Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s Off to Work We Go!

We’re just days away from our annual holiday oxymoron: Labor Day. It’s the day every year that most of us celebrate work – by taking the day off from work.

 

Many of us eagerly look forward to weekends and plan our next vacations with much anticipation, but it’s work that keeps the wheels of progress turning. The range of jobs and career paths available is greater than ever. Once a predominantly agrarian society, the United States saw that forever change with the Industrial Revolution, then computer technology. Yes, we still have farms and farmers, but even the work done there has been revolutionized.

 

We’ve got doctors, nurses, CPAs, lawyers, engineers, architects, teachers, homemakers, barbers, estheticians, artists, musicians, business executives, salespeople, electricians, carpenters, plumbers, entrepreneurs, scientists, retail clerks, first responders, masons, handymen (handypeople?), writers, editors, administrative assistants, financial planners, computer programmers, construction workers, technicians of many kinds, professional athletes, librarians. And that’s just scratching the surface of vocational options we have today.

 

For some, work is where they find their sense of worth and meaning. I don’t believe that is exactly what God intended, but in the Scriptures, we see that work was ordained from the start. The Creation account in Genesis 1-2 shows the Lord busily at work, creating the heavens and the earth, light, the stars, all the various forms of life, and finally humankind.

 

Then He assigned the work of maintaining His creation to us. “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground…. I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Genesis 1:28-29).

 

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve chose to disregard God’s command not to eat from one specific tree in the garden of Eden, and that’s when work got complicated. One of the consequences of the first couple’s sin was that work would no longer be easy: 

“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…. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…” (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

Does this passage strike a chord with you? Are there days when you wake up and instead of saying, “Good morning, Lord!” you grumble, “Good Lord, morning!”?

 

Yes, work is often hard, even if your vocation or career is something you enjoy. Manual labor can be back-breaking; administrative and clerical work can be mentally taxing. Deadlines, budgets and other work demands can send us into a stress-filled tailspin. Nevertheless, the Bible tells us repeatedly that work – in whatever form it takes – is noble. And sacred.

 

In fact, 1 Corinthians 3:9 declares, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” And if we ever wonder what we can do to serve the Lord, Colossians 3:23-24 tells us one way is striving to do our jobs well: “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.”

 

King Solomon of Israel, author of the largely non-uplifting Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, did have some hopeful insights about work. After commenting about the frustrations of life, including the pursuits of pleasure and wealth, he observed, “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him – for this is his lot” (Ecclesiastes 5:18).

 

Solomon then reached a kind of good-news, bad-news conclusion: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom” (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

 

Clearly, our work is a way of serving God – and serving others. The grocery clerk working to earn money for college is stocking shelves where we find our canned goods, drinks and bread. The person in the nail salon also seeking a paycheck is helping some young woman look just right for her special evening. The road worker paving the street in the hot sun is helping to ensure we have a smooth drive – without potholes – to wherever we’re headed.

 

After God commanded the Israelites to construct an elaborate tabernacle for worship, He equipped certain individuals with all the abilities that would be needed. “He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as craftsmen, designers, embroiders in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers…” (Exodus 35:35).

In a similar manner, the Lord has gifted each of us with unique skills, talents and passions for fulfilling the calling He has place on our lives. As the title of a book written years ago by Doug Sherman and William Hendricks informs us, Your Work Matters to God. Maybe we need to be like Snow White’s seven dwarfs who, on their way to the mines, would sing, “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work we go.” 

Pros and Cons of ‘Professionals’ and ‘Amateurs’

The line between “professional” and “amateur” seems to be blurring, possibly on the brink of obliteration. Especially in the world of sports.

 

For example, we once looked upon the Summer and Winter Olympics as events in which athletes took part for the glory of representing their countries and competing with the best in their sports. Along with what ABC’s Wide World of Sports once called, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Except for travel expenses, room and board, and incidentals during their time at the events, the athletes competed as amateurs. Simply for the joy of it.

