Christians and Work

 

Work can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For some, it’s an obligation you have to make money to pay the bills and provide for yourself and your family. For others, an obsession drives you toward achieving goals and success. For some lucky few, work is about following their passions. Whatever your experience or feeling about work, the Bible has a lot to say about how Christians should view work and how we should conduct ourselves at work. While there’s not nearly enough time to cover it all here in this blog, I want to highlight two truths from Scripture about work that will hopefully help us to change our mindset about our work as Christians. Let’s go!

1. Work, as we know it,  is a result of the fall: Genesis 3.17-19

Up until Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, the tasks and work that they did were intricately woven with their worship and fellowship with God. Everything they did to tend the garden was done with joy in the perfect environement filled with the presence of God all the time. Their “work” wasn’t the labor that we experience today because there was no sin present to make the work difficult. Once they ate that fruit and disobeyed God’s command, though, everything changed. God told Adam in Genesis 3.17-19, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ ‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (NIV). The hard labor and difficulty that we experience from our work is a direct result of the sin that affects our world and our hearts and lives. God has allowed this life to be difficult for us so that our work is no longer intimately connected to our worship of Him because of our sin. There is still good news, though, because the Bible still encourages us to treat our work like a place of worship!

2. Work is a way to glorify God: Colossians 3.23-24

Even though work is difficult and hard because of our sin, it is still an opportunity to glorify God because worship should tint every part of our life, including our work. We don’t just glorify God when we are at church or doing spiritual things. We are called and commanded to glorify God in every aspect of our lives, every day. Paul encourages the church as Colessae with this very truth when he says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (NIV). God has given you the job you have for a specific purpose: to bring Him glory and to make His name known in that workplace. Therefore, just as Paul says, we should work hard as a way to bring God glory. When others see us and see our work it should be an opportunity to make God look good. When others are discouraged, cutting corners, or complaining, be a positive impact on your coworkers so that Jesus can be glorified through your work and your attitude. 

Whether you love your work or hate your work, the reality is that God has given you your job as a way to provide for you and glorify Him. It won’t always be fun, enjoyable, or even good. But it will always be an opportunity to live out the gospel and be an example of Jesus so that others can see Christ in you and give God glory. So next time you clock in, remember you are where you are for God’s Kingdom, and try your best to make His name great in everything you do!