Today, we begin our May series, Thinking Biblically About Money, Greed, and Economic Justice. There is a great abundance of Biblical teaching about money, work, and how to manage our financial resources. As always, we will start with a biblical worldview. Today, it is God’s view of work, sadly, which has been mostly lost among believers. Hugh Whelchel, in his excellent book, How then Should We Work, recounts a gathering of business leaders from around the world,
“The arena was packed with over 5,000 businesspeople attending a one-day motivational conference. They would listen to some of today’s greatest inspirational speakers including General Colin Powell, Dick Vitale and Tony Robbins. One of the speakers asked the assembled business leaders this question: ‘If you went home tonight and found that a long-lost relative has died and left you ten million dollars, would you be at work tomorrow?’ From all over the arena came a resounding ‘NO!’”
“The audience’s response was no surprise. A recent Gallup poll found that 77% of Americans hate their jobs….With 50-hour-plus work weeks…workers are spending more and more of their lives at work; yet many of them are unfulfilled and frustrated with their jobs. Even for Christians, work is often only a means to an end. Many Christians, today, have bought into the pagan notion that leisure is good and work is bad.”
HOW THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF WORK HAS BEEN LOST
A. The church became infected by Greek Gnosticism. The early church leaders were all Hebrews who had been schooled in the Biblical view of vocation set forth in Genesis 1. But as Christianity spread across the Roman empire it gradually adopted the Greek view of work held by Aristotle, who believed that it was demeaning and demoralizing to work with your hands—that the highest life was the contemplative life of leisure that had escaped from work. In addition, gnostic dualism began to creep into the church, a philosophical view that split the physical world from the spiritual/intellectual world. The spiritual life of contemplation was more and more seen as superior to the life of manual labor. Escape to the spiritual world away from the tempting lust of the flesh became the ideal. A church father named Eusebius betrays this dualism, describing two contrasting ways to live:
"There is the 'perfect life,' the vita contemplative, consisting of sacred vocations dedicated to contemplation; this life is reserved for priests, monks, nuns, and those in similar religious orders. Then there is the 'permitted life,' the vita active which encompasses secular vocations dedicated to action, such as governing, farming, trading, soldiering, and homemaking" (Ibid).
Thus, the heretical sacred/secular vocational divide was born. Unfortunately, such an otherwise orthodox, brilliant scholar as Augustine was corrupted by this low view of the physical world, viewing the work of farmers, craftsmen, and merchants—the active life--as good but not best. Whenever possible, the contemplative life was to be chosen over the active life. “The one life is loved, the other endured” (Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View, Walsh and Middleton.) Perhaps Augustine’s failure to grasp God’s love for his material world was linked to his early life of debauchery, when he was enslaved to sins of the flesh. Fulfilling bodily urges, even lawfully, seemed less holy than escaping from them.
B. The church abandoned kingdom theology after Constantine. The Christian Roman emperor, Constantine, did many good things, including issuing the Edict of Milan in 313, which declared tolerance for Christianity in the Roman Empire. He also convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. But, making Christianity Rome’s religion gave birth to the deadly practice of joining church and state--confusing the distinction between the political state and the kingdom of God. Jesus had successfully transformed his Jewish followers’ understanding of his kingdom. They eventually realized that His kingdom coming to earth was NOT the restoration of the political unit, Israel. Paul further explained that the state was given the power of the sword and the church the power of church discipline. The earliest Christians understood that the advance of Christ’s kingdom over earth was the advance of his kingdom of righteousness over earth into every political entity worldwide through proclaiming the gospel and penetrating the culture as salt and light. The great commission to go and make disciples was preceded by the statement that Jesus, the Second Adam, had taken back Adam’s throne from its usurpers, Satan, sin, and death. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. THEREFORE, go and make disciples…. The great commission was the renewal of Adam and Eve’s original call to exercise dominion FOR the HIGH KING—to spread God’s agenda of righteousness over the culture as labor diversified and the population grew. Christians brought Christ’s agenda of caring for abandoned children into their Roman neighborhoods. Christian husbands brought Christ’s righteous agenda of sacrificially loving their wives into their marriages. And Christ-followers brought principles for treating employees and customers righteously into the WORKPLACE. Indeed, Christians seeking first the kingdom of Christ—spreading his agenda of righteousness in the workplace has always been a fundamental part of God’s plan for believers to be salt and light for the world.
Under Constantine, however, the kingdom moving forward became less identified with Christ’s agenda penetrating every aspect of culture and more identified with Christianity controlling the state. Seeking the kingdom became seeking a Christian Caesar. This led to the horrible abuses of a state church in the Middle Ages. It also led to a view of impacting culture that was done primarily politically. If Christians had no political power, then they might as well separate from the corruption of the world—instead of penetrating every aspect of culture with Christ’s agenda.
