“A large stewardship of our calling in the workplace is faithfully showing up every day and demonstrating to others around us our good in and through our work. Seeking to live out a faithful presence in our workplaces means that we incarnate the gospel by doing good work and being exemplary workers. It means that we extend common grace to our coworkers and our customers and seek their good. As image-bearers of God, who is a worker, we must remember that our work has intrinsic value in itself and is to be an act of worship. We also must grasp that our work has instrumental value in that it provides for our economic needs, allows us to care for the needs of others, and creates a sphere of influence for the gospel to be lived out and shared.”
Tom Nelson in Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011) 60.
Our work has both intrinsic and instrumental value. Tom Nelson is spot on! Intrinsically, when we put to work the gifts and abilities in our stewardship, we bring glory and honor to God. But it does not stop there. We are positioned to be conduits of blessing.
Instrumentally, our work positions us to care for our needs and that of our family members, as well as the needs of others, such as our neighbor, others within our community of faith, or the poor. As resources are generated from our work, we are also positioned to advance the gospel.
What is emerging in the discussions I am participating in with people like Tom Nelson this weekend is the role of God’s leaders in helping people maximize this aspect of their stewardship for God’s glory. We are also discussing best practices for doing this in local church settings.
As I reflect on Scriptures like Colossians 3:23, read books like Work Matters and listen to dialogue on this topic, I am learning that I must model and teach God’s people that our work has both intrinsic and instrumental value.