What makes work Christian?

J. D. Greear in a recent 9Marks article:

Many Christians think that you just can’t serve the kingdom of God at work, and that kingdom work happens “after hours”—volunteering at the church nursery, attending small group, going on a mission trip, serving at the soup kitchen. Our work is a necessity that must be endured to put bread on the table. God’s interest in the fruit of our labors is primarily that we tithe off of it.

The Bible offers quite a different perspective. Scripture teaches us how to serve God through our work, not just after work. The Bible speaks clear and radical words to people in the workplace, showing us that even the most menial of jobs has an essential role in the mission of God.

In fact, it is surely not coincidental that most of the parables that Jesus told had a workplace context, and that of the forty miracles recorded in the book of Acts, thirty-nine of them occurred outside of a church setting. The God of the Bible seems as concerned with displaying his power outside the walls of the church as he does within it.

I want to suggest five qualities that make work “Christian.” By “Christian” in this context I mean “done through faith in Jesus Christ.” Therefore, work that is Christian will have five qualities: (1) creation-fulfilling, (2) excellence-pursuing, (3) holiness-reflecting, (4) redemption-displaying, and (5) mission-advancing.

Christians need to think seriously and biblically about work.  Reading this article will help you do that.

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Jesus first 30 years: boring but not wasted

For the first 30 years of his life, Jesus was boring. He was an unknown carpenter who wasn’t doing “big” things for God. He worked alongside his dad, using his hands to shape, shave, and tack together pieces of wood. He quietly studied the scriptures, and grew in stature with God and men. He didn’t have a public ministry. He didn’t write any books, go on a conference tour, adopt an orphan, give away 75% of his income, or go on multiple missions trips. He loved the Lord with all his heart, honored his mother and father, and quietly went about his work.

Was Jesus wasting his life? Absolutely not. He was doing exactly what God had called him to do. As his hands ran over rough planks of wood, he was quietly earning our salvation. Jesus, the lowly carpenter, the furniture maker, was as radical as they come. And for thirty years he was quiet.

You don’t have to leave home to be crazy on fire for the Lord. Jesus spent his first thirty years simply working and obeying. This tells me that it’s possible to be radical while changing diapers, or creating spreadsheets, or plowing snow, or doing whatever mundane task you are called to. For the Christian, there is no such thing as insignificant work.

Being radical for Jesus means obeying Jesus, loving Jesus, and proclaiming Jesus wherever we are, whether that’s in the mission fields of Cambodia or behind the counter at Starbucks.

–Stephen Altrogge in “Jesus Spent 30 Years Being Boring”

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Grace for the monotonous routines

Andre Yee:

How do we glorify God when engaged in the repetitive work that seems to be completely devoid of creativity? How do we glorify God when we’re cleaning out our email inbox or filing paperwork? . . .

He provides one answer in this post that deals with grace at work but which can be applied to mothering as well as studying in school:

We desperately need new eyes and hearts for the monotonous aspects of our daily work. We need new eyes to see our work in light of God’s mandate to Adam and Eve to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). Martin Luther had eyes to see this. He wrote, “when a maid milks the cows (repetitive monotony) or a hired man hoes the field (repetitive monotony) — provided that they are believers, namely, that they conclude that this kind of life is pleasing to God and was instituted by God — they serve God.”

This carries over into the office.

We are called to shape the world we live in, to bring order to it. And in the modern world this may take the look and feel of organizing paperwork, filing reports, and cleaning our desks. When we carry out these monotonous tasks with joy, we exercise order in a world rendered disorderly by sin, and we reflect the faithfulness of our Father. We are God’s agents in tending this world that we live in.

We must trust God for the joy and strength required to do this work well. Some jobs are simply boring, and as a result they are hard jobs to face every day. And so we need strength — I would argue we need more strength for the monotonous tasks than for the creative work.

But here’s the good news — “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). God can and will give us joy and strength for the work he’s called us to do. Even the non-creative stuff.

Read all of “Grace for Monotonous Work”.

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A true hero: just doing my job

Ben Johnson reports at LifeSiteNews.com:

When Family Research Council employee Leo Johnson braved three bullets to stop a hate-filled homosexual activist from committing a mass murder, he did not expect to receive an award. But that’s exactly what happened to sustained, enthusiastic applause at this weekend’s Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C.

“During that fateful day,” Mr. Johnson told the gathering, ”and I think about it a lot, there’s no other place I’d rather have been than right there where I was. . . . Thank you — and I will be back.”

HT: Pearcey Report

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Work matters!

Here are some recommended resources as we think Christianly about work!

• Sue Bohlin, “Your Work Matters to God”
• Josh Etter, “12 Ways to Glorify God at Work”
• Greg Herrick, “The Teaching of Proverbs on Work”
• John MacArthur, “A Theology of Work”
• John MacArthur, “Work, a Noble Duty” (Pt 1 | Pt 2 | Pt 3)
• Lance Quinn, “Work Hard and Don’t Be Lazy!”
• Leland Ryken, “The Original Puritan Work Ethic”
• Bob Thune, “A Theology of Work” (series of four articles)

HT: Terry Enns

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Proverbs: Teaching your children to work

Chris Braun shares six nuggets from Proverbs 6:6-9 for instilling a hard work ethic in your children:

1. Read Proverbs together
2. Set an ant-like example
3. Acquire a taste for work
4. No need to move a mountain; just carry a crumb
5. Fear laziness
6. Work together

Read this short, helpful post here.