 

Now athletes arrive as paid professionals, competing not only for medals but also for prize winnings and a shot at lucrative product endorsement deals. They’ve already been paid for their time invested in training, so the once-hallowed term of “amateur” has virtually disappeared from the Olympic vocabulary.

 

The same is happening in college sports. With NIL (Name Image and Likeness) and now revenue-sharing with their respective colleges and universities, athletes in numerous sports are receiving substantial compensation for their participation. The simple privilege of competing for ‘dear ole alma mater’ is being overshadowed by dollar signs. To paraphrase Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” ‘Toto, we’re not in amateur land anymore.’

 

This isn’t to begrudge these talented athletes the right to be compensated for the many hours they spend training and practicing. Things have come a long way from when it had been forbidden to even buy a recruit an unauthorized hamburger, or offer financial assistance if a family emergency occurred. What I wonder about is the whole notion of amateurs vs. professionals. As someone has observed, “Remember – amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”

Particularly in the spiritual realm, we tend to exalt the ‘paid professionals’ and minimize the amateurs, those sometimes classified as ‘lay people.’ For years I was like many who regarded those holding titles like pastor, priest, minister, ‘the reverend,’ and missionaries as the elites in Christianity, the ‘Special Ops’ forces in God’s army. By comparison, everybody else was simply to hang their heads and mumble, “Well, I’m just a layman.”

 

In truth, however, the Bible never makes such a distinction. Yes, in the Old Testament we find the priests who were assigned duties as religious intermediaries, performing the daily and festival sacrifices. But even then, it was mostly common folks who were charged with much of God’s special work. 

 

Once sold into slavery by his own brothers, Joseph – a nobody – rose to prominence in Egypt and was instrumental in helping what would become known as the nation of Israel survive a severe famine. Then Moses, who survived the Egyptian pharaoh’s edict to kill all the male Jewish infants, was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery and into the Promised Land.

 

David wasn’t a stellar student in Hebrew school; he was a lowly shepherd boy. And yet the Lord handpicked him to become king of Israel. Many of the Old Testament prophets, like Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah, were ordinary individuals divinely selected to speak on behalf of the Lord.

 

Then in the New Testament, among Jesus’ personally selected disciples were fishermen, craftsmen, a despised tax collector, and even a political activist. Not a Pharisee, Sadducee, or religious leader in the bunch. All ‘amateurs,’ not ‘paid professionals.’ Yet those were the people the Lord called to carry on His work following His ascension to heaven, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

 

Why is this important? Because in the Scriptures we don’t see God entrusting His eternal work of reconciling men, women and children to Himself only to people with credentials from seminaries and theological institutions. When the apostle Paul wrote, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9), he wasn’t addressing religious leaders. He was exhorting people who carried out their everyday lives in ordinary, everyday ways.

 

We see this shown clearly in the book of Acts when the ‘nothing special’ disciples were being used by the Lord to touch lives in amazing ways. Acts 4:13 tells us, “When [the people] saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.” These ‘regular guys’ had one special thing in common: They'd been with Jesus.

 

This should be encouraging for each of us, knowing the Lord doesn’t use only people we’d regard as ‘paid professionals’ to carry out His mission. In fact, most of the time He doesn’t. We might hear powerful sermons on Sunday, watch stirring videos and read inspiring books by pastors and preachers. But most of the time the ones God desires to reach with the Gospel are folks that we ‘amateurs’ uniquely encounter during the process of everyday living.

 

When Paul wrote, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20), he had in mind men and women just like you and me. People who, by virtue of having become “new creations in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17) can boldly tell of having been with Jesus in life-transforming ways.

As one wag quipped, “Pastors, missionaries and other vocational Christian workers are paid to be good. The rest of us are good for nothing.” (Ha-ha.) But that’s good. Because much of God’s best work through the ages has been done through amateurs. And it’s no different today. 

The Privilege of Being a Participant in the Action

Suppose the coach of your favorite team were to call you out of the blue and invite you to meet with him (or her) and the staff to discuss preparations for the upcoming game. You’d be beyond shocked, right? But if the offer were genuine, you’d probably be highly honored to be asked to participate in the important strategy session.

