Labor Day – Not Just Another Day Off Work

Labor Day is next Monday, and many of us know what that means: College football season gets into full swing this weekend. Hooray! But as millions stream through the gates of collegiate stadiums across the country, and many more millions tune in to watch their favorite teams on TV, we’d do well not to forget the significance of the upcoming holiday itself. 

The history of Labor Day traces back to New York City on Sept. 5, 1882, where the Central Labor Union organized a parade. But it wasn’t until June 28, 1894, in response to strikes over unfair labor practices and public pressure during the Industrial Revolution, that President Grover Cleveland signed legislation to establish it as a national holiday. Its purpose was to celebrate historical achievements such as eight-hour workdays, free weekends, and safer working conditions.

 

Today, many people enjoy it primarily for extending the weekend. Some communities sponsor parades, while many folks plan backyard barbecues and picnics, and take advantage of retail sales events. 

 

Always observed on the first Monday of September, Labor Day deserves to be regarded as more than just another day away from labor. It should be a time for recognizing the intrinsic value of work, along with economic achievements that have helped to build our nation and lift the living standards of countless millions of workers and their families.

 

Sadly, it seems work has been devalued, especially in recent years. The COVID pandemic contributed to this, with millions of American workers either losing their jobs, being sent home to work remotely, or having their work hours drastically reduced as a consequence of shutdowns. But studies indicate the lowered prominence of work in society has persisted post-pandemic.

 

For instance, approximately seven million prime-age men (ages 25-54) reportedly are neither working nor seeking employment. This means adult male labor force participation has declined to below 67 percent, compared to 77 percent in the 1970s and the all-time high of nearly 87 percent in 1948. Numerous factors have contributed to this, but what’s most troubling is that millions of people – men and women – aren’t working, not because they can’t find work but rather because they choose not to work.

 

Some might wonder, ‘What’s the big deal?’ It’s a big deal for several reasons. Most important, work was established by God. The opening chapter of Genesis in the Old Testament, after describing how the Lord pursued His work of Creation, gives us what some theologians refer to as the “cultural mandate”:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness….’ 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 1:26-29).

 

God is a worker, and part of being made in His image is that men and women also are to be workers, tending to what He has created. Because of the original sin of Adam and Eve – “the Fall” – the Lord prescribed that work would become difficult. “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…” (Genesis 3:17-19).

 

Despite this, work through the centuries has retained a sense of purpose, even nobility. King Solomon 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).

 

Work also is a way of honoring God by wholeheartedly using the abilities and talents He has entrusted to us: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him…. 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” (Colossians 3:17,23-24).

 

A third important value of work is being able to employ our skills, gifts and experience to serve others. We take many forms of work for granted, but have you ever considered what it would be like if there were no one to perform them? 

 

We expect to walk into a clean restroom, but there must be someone to keep it clean. At a restaurant we rely on people to take our orders, serve our food, and clean off the tables when we leave so they’re ready for someone else. To fly anywhere safely requires hundreds of people, starting with the plane’s designers and manufacturers, maintenance crew to put fuel in and make necessary repairs, ticket agents, pilots and co-pilots, flight attendants, cabin cleaners, food preparers, air traffic controllers, and many others.

 

At times we might regard work as “a necessary evil,” but whatever kind of work we do, in one way or another we’re performing an important function for other people. As the apostle Peter wrote, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

 

Our foremost example is Jesus Christ. Before embarking on His earthly ministry, He was a craftsman. Ultimately, His work was to teach, heal the sick and disabled, feed the hungry, bring a handful of people back to life, and then die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus always had a clear understanding of why He had come: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

 

So, as you’re enjoying the Labor Day holiday, and perhaps assessing the first full weekend of college football, please don’t forget: God ordained work, He has equipped you with capabilities to do your work, and many people benefit from what you do. Happy Labor Day!

Pursuing Lofty Visions of Greatness in a Very Ordinary Life

Do you desire to do something great, something that people in your community, even around the world, will remember long after you are gone? You know, leaving some grand, indelible mark that will ensure your legacy for many years to come.

I wonder if great inventors like Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, or the Wright brothers had thoughts like that. Waking up one morning and thinking, “I know – I’m going to invent a light bulb (or a telephone, or a way for people to fly).” I kind of doubt that. Greatness is something that arrives without fanfare while someone’s in the midst of doing very ordinary things.

 

What about the great agricultural scientist George Washington Carver, who rose above slavery to develop techniques to counter soil depletion, discover more than 140 uses for the peanut, and become a college professor? Do you think he went to bed at night dreaming about how to achieve greatness? I think not. I suspect he recognized his calling, cultivated his passions, honed his skills, and along the way, became one of the most renowned scientists of his time.

 

One of the stark realities of everyday life is that it’s so daily, marked mostly with the mundane and rarely with anything spectacular. The legendary Helen Keller, who achieved much as an author, political activist and lecturer, despite being both deaf and blind, acknowledged this. She said, "I long to accomplish some great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." 

