Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not an inch of
any sphere of life over which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘Mine.’” The
recovery of the centrality of God in our theology has implications
that go far beyond the doctrine of salvation. The church desperately
needs to recover a vision of the richness and significance of all
facets of life if we are to glorify God in the fullness of the created
order.
The arena of work is one sphere of life that cries
for special attention. Most of us will spend the majority of our
waking hours as adults doing work. If we also count the time invested
in preparing for a career and the time each day preparing for work and
traveling, and then add in the time spent working at things we don’t
get paid for, then it is no stretch to say that most of us will
probably work about half of our lives. Therefore, it is extremely
important that we understand the Lordship of Christ over this huge
area of our lives.
Christians neglect this area of the Lordship of
Christ for a variety of reasons. Some have a secret fear that their
life is insignificant to God because they’re not in full-time
Christian service. They worry that working a “secular” job dooms them
to be less pleasing to God. Others struggle with laziness in their
work and dismiss the voice of conscience because they believe God
isn’t concerned about their work life. Still others fight with the
temptation to make an idol out of work, seeking to find something in
work accomplishments that can only be found in knowing God. The remedy
for all these problems is a proper understanding of the spirituality
of work.
Basic to Humanity
Genesis 1 is foundational to our understanding of
what it means to be a human being. Therefore, it is a pivotal passage
in determining God’s attitude toward work:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the
sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created
him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said
to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue
it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky
and over every living thing that moves on the earth." ...God saw all
that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was
evening and there was morning, the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-28, 31).
According to this passage, work is basic to what it
means to be a human made in God’s image. First, we are called to
subdue the earth and rule over it. What does this look like? Genesis
2:15 tells us that for Adam ruling and subduing meant cultivating and
keeping the garden. The task for each of us won’t necessarily be
exactly the same as Adam’s assignment. The world is a big place. The
task of subduing and ruling encompasses every legitimate occupation. A
plumber is called to use pipes, gravity, and principles of pressure to
channel water and other things in ways that are useful to people. A
factory manager is called to learn how his factory operates and
coordinate others in applying their skills to subdue and rule. A
teacher is called to pass along knowledge so that others can be
equipped to subdue and rule. All occupations call us to subdue and
rule in some fashion.
According to Genesis 1, we are to bring order from
chaos. Because we are made in God’s image, we are to imitate God in
our limited way. We are to be creative! While we can’t bring something
out of nothing the way God can, we can bring order out of chaos.
Furthermore, work itself is not a curse (Genesis
1:31, compare 3:17-19) Subduing and ruling are part of what God was
talking about when He said “and behold, it was very good.” Beware of
speaking of your work as though it is a burden to be avoided. Work is
a good thing! Some seem to think that work is nothing but what you do
to get to the really good stuff – leisure, entertainment and
relaxation. That attitude is completely unbiblical! Work is the good
stuff.
Work is a calling – a vocation (from the Latin word
for “call”). A job is more than just a way to put food on the table.
God made us for this very purpose! Work is an offering to God. It is a
glorious thing. It is our way of reflecting back the glory of our
Creator, because He is the original Worker!
All work has great dignity. Whether someone scrubs
toilets or serves as president of the United States, his work has
dignity in God’s sight. Adam had the best job the world has ever seen,
and he was a farmer. We may not hear trumpets blaring or crowds
roaring when we rake the yard or clean the kitchen, but our work
brings pleasure to God. That fact alone invests our work with great
dignity regardless of where it ranks in terms of social status or pay
scale or personal enjoyment. As Paul says, “Whatever you do, do your
work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from
the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the
Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23–24).
Work is a stewardship. As a result, we have no
right to make a god out of work. We should do it because we delight in
God! We worship God with our work; we don’t worship work as our god.
Because we are answerable to God for our work, we have no right to
elevate work above our other assignments, such as resting and
worshiping.
Work After the Fall
Scripture is quite clear that work remains our
calling even after the fall (Genesis 3:17-19). However, work is now
cursed by difficulties, frustration and unintended consequences. You
pull weeds, and they’re back tomorrow. You spend days preparing for a
sales presentation, and you still stumble over the critical points
when talking to the customer. You repair your car, and it takes three
times as long as you thought, and you cut your finger in the process.
This doesn’t mean we should avoid work. Instead, it means we must work
harder!
A crucial point must be made in light of the
pietistic tendencies of modern evangelicalism. Work does not take a
second place to evangelism. Efforts to lead people to Christ are a
central part of a Christian’s life, but work is still important to God
even in a fallen world. Work is not merely a forum for evangelizing
our co-workers. Many Christians seem to think that being a good
Christian at work means putting a Bible verse on your desk or a little
fish on your business card. Now these may very well be good things to
do. However, being a good Christian at work means first and foremost
laboring to be excellent in one’s calling for the glory of God. In
fact, if we can communicate by our attitude, by our actions and by our
words that work is significant to God, we may very well win people to
Christ that way. One of the most basic needs we have as human beings
is to feel that our lives are significant. If we can communicate a
biblical view of work to people, we can show them that in Christ all
of life becomes significant. People are hungry for significance. We
must show them that Christ gives significance to their every labor.
Work and Eternity
How often have we heard that “the only things that
will last forever are the Word of God and the souls of men”? Contrary
to this oft-repeated view, the Scriptures teach that our work will
last forever. The lasting nature of work appears in two ways.