Or what if the President of the United States, or the governor of your state, were to contact you and request that you meet personally to develop action steps for addressing issues of special interest to you – and you knew it was a serious offer, not a patronizing gesture? Again, you’d consider it a great honor to receive such an opportunity.

Years ago, many U.S. companies instituted a “participative management” strategy – some called it a “quality circle” – enabling frontline workers to take an active role in corporate decisions directly affecting how they did their jobs. In many cases, this approach had a very positive impact on both employee morale and productivity.

 

In reality, however, many of us feel that the likelihood of being included in such important actions is very low. Who wants us to be involved in what the “big shots” are doing, right?

 

Good news: Everyone who is a follower of Jesus Christ has in fact received such an invitation. It’s one that transcends the realm of athletics, government, business and any other earthly endeavor. What am I talking about? Read it for yourself: “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

 

Fellow workers with God? Sounds incredible, but it’s true. The Creator of the universe doesn’t operate solo. He wants His people to take part in the action, to serve as His arms and feet in accomplishing much of the work He intends to get done.

 

It all began in the opening chapter of Genesis, when the Lord delegated responsibilities to humankind. “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature…. I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food'” (Genesis 1:28-29).

 

Some theologians term this the “cultural mandate,” God’s directive for men and women to serve as faithful stewards of all He has created. So, when people engage in discussions about the environment, preserving the natural beauty of everything around us, and caring compassionately for both people and animals, we’re only pursuing the work the Lord has entrusted to us.

 

But there’s more: We all know that we’re finite beings with limited lifespans. As Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 states, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die….” An important question is, ‘Then what?’ We’re born, we live for a specific span of time, and we die. Then what?

 

The answer to this question is enfolded in another initiative the Lord has assigned to His followers: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

 

Jesus also addressed this in what is commonly referred to as His Great Commission, recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. Just before ascending to heaven, He instructed His disciples to “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

 

To serve as Christ’s ambassadors, to develop young believers into mature disciples who will reproduce themselves spiritually is a weighty responsibility. No doubt about that. But this has been happening for 2,000 years all around the globe, although it will never be reported on the evening news.

 

If this charge seems daunting, even overwhelming, we can take heart knowing the Lord hasn’t left us to fend for ourselves. He concluded His commission by offering the assurance that “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

 

In addition, Jesus said they could rely on the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, for wisdom, guidance and strength: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26).

 

Isn’t this amazing? We might never receive a phone call or text from a famous football coach enlisting our help in developing a game plan. A top elected official may never contact us to seek our counsel on important matters. The CEO of our company probably won’t invite us to a high-level planning session. 

 

But God, who created the earth and everything in it, not to mention the entire universe, wants to be His “fellow workers,” partnering with Him – having a part in the action of accomplishing His eternal purposes. Think about that!

Meeting Strangers Who Really Aren’t Strangers

Have you ever met someone and felt an almost immediate bond with them? It might have been their engaging smile, quick wit, or magnetic personality. But sometimes this bond occurs when you discover you’ve got something significant in common – perhaps you were both from the same part of the country; attended the same college; were members of the same profession; knew some of the same people; had vacationed in the same places; or shared common interests.

Whatever the link might be, it results in turning this “stranger” into an instant friend. No longer a stranger. Your lives may be different in many ways, but whatever your point of commonality is, it bridges those differences, allowing you to easily relate to one another on that basis alone.

 

This has happened to me many times t. I’ve met folks who share my fervor for the Ohio State Buckeyes; people who also grew up in my home state; fellow photographers; even those that enjoy the same restaurants. But this instant connection has occurred most often when I’ve discovered that he or she is a brother or sister in Jesus Christ.

 

I experienced this just two weeks ago, when I was invited to a meeting where I met a Christian business leader from Taiwan. I had known nothing about “Ben” before we met, but as we talked together, it was a source of joy to discover we shared a common devotion to the Lord.

