Our abilities, whatever they may be, are God-given.
Our work, no matter what we do, matters to God.
Our jobs, well done, show our love for others.
Our beliefs impact our work practices.
Our view of God orders our view of work.
Our work works best when we follow Genesis Law.
You want job satisfaction? Go to church, commit to a local church, be involved in that church. So says the study from Baylor University.
It seems Job Satisfaction begins with God Appreciation.
So, either we serve work and work becomes a god, or we serve God, and work becomes our service to God.
In a creation myth contemporary to Genesis (the Enuma Elish), humans are created to serve the gods and
therefore to serve work. Here are the direct results of serving work:
- If we worship the creation we end up worshiping ourselves (Deut 4:15-19)
- Dictatorships develop to serve those who rule: production trumps personhood.
- Tyrants care more for things than people: materialism, pragmatism, consumerism result
- Slavery is the end result of a culture which elevates things over people
- When things matter most, work becomes tedious, boring, monotonous, and unfulfilling
Genesis was written after Israel came out of Egypt, just before they entered Canaan. God’s people would encounter many different views of life. God wanted to establish His view of life for His people. Many mythical stories of creation exist. God’s intention in Genesis is to tell the historical events establishing a distinctive message from the others.
In Genesis, God gives all good things in life to humans, including their vocation, calling, their work.
- We mirror God’s work: craftsman, artisan, gardener, designer, zoologist, potter, builder (Gen 2:2, 7, 8, 9, 18, 19, 22)
- God makes everything: Work given as a gift (Gen 2.5, 15)
- The words used for “create/make” used of God and us. Our work replicates God’s work (Gen 2.15, 18-19)
- God established principles for His world (Ps 33:9; 119:91; 148:6). Work is for our benefit.
- God gives work as a gift. Work is good (Ecc 2:18-23 vs 2:24-26).
In a practical sense, nothing has changed since Genesis. Here are some questions to ask:
- What do the words “values” and “virtues” tell us about our mission at work?
- How are the cultural ethics of work different than the Christian view of work?
- How should we treat people as “people” at work instead of “resources?”
- How should we treat problems as “problems” to be overcome instead of placing blame?
- Why should the “bottom line” of profit include the “bottom line” of people?
So, do you want “job satisfaction”? Connect work to church to God.
Mark has been teaching the phrase “vocation IS ministry” since teaching teenagers in high school. All vocations are important for the believer because God has given understanding of His world through those vocations (Is 28:23-29). Dr. Mark Eckel now shares these insights with students at Capital Seminary & Graduate School. Entries here over the next weeks are based on an adult class Mark’s pastors asked him to teach at Crossroads Community Church, Fishers, IN.
So wait–you mean our relationship with Christ should permeate every aspect of our lives, even work, and not just at church or on Sundays?
Novel idea. 😉
Thank you for this article, Dr. Eckel. Your teaching in Old Testament Survey and in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes taught me the value of work and how it is a gift from God. This understanding of work gives our work and our time used working value and meaning. It also makes work much more enjoyable and pushes us to excel, because we want to live lives pleasing to God. Furthermore, that work is a gift from God should make us value and appreciate work, not hate it.
There’s a song by Blink 182 called “All the Small Things”. One line in there is: “Work sucks–I know.” This is the mindset many people have, and it was the mindset I had until I was taught that work is something God-honoring, a gift. We’re conditioned to think this way because of the world–the world is permeated with sinfulness and laziness. Yet even before the Fall there was work, and in the new heavens and new earth there will be work. But it will not be TOIL. It will not be painful. Some work requires us to sit a lot–and we gain weight. Other work demands a lot of physical power from our bodies–and we injure our backs. But not so in the new heavens and new earth, praise the LORD. Work has simply been tainted by the Fall–it is not a product of the Fall. And I am glad for this new mindset. It puts work into the right perspective for me…
Even flipping burgers is glorifying to God–both eyes on Him.
Dr E, In the midst of a difficult season, thanks for the reminder that work was intended to be a gift.
Shalom