Engaging the world through our work …

On July 4, 1776, King George III of England entered in his diary, “Nothing of significance happened today.”

In reading that, you have to keep in mind George didn’t have the means of instantaneous communication we have today. As he penned those words, he didn’t know the actions taken that day across the pond in the American colonies would make July 4, 1776 a monumental day in his reign as king.

Many people today often feel like what they spend their time doing, especially at their jobs, isn’t important. They might finish their days noting in their own journals that “nothing of significance happened today.” But if they went to work, something happened: they engaged the world!

A lot of people don’t think of their daily labors as a blessing or opportunity from God. Instead they see it more as a curse …

“And to the man he said, ‘Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made …'” Genesis 3:17-19a.

It’s easy to identify our labor as our own “sweat of the brow” while forgetting that it was never God’s intention for work to be a joyless, harsh experience. From the very beginning, part of God’s design for humanity included work, as we see Him assign to Adam and Eve the labor of tending a magnificent, God-crafted garden …

“The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it,” Genesis 2:15.

God invited humanity to participate in His creative efforts by giving them work!

We think of tending a garden as pulling weeds and sweating over the tilling of dirt, but this was before humanity’s plunge into sin — there were no weeds or “thorns and thistles” to wrestle with! God was not saddling the first couple with back-breaking labor, He was including them in His marvelous creations as partners in His creative work. In the same way, God invites us to join in the labor of His ongoing work, in much the same way as the laborer sees his work in the following story …

The noted English architect Sir Christopher Wren was supervising the construction of a magnificent cathedral in London. A journalist thought it would be interesting to interview some of the workers, so he chose three and asked them this question, “What are you doing?” The first replied, “I’m cutting stone for 10 shillings a day.” The next answered, “I’m putting in 10 hours a day on this job.” But the third said, “I’m helping Sir Christopher Wren construct one of London’s greatest cathedrals.”

When we come to Christ and finally experience Christ in us, we have the opportunity to redeem our labor. Instead of it being just something to cause sweat from our brows, we can use our labors to engage the world as ambassadors for Christ, bringing glory to God through our engaging others in our employment …

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people,” Colossians 3:23.

“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!'” 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.

Yes, our works is a means God has provided for us to have our needs met, but it’s also a primary way for us to engage the world with a demonstration of faith and a message of reconciliation from God. Pastor Charles Swindoll illustrates this God-given opportunity in his book, “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life,” by relating a story from a Bible conference for “lay men”:

Each individual was made aware that he or she was called by God into a profession or work. Regardless of the employment it was “sacred,” it was God’s calling. At the close of the conference someone asked, “Say, Tom, what’s your job?” With wisdom he answered, “I’m an ordained plumber.”

Swindoll concludes, “Christian friend, your work is your calling … it’s your ordained responsibility … it’s your pulpit. Say, how’s your ministry coming along?”

As we relax from our work on Labor Day, let us remember the high, holy calling our labors are. Do we see our employment as a means to engage the world as ambassadors for Christ, doing everything to the glory of God, and seeing our efforts as a way to participate in God’s creative work? Or do we curse Mondays and live for Fridays?

Scotty