Work for the Glory of God

Technically autumn doesn’t start this year until September 23, but any New Yorker will tell you that the unofficial end of summer is Labor Day. Playtime is over. Vacationers come home. Students go back to school. Beach-lovers put their boogie boards into storage again. It’s time for New York to get serious once more about what we do best. It’s time to get back to work.

How do you think God feels about this? (Read more) According to the Bible, he is thrilled.

It is not uncommon in some Christian circles for people to view work as something that is unimportant to God. For some reason, we divide the world into that which is secular and that which is spiritual. Secular pursuits (like work, school, sports, and art) are not necessarily viewed as sinful; it’s just that they are of no great concern to God. What he is really interested in are spiritual things (things like preaching and praying and sharing the gospel.)

This view falls tragically short of what is taught in the Bible. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it.” The LORD is God over every dimension of life. He is just as present in the plumber’s shop as he is in the preacher’s study. He is just as interested in what you do Monday morning at work (or in school or at home) as he is in what you do Sunday morning in church.

At ACC, one of our eight core values is what we call “a holistic worldview.” Here is how we explain this view:

Every aspect of life matters to God. His plan is to redeem all of creation through Christ. As a church, we shun the false dichotomy between spiritual and secular. We teach God's people to honor Him in their work, in their pastimes, in their neighborhoods, and in their homes.

All our work is important to God. When the Son of God lived on this planet, he worked as a carpenter until he was 31 years old and then spent just two years serving in ministry. Yet in John 8:29 he said, “I always do what pleases [my Father.]” That would indicate that God was just as honored when his Son was swinging a hammer as he was when Jesus was healing the sick or preaching the gospel.

In our society certain jobs have more status than others. Stay-at-home parents are not treated the same way investment bankers are. A doorman will probably not be held in the same regard as a concert pianist. But this is not the Bible’s view. Paul told household servants in Colosse that the tasks they were performing could bring great glory to God. They were not to view themselves as inferior, no matter what the world said about the relative significance of their work. The Apostle wrote, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24)

How do we honor God with our work? Jerram Barrs writes:

When I go to my place of work, my first thought should not be, ‘What does my boss think of me?’— though I should certainly desire to please my boss. My first thought should be that I am called to work, serving God with integrity. It is important that we please those for whom we work, but we are going to have much more important accounting to give one day. Christ Himself will ask us how we worked. Were you faithful? Did you work hard? Are you someone who just worked to please other people or did you work with genuine righteousness?

If you are like me, you hate to see summer end. But there’s no stopping it. So let’s get back to work, and let’s do it for the glory of God!