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Back to School Resource Guide
What Does the Gospel Have to Say About Your Work?
What Is Work?
To see how the gospel informs our work, we begin with a definition of work. Then we can see how work connects to God’s nature and his gospel. David Miller defined work as “a sustained exercise of strength and skill that overcomes obstacles to produce or accomplish something.”1 We can put forth great effort, but by this definition, it is not work unless we persevere and work through obstacles to reach a goal. It also means work is a broader category than a job. Employed workers receive compensation, but all sustained, focused labor is work. That may include child-care, landscaping, gardening, and other volunteer activities.
God Works
Humans work because God works, and he made us in his image. We are creative because the Creator formed us in his likeness. Humans cannot create out of nothing, as God did, but we are creative when we discover and utilize the riches of the earth—its iron, silicon, wood, and soil. We follow the Lord whenever we develop, sustain, and protect his world. Likewise, our desire to fix what is broken and to redeem what could be lost echoes God's intention to redeem his fallen creation. When we make and accomplish plans, we follow the one who planned and accomplished redemption.
After the fall, we battle thorns and thistles, pests and power outages. We complete our tasks despite opposition. When we sweat, when we face irrational opposition, we walk with Jesus. His work brought him unique pains and anguish, but anyone who attempts to undo the effects of sin will face resistance. If we hope to show the gospel at work and try to follow God’s will in our labor, we must be willing to suffer for it—as Jesus did.
ESV Applying the Gospel Study Bible for Men
Featuring gospel-centered study notes, daily devotionals by bestselling authors, and engaging book introductions, this Bible is designed to help men discover Christ in Scripture and apply the gospel to their everyday lives.
Creation
To see how the gospel shapes our work, we must understand God’s original plan for work and see how we have fallen short of it. First, humans work because God works and he made us in his image. The Lord created all things, therefore we are creative (Gen. 1–2). He sustains all that is good and sets out to solve our greatest problem—sin. Therefore he requires us to guard and develop his creation and to heal it if we can. Since he commissioned Adam to work before he fell, we can affirm that work is intrinsically good. After the fall, work is burdensome, but it is still intrinsically good in itself (Gen. 1:26; 2:15).
The Lord worked six days and rested one and that sets a pattern for humanity. The Lord said, “Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath. . . . On it you shall not do any work” (Ex. 20:9–10). His pattern of work and rest should prevent the two most common mistakes: constant toil and sloth. God corrects both the workaholic and the sluggard. He tells us to work six days, then stop working. The Lord worked six days, then stopped and appraised the results. We should do the same: work, then rest, and then consider the result. The workaholic wants to protect himself from harm or make a name for himself. The sluggard forgets that the Lord’s work liberates us to work well, performing the good works he prepared for us (Eph. 2:10, Phil. 2:12).
We follow the Lord when we discipline ourselves to work six days and then rest one. After Jesus’s resurrection, we celebrate his work by beginning each week with rest. Therefore, let us not divide our schedule into the work week and the weekend. Believers begin each week by giving thanks for Jesus’s work of salvation and by resting in him.
The Fall
After Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the ground. Work became toilsome. Today the ground yields thorns and weeds. We endure biological bugs and computer bugs; we also detect design flaws that look like bugs until we realize they are features. Chaos and entropy afflict the known universe. Sin scars all human activities (Gen. 3:17; Rom. 8:18–23). Since Babylon, our communication is full of misunderstanding. Every job has sorrows and has to take out some kind of garbage.
Labor is now mandatory required for survival, since the earth does not offer up finished food, clothing, or shelter. We work to live. Paul says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10) and “If anyone does not provide for his relatives . . . [he] is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). To be sure, the sick, the young, and the aged may be unable or unwilling to work, but every society depends on its productive labor. Work has both individual and corporate aspects. The world is complex, so we must specialize and collaborate to survive, but collaboration is fraught because team members readily become rivals, as each strives for status, wealth, or power.
Scripture shows that work shapes our identity. We see this when the Bible identifies people by their work. In Nazareth, Jesus is called “the carpenter” (Mark 6:3); elsewhere he is a prophet or rabbi. Scripture also identifies people as fishermen, soldiers, merchants, tax collectors, and governors. There is even a “seller of purple goods” (Acts 16:14). What we do at work at least suggests who we are in the social order. Our work shapes the world and it also shapes us. It demands that we gain certain skills and form necessary habits.
Fallen humans also labor to make a name for themselves (Gen. 11). Rabbis hoped to be revered as “fathers” (Matt. 23:1–12). Nebuchadnezzar boasted, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power . . . for the glory of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:30). Others hoard wealth for themselves, so they can eat, drink, and be merry, forgetting that their wealth came from God’s fertile earth (Luke 12:13–21).
To summarize, God establishes our identity by making us in his image and adopting
believers into his family, but our work defines us to a lesser degree.
