Hey Everyone,
Just thought I’d take a few minutes to drop a few lines at the end of the workweek. Did anyone else feel like this week was overly crazy?!? I don’t know if it’s just because it’s the summer or what, but work for me lately has been a mixture of stress, chaos, and worklists. Just when I’m about to explode, it’s Friday and time for a brief reprieve before it starts again on Monday.
The “in” thing right now is to blame the Economy. My company, like many companies across the country, has had to make some difficult decisions financially and the resulting layoffs ultimately mean that most of us are asked to “do more with less” or, at the least, pick up and help carry the workload left behind by former co-workers. I’ll be honest: I’m burnt out. There are days when I wake up so tempted to call in “sick”, but I know that doing so would be lying and “I don’t feel like coming in to work today” doesn’t seem like it would be too well received. So, just like every other day, I put on my suit and tie and head off to Corporate America, with hopes that today won’t be too much worse than yesterday.
Lately, I’ve been wrestling with the spiritual implications of these feelings and frustrations. As a Christian, how should we respond in times like this? Am I in sin by feeling this way? Does being burnt out mean that I’m ungrateful for this great job that God has provided for me to do? Have I even any right to have a say in the matter at all, or should I just continue laboring each day? Is this where God wants me to be? If so, then why do I feel this way?
In uncertain times, it can be incredibly tempting to focus on what we don’t know and allow floods of doubt and fear to drown out any hope for light in the midst of gloom. Yet, I would submit that it’s in these times that we ought to focus on what we do know, particularly with regards to work. So, towards this end, and for as much my benefit as yours, this post will be Part 1 in a short series called “What We Know about Work”. I’ll do my best to update each part quickly, but realize that most of my time for this late at night, when coherency and literary skill are often at odds with one another.
So, without further ado, here is “What We Know about Work, Part 1″
Work is not the enemy. There’s a mistaken view among believers that work is a consequence of sin, i.e. The Fall. This idea suggests that work is a punishment that we all inherited from Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden. However, this is not true. Work existed before the Fall. In Genesis 2:2, we’re told that God rested from the work he had been doing, so obviously if God worked, then work cannot be sin. Also, God gives Adam a job: naming the animals (Gen 2:19) and even commands him to “fill the earth and subdue it…” (Gen 1:28), which is not by watching TV and playing video games all day. Also, the Bible contains much instruction on work (more on this later), so if work was bad, we would expect to see much teaching against it instead.
The Hebrew word used of God’s work in Genesis 2:2 occurrs numerous times in the KJV based on a search at BlueLetterBible.org. Here are a few examples:
- Exodus 20:9 ~ “Six days you shall labor and do all your work….”
- Exodus 31:3 ~ God had filled Bezalel with special knowledge to work on the Tabernacle.
- 1 Kings 11:28 ~ Solomon notices that Jeroboam is a good worker.
- Jer 48:10 ~ Cursed is the one who does the Lord’s work negligently…”
- John 9:4 ~ Jesus said, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.”
- John 17:4 ~ Jesus prays, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
- 1 Cor 3:14 ~ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.
- 1 Cor 15:58 ~ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not {in} vain in the Lord.
- Col 3:17 ~ Whatever you do in word or deed, {do} all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
There are tons more references to “work” and “doing God’s work” and “working hard” all throughout scripture, so we cannot, even for a bit, conclude that work is evil, work is sin, or work is somehow punishment, especially since we see Christ himself referring to his food as “doing the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34)
So the first thing we know about work is that work itself is not the issue. In fact, scripture tells us repeatedly that work is connected to our walk with God. The OT wisdom literature (esp. Proverbs & Ecclesiastes) uses the character of the “sluggard” as an example of what to avoid. One thing is clear: we are all supposed to work, whether that’s in a boardroom or in a laundry room, whether on Wall Street or Main Street or even down a dirt road. Work is part of our lives for a reason.
Having beaten this dead horse to a pulp, we’re left now with new questions: Why work? How should we work? Where should we work?
Hope you’ll stick around for the rest of this journey in the weeks to come….
