Work, Part 1. Continuing our look at work, if we were to admit it, many of those we work with, and perhaps some of us, view work as a necessary evil. Most do not look at their work as a vocation, a calling, or even a career. No, it is just a job. They embrace Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” philosophy, celebrate reaching a midweek “Hump Day,” ask “Is it Friday yet?” and get the “Sunday Night Blues” as they think about going to work on Monday morning.
The first time I recall thinking about connecting my faith and work was several years ago when I read John Piper’s 1997 book A Godward Life. In that book of short readings was one that particularly impacted me regarding my work. It was titled “Lord Focused Living at Work.” That article was life-changing for me as far as how I approached my work. For years, I kept a laminated copy of the article in my notebook at work, and I handed out many copies to co-workers and supervisors to explain how I approached my work – basically, doing my work for the Lord as opposed to any earthly supervisor or organization.
Tim Chester, in his book Gospel-Centered Work: Becoming the Worker God Wants You to Be, writes that work is commended in the Bible as a good thing. It is both a privilege and a blessing. But many still count down the days until they can retire. They do not see the workplace as somewhere where God rules. But that is not the case at all of course.
It was while I was at Covenant Seminary that I first heard a wonderful quote from Abraham Kuyper, who among other things was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. He said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign overall, does not cry, Mine!” And that of course includes any place where we do our work.
I agree with Tim Keller, who writes in his book, Every Good Endeavor that our daily work – whatever it may be – is ultimately an act of worship to the God who called and equipped us to do it. Keller writes that in the beginning God worked. Work was not a necessary evil that came into the picture later. God worked for the sheer joy of it.
Tom Nelson, a pastor in the Kansas City area, in his book Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work, states “Our work, whatever it is, whether we are paid for it (or not), is our specific human contribution to God’s ongoing creation and to the common good.”
Amy Sherman in her book Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good states that we need to start with the vital truth that work preceded the Fall. This truth is foundational for faithful vocational stewardship. She writes that “Work is a gift from God. Work is something we were built for, something our loving Creator intends for our good.
Do you see your work – paid or unpaid – as a gift from God? Why or why not?
If it is true that work is a gift from God, how did we get the distorted view of work, that work is a necessary evil, and that some work is sacred and some secular?
Hugh Whelchel in his book How Then Should We Work, writes that “Even for many Christians, work is often only a means to an end. Many Christians today have bought into the pagan notion that leisure is good and work is bad. They have also been misled by the sacred/secular distinction, which teaches that working in the church is the only “real” full-time Christian service.”
He writes “The Reformers taught that all labor is noble if it is accepted as a calling and performed ‘as unto the Lord’.” He goes on to state that “Scripture teaches no separation between the secular and the sacred. No church-related work or mission is more spiritual than any other profession such as law, business, education, journalism, or politics,” or I would add, doing volunteer work or being a stay-at-home Mom.
Let’s talk about calling and vocation. Gene Veith in his book God at Work tells us that in the medieval church, having a vocation or a calling referred exclusively to full-time church work. He tells us that the Reformers however insisted that priests, nuns, and monastics did not have a special claim to God’s favor, but that laypeople could also live the Christian life to its fullest.
Veith writes that our vocations are not just serving God, but also other people. The purpose of vocation is to love and serve our neighbor. He states that finding our vocations has partly to do with finding our God-given talents (what we do), and our God-given personality (what fits the person we are).
I wonder if many people have a low value of work because they believe that our work is temporary. But in his book Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes of our work continuing in Heaven. He states “Work in Heaven will not be frustrating or fruitless; instead, it will involve lasting accomplishment, unhindered by decay and fatigue, enhanced by unlimited resources. We will approach our work with the enthusiasm we bring to our favorite sport or hobby. Because there will be continuity from the old Earth to the new, it is possible we will continue some of the work we started on the old Earth.”
Jordan Raynor writes in his new book The Sacredness of Secular Work: 4 Ways Your Job Matters for Eternity, that any work you do for God’s glory, powered by God’s Spirit, and according to God’s rules will last forever.
And yet many continue to believe that God sees value in only “full-time Christian work (pastors, missionaries, etc.). What has led to this false “sacred/secular divide”?
Os Guinness in his excellent book The Call, helps explain this through two distortions that he writes have crippled the truth of calling – the “Catholic Distortion” and the “Protestant Distortion.”
The Catholic Distortion states that the “perfect life” is spiritual, dedicated to contemplation and reserved for priests, monks, and nuns, while the “permitted life” is secular, dedicated to action and open to such tasks as soldiering, governing, farming, trading, and raising families. The Protestant Distortion is a secular form of dualism which elevates the secular at the expense of the sacred. The latter distortion severed the secular from the spiritual altogether and reduced vocation to an alternative word for work.
In his book, Guinness introduces us to two types of callings – primary and secondary. As Christians, our primary calling is that everyone, everywhere, and in everything should think, speak, live and act entirely for God. Our secondary callings can be our jobs or vocations. However, these and other things are always the secondary, never the primary, calling. I do not get my identity through my secondary callings, but through my primary calling.
Guinness writes that we must avoid the two distortions by keeping the two callings together, stressing the primary calling to counter the Protestant Distortion, and secondary callings to counter the Catholic Distortion.
I hope that you have found our overview of work to be helpful. What would you add to this discussion?
