Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24
“I have already, on a previous occasion, spoken at some length on the subject of Work and Vocation. What I urged then was a thoroughgoing revolution in our whole attitude to work. I asked that it should be looked upon, not as a necessary drudgery to be undergone for the purpose of making money, but as a way of life in which the nature of man should find its proper exercise and delight and so fulfill itself to the glory of God. That it should, in fact, be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of the work itself; and that man, made in God’s image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing…Or perhaps we may put it more shortly still: If work is to find its right place in the world, it is the duty of the Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker serves the work.”
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) British author in “Why Work?”
Spot on! The purpose of work is not remuneration (“making money”), but rather: worship (“serving God”), contribution (“serving others”), compensation (“receiving a fair wage” cf. 1 Timothy 5:18) and reflection (“making known God’s love to the world”). What’s this got to do with generosity?
Because work was good before the fall of man, and a part of our stewardship of creation (cf. Genesis 2:15), our work is a primary avenue through which we can make known God’s generosity. What are the implications of this? Ask yourself these questions.
How will I worship God through my work this week? What unique contributions will I make? Will I pay fair wages to others? Will I use the wages I earn to live, give, serve, and love like Jesus? And how will my work itself reflect God’s generosity to the world?
Today I fly to Pittsburgh. Tomorrow I will present the Faith and Finances course that I developed as a turn-key course for seminaries to use. One of the twelve units covers a biblical perspective on work. If you’d like a copy of the PDF version of the course, reply to this email. I’d be happy to share it.