Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to a wonderful group at Truth in Love Counseling on living out our faith at work. This five-part series is inspired by that talk.
Biblical Value of Work
Let’s talk about how we can live out our faith at work. That is, how can we integrate our faith and work? It’s a question that perhaps some of you have thought about, and I think one that all believers would like to know how to do better.
Many books have been written on this topic, with new ones being published all the time. There is even a breakout session titled “Living the Gospel at Work” that will be offered at next April’s Gospel Coalition National Conference to be held in Indianapolis, a conference I would highly recommend.
I recently read an article which stated:
“At its best, the faith and work movement gives a deep dignity to those who need to know why God cares about what they do all day, why the daily grind matters, how God uses their efforts as part of a tapestry of common good, an outworking of Jeremiah’s vision to seek the good of the city to which God has called us.”
Before we get to how to integrate our faith with our work, let’s consider work itself, and also about resting from our labors.
There’s no doubt that “work” has a bad name. It is not unusual to hear people say, “That’s why they call it work, right”?
Do you believe that the only work that has value in God’s eyes is “full-time Christian work,” such as serving in the ministry as a pastor or missionary? Do you feel that there is “sacred” work and everything else is “secular work,” and that secular work is a necessary evil, just to pay the bills and support your family, and contribute to God’s mission, but having no real value in God’s eyes? Do you think this is the way that most feel about their work, whether it is work they do that is paid, as a stay-at-home Mom, retiree, or volunteer? I think that is what many Christians think.
But is work just a necessary evil? I would say no. The Bible actually has a very high view of work.
In the very first verse of the Bible, we are told that God is a worker:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
On the sixth day, God created man. We are told in Genesis 1:27:
So, God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
After six days of creation, or work, God rested. In Genesis 2:1 we are told:
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
This sets the pattern for us. We are made in His image. He worked six days and rested on the seventh, and thus we should as well.
Some will say that work is cursed, and it was – after the Fall. But work was given before the Fall. Seminary professor and pastor Dan Doriani states that work was good in the beginning, but sin spoiled it.
In Genesis 2:15, we read:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
As a result of the Fall, we read in Genesis 2:17-19:
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Next time we’ll continue with Part 2 of our series on living out our faith at work.