 

This instant bond of faith has become most evident while traveling in other parts of the world, discovering that someone in Hungary, Germany, Italy, Jamaica, Venezuela, the Netherlands, El Salvador or Mexico worships and serves the same God that I do, even if they do so in a different language and worshipping in a different style, in keeping with their culture.

 

We see a wonderful example of this in the apostle Paul’s letter to followers of Christ in ancient Rome. He had never been there but knew about the bond of faith they had in common. In his introduction, Paul writes these words of encouragement:

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart…is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you” (Romans 1:8-10)

 

Clearly, even though they had not met in person – I bet Paul would have loved to have access to something like Skype or Zoom – their spiritual kinship was unmistakable. And he realized it would be even stronger when they could interact face to face. As he said, “I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong – that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Romans 1:11-12).

 

Later in this epistle Paul explained more specifically his intentions for traveling at last to Rome. He said with enthusiasm, “I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ” (Romans 15:29).

 

I think I understand what he meant by “the blessing of Christ,” at least in part. Whenever I’ve been able to spend time with fellow believers, I’ve not only been able to share some of what God has been teaching me, but also learned from them and gained a fuller appreciation of how God is working in geographic areas and cultures unlike my own. My sense of His majesty and power has been greatly expanded.

 

When Jesus commanded His followers to “Go into all the world and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19), I believe this was not just to evangelize people and help them come to saving faith. It was also to help those who have received the Lord’s saving grace to grow and “be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith,” as Paul stated.

We’re not called to live for God in isolation; He wants us to engage in ministry together, in whatever ways He sees fit.  Because, after all, “We are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). What greater, more profound bond could we have than this? 

Should We Just ‘Let Go and Let God’?

Should we just "let go and let God"?

There’s a school of thought that even if we believe in the Lord, we’ve got to work our heads off to accomplish what He wants to get done. “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me,” goes the mantra. Then there’s the opposite perspective that it’s totally up to Him; we have nothing to do with it. This view says, “Let go, and let God.” So which is it?

We could simply shrug and borrow the words of the King of Siam in “The King and I” and declare, “it is a puzzlement.” Or we could conclude, based on the Scriptures, that it’s a case not of either/or, but one of both/and. Writer and theologian J.I. Packer has stated it well, arguing for what amounts to a middle ground: “It’s not let go and let God – it’s trust God and get going.” 

Oswald Chambers offers a similar view in My Utmost for His Highest: “There are not three levels of spiritual life – worship, waiting, and work…. God’s idea is that the three should go together as one.” Later he writes, “We are not sent to do battle for God, but to be used by God in His battles.”

There are times when we have exhausted every resource, when we’ve run out of ideas for addressing a particular need or concern. At those times, we have no option but to let go and let God. There’s nothing more we can do, so we must trust Him to do what we cannot. However, at other times we worry about a certain matter and use that refrain as a cop-out. “I’ll just sit here on this stump and wait for the Lord to do something about it."

I’m in the process of writing a book. It’s taken some time to get it done, and admittedly there have been times I wished I could just step aside and let the Lord finish it. After all, it’s all about Him and people who have been faithfully serving Him for decades. However, God has given me the ability to write, a passion for the craft, and a gift for communicating His truth in practical ways. So I know this book has to be a partnership between Him and me.

Jesus said in John 15:5, “apart from Me you can do nothing,” so I realize that if I attempt to accomplish anything of eternal value without Him, I’m being more than foolish. At the same time, it was the apostle Paul, himself a very strong, determined fellow, who wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The Lord empowers us – gives us the capacity – to carry out the work He has entrusted to us.

Speaking on what motivated him, what drove him, to be so urgent and instant in proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ, Paul stated, “If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us…” (2 Corinthians 5:13-14).

So, as for “let go and let God,” sometimes we have no other alternative. Most of the time, however, He wants us join with Him in His work, because as the apostle declared in his first letter to the church in Corinth, “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9). 

There’s no place in the Lord’s workforce for the complacent or the inert. We all have a calling; we all have a job to do. But we must never forget that apart from Him, we can’t do anything that will matter for eternity.