First, worthy accomplishments in this age will
endure for the age to come. Many Christians seem not to understand
this. “There’s no point in putting too much effort into good work,
because it’s all going to be burned up one day anyway, right?” This is
simply false. When Scripture speaks of burning at the end of the age
(2 Peter 3:10-12), we must see this as a refining, purifying fire, not
a destroying fire (compare Romans 8:20-21). Consider the parable of
the ten servants who were each given a mina to invest while the master
was away. When the master returned, the minas were not thrown out. In
fact, the one who hadn’t invested his mina had his given to the one
who gained ten minas. See also Revelation 21:24-26, where the glory
and honor of the nations are said to be brought into the new heavens
and new earth.
How can work remain in the new heavens and new
earth? How can the teaching of the first-grade teacher remain or the
fabric produced by the textile worker? The Bible doesn’t tell us the
details, but it does reveal that somehow God will make our work here
and now a testimony to His glory for all eternity. Could there be any
thought that could make you more committed to the work God has called
you to do?
The second way that work will last forever is that
there will be meaningful activity on the renewed earth. The culture
often depicts heaven as nothing more than sitting on a cloud strumming
on a harp. It’s no wonder a lot of people don’t think much about
eternity if they think it’s going to be like that! But the truth is
that this final dwelling place will be suited to redeemed human
nature. We won't be floating on clouds playing harps for all eternity!
According to Revelation 22:3, “there will no longer be any curse.” The
curse on work will be lifted! Notice however that the curse is lifted
– work is not! Work will then be exactly what God intended for it to
be in his original, very good creation. Notice also in Revelation 22:5
that we will reign. This brings us back to the pattern laid out for
humanity in the creation account – we will be subduing and ruling!
Mental Labor
Many of us are called to fields of labor that are
more mental than physical – students, pastors, professors, writers,
and others. Therefore, it is worthy of note that God is just as
concerned with mental effort as with physical effort. In fact, the
calling to exercise the mind is basic to what it means to be a human
made in God’s image. Adam’s very first recorded act of ruling was
fundamentally an act of mental labor. He named the animals (Genesis
2:19-20). This involved far more than just giving each animal an
arbitrary label. The biblical idea of naming involves assigning an
appropriate title that describes the essence of the one named. Adam
had to study, compare and contrast the animals to assign appropriate
names to each of them. This was hard mental labor!
Gene Edward Veith has said that education is one
area where Christians are winning the culture war. Our culture has
become so lazy and misguided about hard mental labor and so swallowed
up by the worship of leisure and entertainment, that Christians are
actually in the lead in this area. Hard mental work for parents,
teachers, and students in this generation may mean that Christians
will be the people best equipped in the next generation to be the
intellectual leaders of the day. Daniel and his friends succeeded in
excelling their peers intellectually (Daniel 1:19-20) and providing
important leadership in their day. God may be calling some to hard
mental labor in our day to raise up some Daniels for the next
generation.
The study of God’s creation – including the study
of God’s image-bearer man in his being, relations and institutions –
can and should be an act of joyful worship. God declared the creation
to be “very good” and worthy of our deepest intellectual effort to
understand and appreciate. We study the creation because the creation
tells us something of God. We study the creation so that we can come
to know God Himself better. The niece of Michael Faraday, the
discoverer of electromagnetic induction and inventor of the generator,
remembered her uncle in this way:
I shall never look at the lightening flashes
without recalling his delight in a beautiful storm. How he would
stand at the window for hours watching the effects and enjoying the
scene; while we knew his mind was full of lofty thoughts, sometimes
of the great Creator, and sometimes of the laws by which He sees
meet to govern the earth.
Psalm 19:1-2 tells us, “The heavens are telling of
the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His
hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals
knowledge.” May our mental labor yield such reflections on God’s
glory!
The exercise of the mind to study God’s creation is
an application of the greatest commandment: “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all
your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself”
(Luke 10:27). How do we love God with all our mind? By using every
thought of our mind to know God, to delight in Him, and to honor Him
with our obedient thoughts. What better way to do this than to devote
our mental labor to bringing glory to God!
We live in a pragmatic culture. If it doesn’t make
us richer, healthier, or more beautiful, we find little value in it.
However, study has inherent value. We are dealing with a God who
observes the thoughts of men and takes pleasure in thoughts to His
glory as well as in outward actions. Therefore, we should not only eat
and drink to His glory but think as well.
Conclusion
The true story of Eric Liddell is told in the movie
Chariots of Fire. He knew God was calling him to go to China as a
missionary with his sister. In a key scene, he tells his sister that
he plans to delay going to the mission field so that he can continue
training for the Olympics. She is crestfallen and frustrated with him.
He then tries to help her understand his decision: “Jenny, Jenny. I
know God created me for His service, but He also made me fast! When I
run, I feel God’s pleasure!” Not many of us will be able to feel God’s
pleasure while training or racing to an Olympic gold medal. However,
we can all work, and we can all have the experience of feeling God’s
pleasure when we do.
Christ has said “Mine” to the sphere of work. Let
us then submit our work and everything else to Christ’s Lordship. He
is the way, the truth, and the life, and nothing has lasting
significance apart from Him. When our work is done to His glory, its
significance is eternal.
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