We Gotta Work!

Eric Burden growled the words, "We gotta work" in the song We Gotta Get Out of This Place. Working brings income, income brings options.  The teen that feels strangled living at home or the ghetto dweller finds hope that might change their station through the income work can bring.

The United Methodist Church says in its Social Principles:

Every person has the right to a job at a living wage. Where the private sector cannot or does not provide jobs for all who seek and need them, it is the responsibility of government to provide for the creation of such jobs. We support social measures that ensure the physical and mental safety of workers, that provide for the equitable division of products and services, and that encourage an increasing freedom in the way individuals may use their leisure time.

We recognize the opportunity leisure provides for creative contributions to society and encourage methods that allow workers additional blocks of discretionary time. We support educational, cultural, and recreational outlets that enhance the use of such time. We believe that persons come before profits. We deplore the selfish spirit that often pervades our economic life. We support policies that encourage the sharing of ideas in the workplace, cooperative and collective work arrangements. We support rights of workers to refuse to work in situations that endanger health and/or life without jeopardy to their jobs. We support policies that would reverse the increasing concentration of business and industry into monopolies.

From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2004. Copyright 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House. Used by permission.

What does the Bible teach about work?

Here's a list from a survey of old and new testaments.

1. Work gains you respect and a good reputation. (Ru 2:7; 1Sm 29:6; Pr 22:29, 31:31)
2. Work gives you independence, not needing charity. (Pr 12:11, 14:23; 1Th 4:11-12)
3. Work is meant to be enjoyed. (Ec 2:24)
4. Rest and enjoyment from work are necessary (Sabbath and Holy Days). (Ex 20:19)
5. There is a time to retire from work. Let others take over while you assist. (Nm 8:24-26)
6. God empowers workers with skills to carry out their jobs. (Ex. 31:1-5)
7. Faithfulness to God’s commands yields God’s blessing on your work (Prosperity/Trust). (Dt 14:28-29, 15:9-11)
8. Do not be distracted from important work. Stay focused. Diligently complete the work. (Ne 6:3)
9. Work that does not serve God but becomes an idol must be destroyed. (Jr 1:16)
10. Working against God’s purposes should be stopped. (2Ch 16:5; Ac 5:38-40)
11. A productive day of work satisfies the heart. Idleness makes for restlessness.(Ec 5:12)
12. Don’t waste time. The grave doesn’t give you work opportunities. (Ec 9:10)
13. A good worker deserves the paycheck. (Mt 10:10; Lk 10:7)
14. Lazy workers rob their employers and destroy the work of others like a vandal. (Pr 18:9)
15. An unfinished work brings ridicule, but a completed work praise, reward and satisfaction. (Lk 14:28-30; Pr 31:31; Jn 19:31)
16. God is with you in the work He calls you to do. Be strong and do the work. (Hg 2:4; Mt 28:18-20)
17. God gifts you with talents and gifts and resources to carry out His work. (Eph 4:7-16)
18. Good works glorify God. (Mt 5:16)
19. The spiritual needs of people are great, but there are few who sign up to do the work. (Mt 9:36-38)
20. Work can be unproductive even when we work hard. Don’t give up. Seek the Lord. (Lk 5:5)
21. Faithful service and proper management leads to promotion, entrusted with more. (Lk 12:42-44)
22. John’s Gospel sees work as reaching souls for Christ. That work feeds the workers soul.
23. (Jn 4:34, 5:13, 6:27, 9:4, 14:12)
24. Our works will be judged.  We will be rewarded for work that lasts. (Treasure in heaven)      (2Ch 15:7; Mt 619-20; 1Co 3:13-15; Rv 20:13)
25. We are God’s work and meant for good works. (Eph 2:10)
26. Work to have something to share with others. (Eph 4:28)
27. Those who refuse to work do not get to share in the fruit of labor. (2Th 3:10)
28. Each Christian has a work to do in the body of Christ. (Eph 4:15-17)
29. Work wholeheartedly/enthusiastically knowing you work ultimately for God. (Eph 6:6; Col 3:22-23)
30. Be about your own work and do not interfere with the work of others. (Ne 6:1-8; 2Th 3:11-13)
31. Good Works reveal your faith. (Mt 7:16-18; Jms 2:18)
32. Jesus says, “Keep My Works to the end and I will entrust you to govern.” (Rev. 2:26)

This list is by no mean exhaustive, nor is every statement a biblical principle by which we Christians are to live.  Instead these are my observations from the texts I read with the English word "work" in them.  Other passages came by association do not have the word "work," but contribute to the conversation.