 

In a meditation in My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote, “We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us.”

 

Have you ever felt this way? No tickertape parade in your honor, no commendations, just the distinction of doing non-extraordinary work for little or no recognition? And yet, this is what God calls us to as His children. As Chambers also observed, “To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life.”

 

In one of His parables, talking about the importance of being faithful in undertaking responsibilities entrusted to us, Jesus declared, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much" (Luke 16:10). To me, the Lord is saying, “Do you long to be engaging in things great and important? First, prove yourself trustworthy in doing the small, ordinary things I’ve already given to you.”

 

Writing to believers in the ancient city of Colossae, the apostle Paul affirmed that workers or employees, whether doing small tasks or pursuing great projects, should always keep their ultimate “boss” in mind: “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23-24).

 

It's not about doing great things for God; it’s about the joy and privilege of a great God doing His work through us for His glory. That way, even if we have the opportunity to do something great and noteworthy, we know where the credit should really go.

Not ‘Just a Layman’

We all, to one extent or another, think about status. In school we see smarter, more studious classmates earning the lion’s share of recognition and rewards. High-performing athletes receive applause for their accomplishments. In the workplace, pay raises, bonuses and promotions are based at least in part on how we rank among our peers in the quality and quantity of our work.

Parents proudly display bumper stickers on vehicles to proclaim their children are honor students at such-and-such school. They watch and listen as their offspring perform at various functions – dance or instrumental recitals, athletic competitions, even spelling bees – and take note of their children’s standing compared to those of their friends.

We rate ourselves according to the cars we drive, houses we own, portfolios we accumulate, vacations we take, even places where we eat. We can equate much of what we do in terms of status – perceptions of who we are.

Where did we ever get the idea that legitimate
spiritual service must be confined to a
sanctuary or religious facility?

Life in the spiritual realm, I’ve noticed, can be very similar. I attended a Christian institution’s send-off for young people advancing to the next level in their academic climb. The speaker gave the customary challenge, encouraging them to lofty aspirations, suggesting roles such as pastors, missionaries, even business people – adding the latter can contribute financial resources to support various ministries.

I’m sure the speaker meant well, but it seemed implied that pastors and missionaries – those engaged in vocational ministry roles – rank as the elite in the institutional church realm. They are holders of the greatest status. Everyone else, as a business friend described himself to me years ago, is “just a layman.”

That perception lacks biblical support, however. Years ago we attended a church where at the close of the worship service, people regularly walked forward to declare their commitment to “full-time Christian service.” This always confused me, since there is no such thing as a part-time follower of Jesus Christ (either you are or you aren’t), and as His followers we’re each called to serve God and other people. Sure sounds like full-time Christian service to me.

Yes, I know these fine people meant they were determined to give their lives to pursuits such as preaching, working full-time with specific segments of the congregation, or expressing their willingness to venture to a foreign land, live in an alien culture and learn to speak an unfamiliar language, all in the name of telling other people about Jesus.

There’s nothing wrong with any of those things. What troubles me is the perception that if you’ve not done any of those, you’re somehow a second-class citizen in God’s kingdom.

I remember having lunch with a business executive who told me, “I’d do anything to go full-time for God.” Looking him in the eyes, I asked, “Why do you think you haven’t already done that?”

A good friend works with business owners and top executives, meeting with them monthly to encourage them to live their lives and conduct their businesses in a manner that honors God and upholds the truths, values and principles of the Scriptures. To remind them that as business people, they have a high calling from God to serve their customers, employees and suppliers in His name, my friend gives each leader a little sign they can affix to the inside of their office doors. Walking out they can read, “You are now entering the mission field.”

Somehow we’ve been seduced by the notion that if you’re really serious about God, you need to attend a seminary, get a degree, and then have people refer to you “the reverend” or “pastor” or “sister.” I once thought that myself, and appreciate people that qualify for such titles, but the Bible doesn’t make this distinction. For His closest followers, Jesus chose lowly fishermen, tradesmen, even a despised tax collector. The author of one gospel, Luke, was a physician, not a clergyman. None of them attended Jerusalem Theological Seminary, nor did any hold diplomas from Bethlehem Bible College.

Jesus told His followers, “...let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). That exhortation meant any good works, not only those performed in a religious context.

Later, the apostle Paul wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men…. It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:23-24). Again, he didn’t offer these remarks at a graduation of seminarians or commissioning ceremony for foreign missionaries; he was writing to every follower of Jesus in the ancient city of Colossae.

So next time you’re tempted to spiritually demean your vocational role, whether as a teacher, engineer, grocery clerk, corporate executive, burger flipper or business manager, and the thought, “I’m just a layman,” crosses your mind, remember: You – and every worker that professes the name of Jesus Christ – are in full-time Christian service!