Putting Emphasis in the Wrong Place?

“We expect results!” Have you ever heard someone say that? In the business world, it’s said by a boss, client, or investor. It’s expressed – or at least implied – in the sports world, by a manager bringing in a relief pitcher and a coach putting in a player off the bench. If you’re a consumer, if you don’t say it, at least you’re thinking it when you buy a new car or glitzy smartphone, or try a new diet. It’s about results.

We do live in a results-oriented world. We expect a lot of others – and might expect even more from ourselves. If we go to the gym, we want to become instantly fit and shed excess pounds immediately, if not sooner. Maybe that’s why so many people start physical fitness programs and then stop so quickly. They didn’t get the results they wanted.

In a marriage, we often do things with an expected return. Sensing some tension in the home, a husband decides to do a good deed for his wife or buy her flowers, candy or something else. He suspects that will salve any wounds – even if Clueless Clem doesn’t know what he did to cause them. But when the “easy fix” doesn’t come about, hubby gets frustrated. “What do you want from me?” he thinks. And if he actually utters those words, there’s more trouble coming, so he better zip his lip.

This is often the case spiritually as well. We spend a few minutes reading the Bible and expect to become instant spiritual giants, or pause a moment or two in deep, fervent prayer, and look for God’s fast-response team to arrive. But it doesn’t work that way. Spiritual growth isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect pursuit. If you see someone you really admire for their godliness and depth of faith, you can be assured that didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of much pain and strain, daily devotion, and perseverance during the hard times.

Results, after all, are greatly overrated. Even if you succeed today, whether it’s completing a presentation or winning a round of golf, you’ll have to prove yourself over again tomorrow. So it’s best to appreciate the small, incremental steps of progress when they occur, recognizing some days we soar and other days we barely limp along.

We can gain an important lesson from the world of vegetation. Not every seed we plant will germinate, and the expected growth may take much longer than anticipated. Nevertheless, the secret to success is simply pressing on. Novelist Robert Louis Stevenson made the wise observation, “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

A veteran farmer or skilled gardener understands that sometimes the crop will be bountiful, other times it won’t amount to much at all. And often they’re not in control of the outcome.

This holds true for us spiritually, as the Scriptures affirm. The apostle Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).

We have the privilege of participating in the work the Lord is doing in the world around us, but it’s not up to us to dictate outcomes or how quickly they come about. All we can do is our part – and remain patient. The results are up to Him.

Speaking to his disciples, Jesus offered the parable of the sower, telling about the farmer who went out sowing seed that fell on different types of soils. Some seeds fell on the path and were devoured by birds. Others fell on rocky ground and sprang up quickly, only to wither due to heat and lack of water. Still other seeds were choked out by thorns that overwhelmed them.

At that point the farmer could have thrown up his hands and declared, “What’s the use?!” Results expected but not realized. Yet the agricultural expert kept on sowing; seeds that fell onto good, fertile soil resulted in an abundant harvest.

There’s a good lesson in there for us. If we’re seeking to grow spiritually ourselves, not every worship service or conference we attend will be a sacred gold mine. Not every time we read the Bible will bring us “Wow!” or “Aha!” moments. If our desire is to see our children – or grandchildren – well-grounded in faith, we won’t observe dramatic results every time we interact with them. And if there’s a friend, or relative, or coworker we’re concerned about spiritually, we’re wise not to expect results. At least not immediately.

Most things that are really important take time. And nothing’s more important than someone’s relationship with God. A lifetime of faithfulness can’t be accomplished in a day, a week, or even a month. Because as Paul said, it’s God who makes things grow. He gives the increase.

So take Stevenson’s advice. Don't evaluate today by the harvest you’ll reap. Just worry about the seeds you plant. We never know which will take root and flourish.

Are You Willing to Be a ‘Fellow Worker’?

Have you ever tried to imagine what it would be like to work with someone you greatly admire?

