Issues & Answers
Work is the
first recorded act of God (Genesis 1:1-15) as well as the first
work/life balance initiative (resting on the seventh day). Therefore, legitimate work is good, reflecting
the activity and goodness of God (Psalm 25:8; Ephesians 4:28). In Genesis 1:31 God declares His work result “very good,”
denoting work is productive, pleasurable and a quality exercise resulting in
both honor and satisfaction.
Psalm 19 says that God reveals Himself to the
world by His work, His existence and character made known to every individual
including motivations, skills, abilities, and personality traits. Jesus echoed
this in Matthew
7:15-20 when He declared that bad trees produce only bad fruit and
good trees only good fruit. Given God
created man for His own glory (Isaiah 43:7), whatever we do should be to His
glory (1
Corinthians 10:31), to literally give an accurate representation in
terms of God’s righteousness, faithfulness, and excellence.
God created
man in His image with characteristics like Him (Genesis 1:26-31) to work with Him in
the world. God planted a garden and put Adam in it to (1) cultivate and (2) maintain
it (Genesis 2:8,
15) as well as (3) subdue and (4) rule over the earth. To cultivate
means to foster growth and to improve, while to maintain means to preserve from
failure or decline. To subdue means to exercise control and discipline while rule
over means to administer, take responsibility for, and make decisions. This
mandate applies to all vocations, hence an occupation is a ministry before God
with workplaces considered mission fields.
In response
to Adam’s sin, God pronounced several judgments (Genesis 3:17-19), the most dealing
with the nature of our labor. God cursed the ground. Work became difficult. The
word toil is used, implying challenge, difficulty, exhaustion, and struggle.
Work itself was still good, but man must expect that it will be accomplished by
“the sweat of
his brow.” Also, the result will not always be positive. Although
man will eat the plants of the field, the field will also produce thorns and
thistles. Hard work and effort will not always be rewarded in the way the
laborer expects or desires.
Note that
man would be eating from the produce of the field, not the garden which was
symbolic of purity, innocence – an earthly paradise made by God as a safe
enclosure. The earth or field, represents an unbounded, unprotected space with
an emphasis on loss of inhibition and worldliness. Therefore, sociologically the
work environment can be hostile, especially to Christians (Genesis 39:1-23; Exodus 1:8-22;
Nehemiah 4).
Other
critical biblical convictions regarding work are:
There is a
difference between the biblical view of the environment and the political
movement known as “environmentalism.”
Due to the deep taint of sin, the present earth will be consumed with God
creating a “new heaven and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). Rather than trying to preserve this earth, we
are to be good stewards of it for as long as it lasts, which will be as long as
it serves God’s sovereign plan and purpose.
With respect
to societal responsibilities and obligations toward the unemployed, uninsured,
and uneducated in our society, some prove generational welfare recipients. It
is interesting to note that the biblical welfare system was a system of work (Leviticus 19:10;
23:22).
The Bible is specific in its condemnation of laziness (Proverbs 18:9). Paul makes the
Christian work ethic abundantly clear: “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those
of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”
(1 Timothy 5:8).
In addition,
Paul’s instruction to another church regarding those who preferred not to work
was to “keep
away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching
you received from us.” And he goes on to say, “For even when we were with you, we gave you
this rule: ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’“
Instead, Paul instructs those who had been idle, “Such people we command and urge in the Lord
Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat” (2 Thessalonians
3:12).
Although
God’s original design for work was perverted by sin, God will one day restore
work without the burdens that sin introduced (Isaiah 65:17-25; Revelation 15:1-4;
22:1-11). Until the day when the New Heavens and New
Earth are set in place, the Christian attitude toward work should mirror that
of Jesus: “My
food, said Jesus, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work”
(John 4:34).
In short, work is of no value except when God is in it.