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Work and the Gospel
Even Jesus could grow weary as he worked, whether from physical exhaustion (Matt. 8:23–25) or from dismay at the dullness of his hearers (Mark 8:14–21), but at heart he loved his assignment—to completion the salvation of God’s people. John 4 describes a day when Jesus was weary (John 4:6). Yet he continued his messianic work, teaching and redeeming Samaritans. When the disciples, knowing that Jesus was hungry, asked him to eat, he replied, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). That is, his work could weary him, but as he looked to its conclusion, it strengthened him. On the cross, as he died, Jesus exulted, “It is finished,” for he had completed the work the Father gave him to do (John 19:30).
Jesus’s work saves us; our labors do not. Jesus secures our life and significance, now and forever. It is vanity to toil for security or fame (Ps. 127:1–3). Although believers do not labor to gain salvation by work, our work does matter. When we trust God (Ps. 62:5–8), it shapes the course of our life. The Lord sees that and he “will render to a man according to his work (Ps. 62:12). That is not salvation by works, it is salvation by faith, followed by works that are the normal fruit of faith. United to Jesus by faith, we become instruments of righteousness throughout life, including our work.
Once Jesus completes the work of redemption, he liberates us to work for him, his cause, and his people, so that we need not toil for fame, wealth, or glory. It is enough to be a member of God’s family. And yet, beyond that, Jesus bestows gifts for service. It is a pleasure to use them, to grow in them, and see them bear fruit, but it is also sanctifying. Beholding the amazing gifts of others, we break with pride and try to outdo one another in giving honor to our neighbors. Jesus also said gifts bring responsibilities: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48). That is, if God gives much to us, he expects much from us. Our life, our native capacities, mentors, and experiences are from the Lord. He expects a good return on his investment, although it is not burdensome.
The Work of the Redeemed
The Lord distributes various abilities to all his people and our first task is to exercise whatever talents he bestows. The parable of the talents suggests that he grants more to some, but everyone can hear the commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:14–30). The Lord wants our effort; he also looks for fruit (Isa. 32:1–8; John 15). The body need every gift (1 Cor. 12:21–26), but we should also exercise strategic gifts, as God defines them, whenever possible. Every society has ideas about high and low status work, but the Lord respects all work that promotes the common good (1 Cor. 12:7).
Many jobs are a result of the fall, but work that reverses the effects of sin is valuable. Remember, Jesus’s saving redemption “merely” undoes the effects of sin. In a fallen world we need soldiers, surgeons, law enforcement, and regulators. Whatever we do, we can work “heartily, as for the Lord” (Col. 3:23), even on tasks that follow the fall. We need garbage collectors and hospice workers; their work has dignity.
Many jobs are a result of the fall, but work that reverses the effects of sin is valuable.
Scripture certainly honors the calling to preach, teach, and lead the church, but God calls every disciple to full-time service. We should not label honest callings “sacred” or “secular.” Faithful farmers, miners, pastors, manufacturers, engineers, teachers, cooks, and drivers have the same ability to please God. All honest work lets us pray “Your kingdom come; your will be done” (Matt. 6:10).
Everyone has a capacity to transform their corner of the world. Let no one say, “I just” as in, “I just chop salads” or “I just approve loans” or “I just take care of my children.” Parents care for a life that will go on forever, whether for weal or for woe. By God’s grace, following God’s Word, anyone can make a difference in their sphere. Some—like Moses, Ezra, and Daniel—have am strategic role. Every believer should search for biblical principles that guide their work. Some have a strategic position that gives them the ability to form teams and deploy resources for the common good. But all agents of change face resistance and almost every effort at reformation falters due to ignorance or opposition. Still, God’s people persevere if they are confident that their cause is God’s cause.
Many Christians fret that they cannot find their true vocation. In that case, we can distinguish a job that provides for our needs and a vocation where we feel the Lord’s smile. Jesus worked with wood and stone and Paul made tents; that was their job. They had different callings, even if they earned nothing. If our job is not our calling, we can volunteer to work in our calling; we can also seek another job.
The Lord assigns both our gifts and our places of work, yet believers can move. Paul asks, “Were you a slave when called?” He replies, “Do not be concerned about it.” But Paul also tells slaves to “gain your freedom” if they can do so (1 Cor. 7:17–24). That means God assigns roles or callings, yet we may leave a calling if that lets us provide for our family, promote justice, meet human needs, or improve our lot in life.
Whatever our place may be, we can become the hands of God by our work. People ask for daily bread and God grants it through farmers, bakers, and grocers. They pray for clothing and shelter, and he gives us shepherds, cotton farmers, and construction teams. Human service often goes unseen (Matt. 25:31–46), like all the technicians and managers at a concert or a drama, but the Lord sees, knows, and rewards us.
Above all, Christians should see creative work shows that God, the Creator, formed us in his image. We recognize that Jesus was the best worker. His redemption represented “a sustained exercise of strength and skill.” Throughout, he overcame obstacles to accomplish something great—our salvation. Today, the Spirit renews believers so that our work is ever more godly, increasingly resembles his, as we toil or suffer or rejoice, as we love God and our neighbors by our labor.
Notes:
- David Miller, God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement (Oxford University Press, 2007), 19. Childcare illustrates the work/employment issue. Parents and childcare workers both change diapers, so both parties labor, whether they receive payment or not.
This article is by Dan Doriani and is adapted from the ESV Applying the Gospel Study Bible for Men.
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