C. The medieval church solidified the sacred/secular divide. One scholar observes, “By the time Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the distinction between clergy and laity was fairly well established. With the establishment of celibacy for the clergy in the 11th century, this demarcation was complete, and the laity were relegated to second class status in the church” (Has God Called You, Henlee Barnett). Also, in a major departure from biblical teaching, the Roman Catholic church located “sin” in the physical body—reflecting the Greek influence of Gnosticism (which views matter as evil). Sex, which opened the door to bodily lust, was deemed lawful in marriage but less holy than celibacy. Once again, this gnostic denial of the value of the physical world undermined the Biblical doctrine of work—that God commands his image bearers to develop the potential of the PHYSICAL world.
D. Fundamentalism doubly undermined the biblical view of WORK. During the 19th century there was a shift in American theology among Bible-believing Christians. Charles Finney led a revival movement that came to be known as the Second Great Awakening. Although part of a larger movement that opposed the humanistic values of the Enlightenment, the revivalists’ technique focused on the “spiritual” over the “secular.” The “world” was increasingly identified with culture at that time, which led to a separationist mentality. The inability to answer the growing scientific challenges that Darwinism was making against the Bible led our faithful forefathers to make the right choice to believe the Bible. But it also led to separating from science, the universities, intellectual thought, and other cultural influencers all too often, labeling those influencers “the world.”
This separation from culture, a heretical denial of the fundamental calling of Adam and Eve to shape culture was strengthened by a radical splicing up of God’s revelation by John Darby the founder of Dispensationalism. This misguided lens for interpreting Scripture ignored the present reality of Christ’s kingdom reign and his marching orders to seek first the righteous reign of Jesus over the earth right now. It viewed the Kingdom of Christ as not appearing until Christ’s final return. Its view of eschatology further emphasized separation from this physical world and its culture, teaching that the present culture will get worse and worse. Therefore, all that Christians can do is rescue sinners from this world by throwing them the lifeline of the gospel and otherwise separate from the world. However, the true gospel is that Jesus has ascended and is fixing everything broken by sin right now and that our future dwelling place is not reached through escaping form this world but by Christ coming down to this physical world and renewing it for all eternity.
THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF WORK
1. It begins with loving God’s creation as much as God does. The very “good news” of the gospel begins with the central importance of God’s creation. Theologian Herman Bavinck states this truth succinctly, “The essence of the Christian religion consists in the reality that the creation of the Father, ruined by sin, is restored in the death of the Son of God and recreated by the grace of the Holy Spirit into a kingdom of God.” Creation matters mightily to God. It is a “theater of God’s glory” to be delighted in and used in a stewardly manner. The grand diversity of the created order is nothing less than God’s very nature being revealed. The very goodness, glory, wisdom, and power of God shine forth and are revealed more brilliantly by his creation. The world is a theater, a “splendidly clear mirror of his divine glory.” But the glorious kingdom entrusted to Adam and Eve to rule FOR the High King has been horribly marred by its master’s rebellion. Satan, sin, and death have usurped Adam and Eve’s throne.
The good news, however, is that a second Adam has overthrown these powers that had enslaved Adam’s kingdom, the earth, and begun to fix everything in Adam’s kingdom broken by sin. The gospel is not that God’s grace snatches people from this sinful world and whisks them to a spiritual heaven; it is that both Adam's race and creation--the kingdom entrusted to Adam and Eve--are being renewed in the power of Christ. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The ultimate fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan is God coming down to dwell, face to face with his people, not in some far-off spiritual place called heaven, but on this RENEWED EARTH.
2. It recognizes that God left his creation of earth INCOMPLETE because he designed humans to be his image bearers, assigning to them the task of COMPLETING CREATION.
- The Bible begins with a story about a WORKER—God himself. Not only is God’s act of creation described in Genesis 2:2-3 as work, his cosmos invention is presented to us in the context of a regular workweek of seven days. Tim Keller, writes, “This view of work—connected with divine, orderly creation and human purpose—is distinct among the great faiths and belief systems of the world" (Every Good Endeavor). Work was not something beneath God, or the result of a curse. To the contrary, God worked for the sheer joy of it and afterwards stood back to admire his work. So, God the Worker is the one who creates man—in his own image—to be a worker.
- God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it (Gen 1:27-28).
- The phrase in verse 28, “fill the earth,” is more than just a repetition of the command to procreate. When creating the plants and animals, the words God usually used were, “let them multiply.” Human beings are created to do more than procreate. God wants the world to be filled with a human society shaped by his image bearers.
- The word, subdue (Gen 1:28) implies this same “shaping of the garden and its culture.” The command to subdue the earth indicates that although all that God had created was good, it was still to a great degree undeveloped. God intentionally created into the world deep untapped potential for cultivation that we humans are to unlock through our labor. This pattern of DEVELOPING the material of creation was modeled by God, himself, in the creation process. As Al Wolters reminds us
The earth had been completely unformed; in the six-day process of development God had formed it and developed it—but not completely. People must now carry on the work of development: by being fruitful they must fill it even more; by subduing it they must form it even more. Mankind, as God’s representatives on earth, carry on where God left off (Albert Wolters, Creation Regained).
