Proverbs 22.29
“Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.”
Work — your daily job — is not separate from the gospel. It is not separate from the calling of Christ. Your work is ministry. Your work is one of the primary ways you are called to live out the gospel and fulfill God’s purpose in your life.
Work is a daily reality and necessity. We spend more waking hours working than any other activity. This is not a mistake. Work is an integral part of God’s plan for us. God created man and placed him in the physical world for the purpose of overseeing and managing the world that the Lord had created. “Six days you shall work,” the Lord said in Exodus 34.21, “but on the seventh you shall rest.”
The case could be made that one of the primary purposes of worship, fellowship, and ministry on Sunday is to prepare Christians for effectiveness in the workplace the other six days.
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2.15)
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” (Colossians 3.23)
Four ways that our work serves God’s purposes
- Creative. Through our work we bring order and beauty to the world. We create. We build. We manage. We organize. We “have dominion.” Like the God who created us, we are creators. We are co-laborers with God in project called planet earth.
- Productive. Through our work we produce things that are necessary and helpful for people and society. Through our work we feed, clothe, house, warm, protect, heal, support, entertain, communicate, transport, etc.. Work is how the world works.
- Redemptive. Through our jobs we display what the redeemed life looks like when it is “at work.” Too often people think of the redeemed life as an “at church” thing. But the call of Christ is also about the redeemed life at work. Many have forgotten that the church isn’t a building, it’s a community of people. It is the Body of Christ. We are the church. On Monday morning, the church “goes to work.” This is God’s design.
- Restorative. Through our work we are agents of renewal in a broken world. Sin and death entered the world at the Fall. Death distorts and breaks. Christians renew and restore. Through our work we apply principles, practices, and processes so that things (and people) work better and are more productive, thereby reflecting the character of the Creator.
It is time for the body of Christ to recognize the strategic importance of the workplace, and to commit to developing resources for encouraging and equipping Christian to be disciplined and skillful workers.