We can categorize this list under three headings: Benefit, Exhortation and Theology.

Benefit

Work has its benefits.  Workers get paid in money or food or shelter and clothing or some other kind of compensation. Slaves are workers, but they do not always have the option to change their station. 

We might remember how God was with Joseph, the patriarch during his enslavement in Egypt. He was a wise and faithful steward, so his owner Potiphar gave him charge over his entire household.  Joseph was accused of attempted rape by Potiphar's lusty wife and is imprisoned. Joseph's divine ability to interpret dreams leads to his freedom from prison, slavery and he became the second most powerful man in Egypt.  God was with Joseph. 

Work can lead to the improving our lives. High income can open a world of possibilities. 

Quality and consistent work leads to a good reputation. People feel good about you.  They respect you because of your work.  A good worker may be promoted and entrusted with greater responsibility and greater rewards. In contrast, shoddy work brings contempt. 

Another benefit of work is enjoyment and satisfaction knowing you have done good work.

Ecclesiastes 2:24
There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and to enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God's hand.

Proverbs 22:29
Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand in the presence of kings. He will not stand in the presence of unknown men.

1 Thes. 4:11-12

^“… make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”

Exhortation:

There are many directives, commands, words of caution and encouragement around the topic of work.  

One should complete their work or else they may draw ridicule from others.  Jesus came to usher in the kingdom of God. He completed the work on the cross and uttered the words, "It is finished."  This of the feeling of satisfaction that comes from a finished work and the unsettling feeling from incomplete work.  Of course in my busy life I have been known to say to myself, "it's good enough."  

Some work is very important.  We know it when we are working on it.  We put ourselves into the work completely. We enjoy purpose and significance. Such work should be given this kind of dedication.  When Nehemiah was supervising the work to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he had enemies trying to stop this important work. Nehemiah refused to be diverted.

Nehemiah 6:3

"I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"

The writer of Ecclesiastes, traditionally King Solomon, saw that work has its blessings in good sleep and enjoyment, but in the face of mortality someone else will else the benefits of your work.  In fact your survivors may alter your work. This depressed Solomon. Therefore ultimate meaning cannot be found in the work of our hands.  To place ultimate meaning on the work of our hands is idolatry.  In any case because Solomon didn't have a solid belief in an afterlife, he exhorts to work now with all our strength.

Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hands find to do, do with [all] your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol (the grave) where you are going.

We all need to rest from work. God gave us the Sabbath to rest with Him and enjoy the good things that come from His work of creation. We can delight in our accomplishments and dream of future projects as part of our Sabbath observance.  Holy Days (holidays) are also a time stop work and celebrate.  There is also an appropriate time to retire and let others take over the work we had done.

Laziness leads to poverty and if you are working for others you are stealing form them.  In fact to be lazy and do little or no work is to harm society as your work is meant to benefit others.  We are to work in order to have something to share with others in our community.

Ephesians 4:28
The thief must no longer steal. Instead, he must do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share with anyone in need.

Proverbs 18:9
The one who is truly lazy in his work is brother to a vandal.

Proverbs 21:25
A slacker's craving will kill him because his hands refuse to work.

Sometimes our work can be unproductive no mater how hard we have worked.  The scripture encourages us to keep at it and not give up trusting that our work is not in vain, that it will be rewarded.  Peter compalined to Jesus that they had worked hard all night and not caught a single fish, but Jesus encouraged him to take the boat out again.  Jesus directed him where to cast the nets and they caught such a mass of fish their boats could barely hold them all.  

This story encourages us to seek the Lord when we are feeling tired, burned out and completely useless.  The Lord will provide a way to fruitfulness and productivity. Don't give up on doing the right thing. 