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The fruit of the Spirit and your work this week!

Matt Perman makes some application I have not thought about much at all:  applying the fruit of the Spirit this week at your job! He begins:

So, in what areas of life are we to manifest the fruit of the Spirit? Just at church?

We are to manifest the fruit of the Spirit in all areas of life.

We so easily miss that. It’s easy to think of the fruit of the Spirit and other Christian virtues as applying to some abstract realm, rather than being the character qualities we are to manifest every day, in all areas of life — which includes our work.

The fruit of the Spirit, in fact, have a massive application in our daily work, if you think about it.

For example, the first fruit of the Spirit is “love.” How does this apply at work? It means. . .

Really worth reading the rest. . . 

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30 ways to engage others in your workplace

Josh Reeves:

…I have compiled 30 ideas for engaging people in your workplace. The workplace is an everyday context where many people spend the majority of their time. It is important for us to know what it looks like to bring gospel intentionality to our jobs. Hopefully this will help spark a few ideas for connecting with and blessing your coworkers.

1. Instead of eating lunch alone, intentionally eat with other co-workers and learn their story.

2. Get to work early so you can spend some time praying for your co-workers and the day ahead.

3. Make it a daily priority to speak or write encouragement when someone does good work.

4. Bring extra snacks when you make your lunch to give away to others.

5. Bring breakfast (donuts, burritos, cereal, etc.) once a month for everyone in your department.

6. Organize a running/walking group in the before or after work.

7. Have your missional community/small group bring lunch to your workplace once a month.

8. Create a regular time to invite coworkers over or out for drinks.

9. Make a list of your co-workers birthdays and find a way to bless everyone on their birthday.

10. Organize and throw office parties as appropriate to your job.

11. Make every effort to avoid gossip in the office. Be a voice of thanksgiving not complaining.

12. Find others that live near you and create a car pool.

13. Offer to throw a shower for a co-worker who is having a baby.

14. Offer to cover for a co-worker who needs off for something.

15. Start a regular lunch out with co-workers (don’t be selective on the invites).

16. Organize a weekly/monthly pot luck to make lunch a bit more exciting.

17. Ask someone who others typically ignore if you can grab them a soda/coffee while you’re out.

18. Be the first person to greet and welcome new people.

19. Make every effort to know the names of co-workers and clients along with their families.

20. Visit coworkers when they are in the hospital.

21. Bring sodas or work appropriate drinks to keep in your break room for coworkers to enjoy. Know what your co-workers like.

22. Go out of your way to talk to your janitors and cleaning people who most people overlook.

23. Find out your co-workers favorite music and make a playlist that includes as much as you can (if suitable for work).

24. Invite your co-workers in to the service projects you are already involved in.

25. Start/join a city league team with your co-workers.

26. Organize a weekly co-working group for local entrepreneurs at a local coffee shop.

27. Start a small business that will bless your community and create space for mission.

28. Work hard to reconcile co-workers who are fighting with one another.

29. Keep small candy, gum, or little snacks around to offer to others during a long day.

30. Lead the charge in organizing others to help co-workers in need.

(HT: Z)

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12 Ways to Glorify God at Work

It’s Monday–the start of the work week and Josh Etter gets us off on the right foot as he reminds us of different ways we can glorify God this week!  He writes:

“Mark Twain once said, “Work is a necessary evil to be avoided.” Although there may be days when we feel like he got it right, we know God has ordained work as a stewardship of his created world (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). He has designed work for his glory and our good. But how might we glorify God at work? This list is not exhaustive, but here’s at least 12 ways —

1. Believe that all legitimate work is holy or unholy before God based on our faith, not the nature of the work itself.

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).

2. Be just and honest in all your dealings with money.

A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is his delight (Proverbs 11:1)

3. Be prayerfully dependent upon God, pouring contempt on self-sufficiency.

Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain (Psalms 127:1).

4. Use the wages earned by your work to provide for and bless others.

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1Timothy 5:8).

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need (Ephesians 4:28).

5. Grow in your skill-set, work hard, and strive for excellence.

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men (Proverbs 22:29).

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty (Proverbs 14:23).

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

6. Exemplify love for your neighbor in how you interact with your colleagues.

Let all that you do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:14).

7. Plan ahead and sincerely preface future tasks with “if God wills.”

Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house (Proverbs 24:27).

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15)

8. Speak the gospel to your colleagues.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).

9. Work as unto the Lord and as unto men.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ (Colossians 3:23-24).

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust (1 Peter 2:18 ).

10. Focus on the work you’ve been given.

Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty (Proverbs 28:19).

11. Speak words of grace.

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear (Ephesians 4:29)

12. Rest in your justification by faith alone in Christ alone.

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).

Thanks, Josh for this helpful list!

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Hope for today 05.19.11

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. ” (Colossians 3:23–24, ESV)

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