Maybe you love motion pictures and think it would be fun to experience working alongside a legendary director like Stephen Spielberg or George Lucas. If you’re a baseball fan, and with spring training starting up, perhaps you think it would be cool to assist the manager of your favorite team. Or maybe you could suggest offensive plays to your team’s head football coach.

My wife’s a big fan of the HGTV show, “Fixer Upper,” so she’d get a big kick out of tagging along with Joanna Gaines sometime and pitching in as she does her designing thing. “Shiplap here, rip up the carpet there, put in hardwood floors, get rid of that popcorn ceiling!” I’ve thought it would be interesting to observe my cardiothoracic surgeon do open-heart surgery, maybe handing him a scalpel or clamp – just as long it was someone else, not me!

You can probably think of lots of other work-alongside scenarios; maybe shadowing a police detective investigating a high-profile crime, or accompanying a celebrated writer as she gathers material for her next novel. But let me suggest one that might not have occurred to you:

Working with God.

At first you might be wonder, “What are you talking about?!” But it’s not a suggestion – it’s a biblical declaration. Reading 1 Corinthians 3:9, we’re told directly, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

Lest we consider this a random statement taken out of context, we see the “fellow worker” concept presented elsewhere. Ephesians 2:10, for example, states, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The apostle Paul also writes, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing…. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 2:15-3:6).

I remember having lunch years ago with a friend, a financial planner, who suddenly blurted out, “I’d do anything to go full-time for God!” I looked him in the eyes and replied, “What makes you think you haven’t already done that?”

Noticing his surprise, I explained there’s no such thing as a part-time Christian (being born again isn’t a switch we can turn on and off), and we’re all called to serve God and His people. By definition, then, we’re all in “full-time Christian service,” whether that means vocational ministry – as in a church, a parachurch ministry, or some mission field – or employed in a so-called “secular” job.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, He entrusted His Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), to a small band of devoted followers, not to angels or even people who would have been in the “Who’s Who” of that day. Later Paul wrote to believers in the city of Corinth, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20). 

The Lord has lots of work to get done in this world, and He offers us the opportunity and privilege to be His “fellow workers”! The question is, are we willing to join Him?

Faith Doesn’t Come with Compartments

Compartments are usually good things. Cars have “glove compartments,” although hardly anyone uses them for storing gloves anymore. Now they’re holders for things like operator’s manuals – also something hardly anyone uses. And maps, which few people use – are we seeing a trend here? They keep receipts, a pen or pencil for those rare occasions when we need to physically write something, maybe a flashlight or first aid kit for emergencies.

Parents of toddlers utilize compartments to separate toys, clothing, crayons, diapers, and other essentials for retrieval at a moment’s notice. Purses come with compartments for wallets, checkbooks, cell phones, tissues, makeup, and anything else a woman might need for going to work, the supermarket, or mall.

Toolboxes have compartments for sorting things like tools, nails, screws, bolts and nuts. When engaged in a do-it-yourself project, you need to find what you need when you need it. (I don’t know much about this personally, but it’s what I’ve heard.)

Compartments are helpful in many ways. But not for living out one’s faith.

The Bible is packed with wisdom
for the contemporary workplace.

Unfortunately, that’s not how everyone sees it. A friend who works in a ministry to business and professional people bemoaned the fact that for many of them, when it comes to their faith and their work, the twain never meet. He wrote:

“I try to encourage and help my groups to integrate their faith in their businesses and within their spheres of influence in the marketplace. Unfortunately, they are very compartmentalized and are righteous on Sundays – and holy terrors the rest of the week.”

That’s a tough assessment – but experience and observation have shown me this is often the case. At one time, I was among those holding this attitude. I was growing in my faith, but clueless about how to relate what I heard on Sunday mornings to my work at the newspaper office on Monday (or any other time during the week).

I didn’t doubt the Bible was good for “the sweet by and by,” but was slow to realize it’s good for the nasty now and now as well. That’s one reason for my book, Business at Its Best: Timeless Wisdom from Proverbs for Today’s Workplace. Once I started reading a chapter of Proverbs as a daily practice, it became clear biblical principles apply not just to one’s personal life, but also for our professional life. It addresses common workplace topics like integrity, communication, decision-making, teamwork, honesty, anger, humility and pride, managing finances, finding direction, and many others.