1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

There are a few passages with exhortations to salves who are members of the church.  Many early Christians were poor and slaves.  The exhortation is to work enthusiastically, not only when being watched by your taskmasters.  There is a theology driving this exhortation. The slave understands that all his work is ultimately for the Lord.  She thinks of her work as a means to please Christ and honor Him with good and quality work.

Ephesians 6:6
Don't [work only] while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God's will from your heart.

Colossians 3:22-23

Slaves, obey your human masters in everything; don't work only while being watched, in order to please men, but [work] wholeheartedly, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.

The principle here can apply to our attitudes in the workplace.  Often we work simply to get a paycheck so we can enjoy life.  Our heart is not into our work.  Some of us resent having to work and would rather play all the time like the ultra-wealthy are prone to do.  The exhortation of scripture calls us to approach our work as a means to glorify God.  How might our workday go if we thought of every task as a means to do a good quality work that blesses God?  What if each worked with the trust that God will reward our faithful work even if we are in a work environment where good honest work goes unrewarded?  It might make for some happiness in the midst of an oppressive environment.

It is true that employers can be oppressive. The Bible speaks often on this very subject.  The United Methodist Church's Book of Resolutions are filled with measures to lift the burdens of oppressed workers.

Isaiah 58:3
"Why have we fasted, but You have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but You haven't noticed!" "Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers.

James 5:4
Look! The pay that you withheld from the workers who reaped your fields cries out, and the outcry of the harvesters has reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.

 

Theology:

God talk in relation to work shapes how we work.  Theology forms attitudes and understanding and drives our behavior.  God worked 6 days and made the heavens and earth and all that is in them.  When we work, we share in God's creative energies.  Work is meant to be enjoyed, so this attitude to "work for the weekend" misses the blessing work is intended to be.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that work and prayer go hand in hand.  The Christian's work is a form of prayer and blessed is the work done as a result of prayerful discernment and thankfulness.

After the first morning hour, the Christian’s day until evening belongs to work. “People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening” (Ps 104:23). . . . Praying and working are two different things. Prayer should not be hindered by work, but neither should work be hindered by prayer. Just as it was God’s will that human beings should work six days and rest and celebrate before the face of God on the seventh, so it is also God’s will that every day should be marked for the Christian both by prayer and work. Prayer also requires its own time. But the longest part of the day belongs to work. The inseparable unity of both will only become clear when work and prayer each receives its undivided due. Without the burden and labor of the day, prayer is not prayer; and without prayer, work is not work. Only the Christian knows that. Thus it is precisely in the clear distinction between them that their oneness becomes apparent. . . .

The  unity of prayer and work, the unity of the day, is found because finding [God] behind the day’s work is what Paul means by his admonition to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). The prayer of the Christian reaches, therefore, beyond the time allocated to it and extends into the midst of the work. It surrounds the whole day, and in so doing, it does not hinder the work; it promotes work, affirms work, gives work great significance and joyfulness. Thus every word, every deed, every piece of work of the Christian becomes a prayer. . . . “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:17).

God gifts each of us to work His vineyard, meaning the garden of His creation filled with people and creatures for whom we care on God's behalf. Work then becomes the expression of God's love, wisdom, creativity, compassion and righteousness.  The New Testament often speaks of "works," those actions done for God to help others.  The apostle James wrote that faith without works is useless. 

James 2:18

But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works.

We are not alone in the work to which we are called.  God gives spiritual gifts through which the divine presence is experienced by both the served and the servant.  Jesus taught that when you feed the hungry, cloth the poor, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned and welcome the stranger, you are doing to Him.  In some mysterious, life-giving way, Christ is present in our good works.  

The church is at full health when every member is doing the work he or she is called and equipped to do. Like the body is inform when a limb doesn't work or the hearing is impaired, a church with members who are not in ministry service weaken the health of the Body of Christ. 

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God is active in everyone and everything. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial.

Work gives us the opportunity to glorify God and benefit others as well as enjoy the blessings of hard work and a job well done.  In the end each one's work will be judged.

Revelation 20:13
... all were judged according to their works.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15

each one's work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet it will be like an escape through fire.

May our work be refined now as we endeavor to glorify God in all we do...in the workplace...the home...the neighborhood...the church and the world.