- The history of technology proves that mankind has been developing for thousands of years the potential, which God put into the earth. Think of how the discovery of the earth’s resources has grown technology—from the stone age to the bronze age, to the iron age. From the windmill to the compass, to the mechanical clock, to the printing press, to the steam engine, to the railways, to electricity because of the magnetism built into the earth. From the telephone to the discovery of oil and gas reserves, to the combustible engine, to the automobile, to radio, to nuclear power, to the airplane, to television, to lasers, to the computer. From putting a man on the moon to the computer chip, to the Internet, to the cell phone, to artificial intelligence. This technological advance is discovering the potential God built into the earth and using it to make life better. That is the very definition of our calling from God to VOCATION. It is doing what God placed mankind on earth to do! Then consider how much better these inventions could have made our world if our race hadn’t sinned, and instead, all humans were exercising dominion FOR the HIGH KING, shaping culture according to His moral law written on their heart. That is God’s design for this world. Vocational work is at the core of this plan!
3. Through our vocation we serve God and are used by God to care for his creation. Psalm 145:15 praises God saying, The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. But how does God feed us? Through the farmer, the fertilizer manufacturers, the farm equipment producer, the truckers, the marketers, computer programmers, retailers and all the others who contribute to bring us food. Luther writes, “God could easily give you grain and fruit without your plowing and planting, but he does not want to do so.” Our vocation is what God uses to care for his creation.
This truth becomes even more apparent in I Corinthians 7, where our vocation is identified by Paul as our calling from God. Here, Paul is counseling non-Christians that when they come to faith, they do not need to change what they are doing in life—their marital status, job, or station in life. He says, let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has CALLED him. Paul takes two theologically loaded terms and uses them to describe the call to everyday work. In other texts, Paul has talked about God calling people into a saving relationship with him and assigning them spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ. But here, Paul uses these same terms not to describe spiritual ministries but to portray common social economic tasks—what we might call secular work, naming them God’s callings and assignments. The parallel seems clear. Just as God equips Christians with gifts for building up the community of Christ, so he also equips all people with talents and gifts for various kinds of work, for the purpose of building up the human community. The Bible teaches us to view work as a calling from God, Himself, to serve others, helping them to flourish through utilizing our gifts and talents.
For fun, I have taken the vocational callings of the members of our ministry’s board of directors to illustrate how “secular " work is actually God’s work.
- One man supervises a division of the Census Bureau. Think about how vital such work is for guiding government policies and funding, drawing fair legislative districts, and giving accurate demographic data to researchers studying ways to make life on planet earth better.
- One man was the director of an organization that helped businesses protect the natural habitat surrounding their plants and properties.
- One man was the CFO of a railroad association. Think about how much the railways improve the quality of life by helping move materials needed for manufacturing and moving products to consumers. He now oversees vital research contracts for NIH—bringing order to the financial oversight needed, so that life-improving pharmaceuticals can be discovered.
- One man works for a steel construction company, helping to build condos and apartment buildings. What could be more important than helping every family have a roof over their head and a home to call their own?
- One man works in classified communication technology. If he told me anymore, he would have to shoot me. What could be more vital than filling the God-ordained role of government to protect its citizens from attack?
- One man is an attorney, an advocate for anyone who might be taken advantage of in the court system. Is any vocation more approved by God than one that protects the orphan or widow or single mom, or even father from having his children unjustly taken away.
- One man spends his hours as a high school health and physical education teacher. Is anything more Christ-like than treating every insecure high school girl or guy with dignity, protecting their self-esteem and helping them enjoy the world God created by throwing a ball around or learning to drive safely?
The sacred/secular divide of life and of vocation is rank heresy. Your secular job MATTERS ENORMOJUSLY TO GOD. He loves his creation. It reflects his nature. He wants its potential, including the potential of every human bearing his image, developed for his glory.
For Further Prayerful Thought.
- What most stood out to you about the way the biblical doctrine of work has been repeatedly lost, found, then lost again?
- Describe the parallel between God being a worker/creator and humans being designed to be worker/creators. What does this have to do with the Biblical doctrine of work?
- What would you say to someone who said, “I don’t know if I can make it another 5 years at this secular job until I retired and can finally get into full time Christian work and make a real difference for the kingdom?”
Special Announcement for All those Near Schenectady/Albany, NEW YORK
I will be one of the two keynote speakers at the Iron Sharpens Iron Conference May 20, 2023. The conference is from 8:30-3:00 PM. It includes two main addresses, lunch, and your choice of 2 out of 16 seminars on topics relevant to men. Here is the link.
