“The
works of His hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.” (Ps 111:7)
“God
is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as
you have helped His people and continue helping him.” (Heb
6:10)
In today’s culture people have a tendency to separate work
into differing levels of importance with some vocations being considered more
acceptable than others. Some even take a
superior attitude and consider certain types of work to be beneath them.
These attitudes can carry over into the Christian
worldview. Some believe that a church
pastor has a more spiritual vocation or is closer to God than say a missionary
or a church administrative assistant. An
even wider gap can be seen between what is considered secular work verses work
that is part of some type of ministry or is considered spiritual work.
A sense of higher purpose in a vocation has also been lost
to most people. This is true in both the
secular world and at least to some extent in the Christian world. Basically, the idea is that any sort of work,
or at least certain types of work, have been reduced to a utilitarian function:
a means of acquiring some sort of benefit from the world, whether it is
material gain or a sense of self-fulfillment.
That one’s vocation no longer has any sort of transcendent purpose as a
means of serving God, much less our fellow man.
But is it true that there is no higher purpose in work? And, is there a difference between secular
work and a Christian vocation?
Here are a few things to consider:
Scripture tells us that God
Himself has worked. “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were
finished. And on the seventh day God
ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all the
work He had done” (Gen 2: 1-2).
Right from the beginning God sets an example in performing work.
After He finished the
creation, one of the first things God does is put man in the Garden of Eden in
order to “tend and keep it” (Gen 2:15). We can see God places a level of importance
to our work with that being one of the first things He instructs man to do.
Generally, there is not much
said about this topic but, have you ever given much thought to the fact that
Jesus had a vocation before His ministry?
That’s right, He was a carpenter!
In fact, when you think about it, He was a carpenter far longer than He
spent in His ministry here on earth.
Let’s put this in
perspective. Formal school for Jewish
boys in Jesus’ time started at about 5 years old. This was a half day of school, usually 6 day
a week. When not in school, it was not
uncommon for them to spend time learning a trade from their father. Knowing this we can see that it is possible
that Jesus started learning how to be a carpenter as early as 5 years old.
Even in today’s
apprenticeships, a person will spend several months if not a few years just
watching the teacher and learning basics before they are even allowed to do any
work. When they do start work they are
usually closely monitored by their teacher until they show a certain level of
proficiency in their work. Allowing for
a few years of this, Jesus could have started doing basic carpentry between 8
and 10 years old. With Jesus starting
His ministry at 30 years old, we can see that he was a carpenter for upwards of
20 years. This example from the life of
Jesus helps point to there being importance to the work we perform in this
world.
Jesus gives us another example
of work. Specifically work that some
might consider demeaning. In John
13:1-17 we find the story of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet after the
Passover Dinner. The dusty and dirty
conditions encountered while travelling necessitated the need for foot
washing. In those times the foot washing
was normally performed by the lowliest of menial servants. It was only in a very rare exception, and
then as a mark of great love, that a peer would wash another’s feet. In doing this, Jesus served as a model of
Christian humility and taught us a lesson in selfless service.
We also find that the Holy
Spirit has responsibilities as well. Here
are just a few examples: He teaches us and helps us remember what Jesus told us
(Jn 14:26), He reveals truth to us (Jn 16: 13-14), convicts us of our sins (Jn
16:8), and He helps us when we don’t know how or what to pray, even interceding
for us and praying for us (Rom 8:26-27).
There are many other examples and commands related to work
in the bible but I wanted specifically mention some that are tied to each person
of God. Being as we are made in God’s
image we are called to reflect His character in all we do. This would include our work.
Actually, the idea of a separation of work between the
secular and the spiritual is nothing new.
The early church had to define a biblical view of work in contrast to
the influence of the Greek culture which denigrated manual labor. Paul also addressed the importance of work in
2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 and 1 Timothy 5:8.
During the Reformation, Martin Luther wrote, “When we carry
out our vocation in obedience to God’s commands, then God Himself works through
us to His purposes.” In this he is
referring to all legitimate work, not just spiritual vocations. Luther specifically rejected the idea that
the clergy were engaged in holier work than those not necessarily considered
holy, such as tradesmen and farmers saying, “Seemingly secular works are a worship
of God and an obedience well pleasing to God.”
Church pastor, corporate CEO, ditch digger, teacher,
banker, theologian, farmer, administrative assistant, architect, homemaker,
truck driver, missionary, auto mechanic, chef, volunteer, doctor, manager,
soldier, butcher, journalist, coat room attendant, realtor, maid, dentist, social
worker, engineer, flight attendant, evangelist, gardener, police officer,
laboratory technician, payroll clerk, sailor, surgeon, computer programmer,
tour guide, barber, used car salesman, nurse, counselor, mortician, fitness
trainer, cashier, janitor, bus driver, coal miner, inspector, plumber.
I cannot say I have seen or heard anything that says God
sees a difference in these various professions.
On the other hand, we see all sorts of differences between them (or the numerous
others not listed). Whether its salary,
benefits, location, title, how it makes us feel, or we put some kind of label
on the position, it is too easy to look at all the differences. Not that some of these things are not
important, sometimes it is even necessary to take them into consideration when
we look at what we do for work, but we tend to put too much emphasis on these
things.
This has recently all been brought into sharp reality for
me. A couple months ago, I lost my job
due to a contract change. As I have been
looking for new work I have had to do the normal evaluations you need to do
when looking for work: what I am qualified to do, what I might like to do, salary,
location, position, etc., etc., etc. Along the way, I have also found I need to put
thought into how I look at jobs I may
apply for.
When we break it down, whether we are answering a call in
our life, or just trying to make end meet in our day-to-day struggles, it isn’t
what we do that is the most important thing.
Nor is it important that the work is done in the Christian or secular
arena. It’s our attitude toward that
work that is important. Are we doing the
best we can? Are we setting a good
example to those around us? Are our
actions bringing glory to God like they should?
Examples of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit all performing work lends dignity to the work of their hands, no matter
how lowly that work may seem to our eyes.
This dignity should be reflected in the work of our hands
as well.