My life verse comes from that book of wisdom: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

However, workplace wisdom comes from other parts of the Bible as well. My “career verse,” which inspired the name for my new writing/editing enterprise, ReadyWriter Ink, comes from Psalm 45:1, which states in part, “…I recite my composition concerning the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.”

1 Corinthians 3:9 says, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” Can you imagine being invited to co-labor with God in carrying out His work, the mission He has for His creation?

Many other passages are worth citing, but perhaps one verse sums up the imperative not to compartmentalize work from our faith. Colossians 3:23-24 exhorts, “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.”

We all have bosses. Even entrepreneurs owning their own companies are responsible to customers, clients and vendors. But I like to envision the boss’s office showcasing a nameplate that simply reads, “God.” He’s the one we should all be reporting to, ultimately.

Work Isn’t Just About Money

Like Little Boy Blue in this Rock City depiction,
many of us are taking today off work.

Today marks another Labor Day, when many of us opt to not labor. But not everyone, thank goodness.

Law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency and medical personnel, and the military will be working, because issues of safety, health and human well-being never take a holiday. We can all go to our favorite restaurants and retail stores as well, because eating and buying never seem to take the day off. For workers in those establishments, Labor Day’s just another day. If you spend the day at a theme park or a professional ball game, labor won’t be optional for the ticket sellers, concessionaires, ride operators and performers.

As for the rest of us, ranging from mail carriers to office workers to road construction crews, we can pause, enjoying a long weekend. It might be a time for revisiting the value of work, beyond getting a paycheck and covering our financial obligations.

We hear a lot these days about unemployment and underemployment, and they are serious concerns. Especially if you’re among the unemployed or underemployed. Being able to enjoy a day off from work means you have work from which to take a day off.

But Labor Day should be more than just a day for honoring workers. It should also be a day for celebrating work’s intrinsic value. Because it’s not a curse; it’s a blessing and part of our calling as men and women created in the image of God. The first chapter of Genesis describes how God worked, creating the entire universe and then narrowing His scope in creating the earth, everything in it, and finally His prize creation, humankind.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

But in making us His image bearers, God delegated some responsibilities to us: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it…. I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food’” (Genesis 1:28-29).

God wasn’t about to provide everything we needed on a silver platter. We would have to put forth the effort to gather it. After the Fall – the sinful disobedience of man – work because hard. But just because it’s difficult, sometimes a real pain, that doesn’t mean it’s not important in God’s scheme of things.

As the apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” In other words, for each of us the Lord has a divine “to-do list,” not to earn His love and favor, but to serve as the instruments for what He desires to accomplish – through us.

And as we do His work, God wants us to do it His way. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

There’s a line of thinking, even within evangelical churches, that “secular” work is somehow a necessary evil, a rung or two below that of a pastor, Bible teacher or missionary. However, the Scriptures don’t make such a distinction. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 3:9, Paul writes, “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” And he’s not directing his admonition to the clergy and seminary students.

Sadly, many people find work a relentless, distasteful grind, a way to put food on the table and keep bill collectors at bay, but nothing more. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all could find jobs we truly enjoyed? That’s a topic for another day perhaps, but recently I came across a quote from an old friend that might be helpful.

The last Charlie “Tremendous” Jones was an engaging, high-spirited motivational speaker who found a positive slant for almost everything. He offered this observation about the daily duties we call “work” or labor:

“Don’t try to get a better job; do a better job. Do a better job, and you’ll have a better job!”

Wise words. Rather than leaning over the fence or staring out the window, yearning for the “greener grass” on the other side and imagining what it could be like working somewhere else, it might make a great difference to fully commit to the jobs we have, do our best where we are, and then possibly discover what we have to do isn’t so bad after all.

And who knows? If we really do our jobs well, maybe someone will notice and reward us by offering an even better job. It’s not unprecedented. So, happy Labor Day!