Your Work has Value

The year was 1976.  I had been working for Westinghouse as a metallurgical engineer for almost three years.  Management was pleased with my performance and had encouraged me to continue my technical training.  Instead, I left the company and went to work for the local church we attended as the business administrator for both the church and its Christian school.  Why?  I felt (at that time) that the only way to truly serve God was to work in a full-time Christian ministry.  I believed that my work with Westinghouse held no “value” to God.  We will explore this further in this Weekly Insight.

Many of the ideas we’ll discuss in this Insight come from the book, God is at Work by Ken Eldred.  First, why did I think the way I did in 1976?  I believe I had fallen into the trap of improperly compartmentalizing work and faith.  You know what I mean.  I thought that work in the secular marketplace was a necessary obstacle that prevented me from engaging in truly valuable activities such as ministry, Bible study, fellowship, evangelism, prayer and missions.  My work at Westinghouse (so I thought then) failed to contain any eternal value.

By the way, I’m not alone in this twisted thinking.  Look at your church (and mine).  We routinely bring pastors and missionaries to the pulpit to celebrate their calling and highlight the nobility of their work.  When is the last time you saw a local entrepreneur asked to share about her calling to the business world, to express the challenge (and joy) of running her company on biblical principles and her service to customers by providing world-class products?  In my experience, the answer is—I’ve never seen it done.

But what is “work” anyway?  One view is that “work is the expenditure of energy (whether manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community and glory to God.”  In fact, the Hebrew root word avodah means “service” and we see it translated as both “work” and “worship” in the Bible.  Does that mean we can worship God through our work?  Can we find spiritual fulfillment in our daily work? 

I believe the answer is “yes.”  My occupation (and yours) can be one venue for exercising God’s calling on our lives (other venues include family, neighborhood, society, and congregation).   For Christians, God creates in you and me a desire to be someone (a child of God) and to do something (fulfill a need in the church or in the world).  In this sense, business people are called the same way as are engineers, homemakers, craftspersons, pastors and missionaries.

In 1979 I realized that my desire to serve God in the marketplace (and not full time in the church) was a legitimate desire.  He had gifted me in ways that allowed me to perform with excellence in a technical environment.  Later, I understood that He had also provided me with leadership insights that could be used to help people perform their work more effectively and efficiently.   My service to God could extend beyond the four walls of my church—into the marketplace. 

God’s View of Work

First, work is good.  We see it from the work of creation through the work that God assigned to Adam.  Yes, the Fall made work difficult (and sometimes painful); but work is still good.  Remember, Jesus spent most of His life working, most of the time as a carpenter.  He was identified in His society by His profession (“Isn’t this the carpenter?”-Mark 6:3).  Not only is work good, but work is mandated.  Adam was commanded to tend the garden.  Scripture is replete with references that call people to work (I Thess. 4:10-12, I Cor. 9:3-10, Eph. 6:5-9, I Cor. 10:31).

Work is also sacred.  As the authors state in God is at Work, “All work that honors God and fulfills His calling is sacred, and there is no hierarchy that puts one job above another.”  Our everyday work activity can advance the kingdom of God.  Our work provides a benefit to our fellow man.  We can demonstrate the love of Christ in word and deed through our work.   

Work is ministry.  Here the authors quote Dave Evans, co-founder of Electronic Arts, regarding three perspectives people have regarding work as ministry: 

• Ministry at work.  This is the common view that work itself is not ministry, but only certain byproducts of work (e.g., opportunities for evangelism) are seen as ministry.  But the biblical view of work goes much deeper.
• Ministry of work.  Our work has spiritual value that goes beyond any income we gain for supporting missionaries or opportunities for witness.  Our work itself is holy and ordained by God.  We serve others and glorify God through our service.
• Ministry to work.  As redeeming agents in the workplace, we are to be salt and light to the world (Matt. 5:13-16).  We can influence organizational structures, policies—the way the business operates.  We can work to redeem schools, governments, churches and businesses themselves.

In consideration of the above, should we not adopt a new paradigm that views work itself as ministry and God’s holy call on our lives?  Should we not view our work in the larger picture of God’s plans, serving Him and other through our work in the marketplace? 

I think we should.  Let’s go forth this week with the understanding that our work in the marketplace matters to God.  Your work has value.

 Keith

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