-Part I-
As we think about our attitude toward going to work every day, I’m sure some of you are thinking that it’s impossible to look forward to going to your job because when you get there you face lots of difficulties. For example, if you have a very difficult boss, you don’t sing “Hi-ho, Hi-ho” too often. Or maybe you’re thinking about that difficult co-worker—the lazy, incompetent, arrogant co-worker. They can ruin a few days for you, can’t they.
Can you sing on the way to work if you’re the victim of unfair and unjust treatment? Some of you have had to deal with that. Or you’ve gone through the infamous downsizing that has become so common in the last couple of decades. That can make you pretty cynical. So, going to work just becomes a matter of putting in your time.
In addition to difficult bosses and co-workers and unfair treatment, how about unpleasant work environments, heavy workloads, stress, pressure, lack of appreciation, lack of success, insufficient pay–to name a few! Most jobs have enough of these to make them pretty miserable.
The attitude of most people seems to be that work is something we have to do whether we want to or not. Work is what we have to do in order to acquire all the things we want or need. Work is more often seen as a curse not a blessing.
That’s really sad because until sin entered the picture, work and work environments were ordained by God, blessed by God, and ordered by God. In short, we were created to work. And that’s where we get our dignity as humans.
You’ve noticed how prone we all are to ask, when we meet someone new, “What do you do?” Well, that’s because what we do is our identity to a great degree, and God so intended it. It’s a God instinct. God intended that our work would be a part of our identity, and that’s the way it was originally. But once sin entered the picture through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, everything good that God created was corrupted, including work. The Garden of Eden, the first workplace created by God, was corrupted by sin, and your workplace has been corrupted by sin.
You’ll find that curse in Genesis 3 where God said to Adam:
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground. . .”
Paraphrase: You’ll have to work, like you’ve been doing, but now work is going to be full of difficulties. You’ll earn your living, but the thorns and thistles will make it unpleasant and it will be painfully toilsome at times. Your work will be hard and make you weary and tired.
And this curse which God placed on work way back in the Garden of Eden is passed on to us today. Work is full of painful toil; you have to do things you don’t like to do or want to do. You have to do work that is boring or unfulfilling. Your work seems mundane. It’s painfully toilsome.
Work is full of thorns and thistles; things that upset you, irritate you, and make the job unnecessarily difficult. The unpleasant coworker, the impossible boss, the demanding customer. They stick you and prick you and ruin otherwise good days.
Work is full of the sweat of your brow. You are physically exhausted at the end of the day. Mental exhaustion is just as difficult, and often we experience emotional exhaustion on our jobs.
You can’t blame us for not wanting to work in this cursed environment. If only we didn’t have to earn a living! If only we could be spared this unpleasant and unfair predicament called work!! Isn’t that the way we often think? We just hold our collective breath and live for the days we don’t have to go to those corrupted workplaces! Thank God it’s Friday!!! My vacation is next week!!! I’m retiring in two years!!! Let me out of here!!!!!
Set Free From the Curse
I have such great news for you. That curse that was placed on work, way back in the Garden of Eden; that curse that was caused by sin; that curse which has created a miserable workplace for you. Guess what? Jesus came to redeem us from that very curse. Here’s the really great news, from Galatians 3:13:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'”
Jesus Christ came to redeem us from the whole curse including the curse of work. Once we’re born from above and become new creations in Christ, Jesus does not remove us from the curse-infested world. He could, but he chooses to leave us here. He leaves us here with work to do, and we now have the amazing opportunity to demonstrate what work is really supposed to be like—yes, even in the midst of that corrupted workplace! Wow! What a privilege you and I have to show our worlds how God intended work to be.
In order to have the right attitude toward our work, we must figure out how we can live in freedom from the curse on work, even though the effects of that curse are all around us.
God’s Design for Work
Let’s look at how God intended work to be before the curse:
Work is assigned by God.
Genesis 2:15 tells us “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Adam was told to be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Work had a central place, even in paradise. It was intended as a gift and a blessing before sin and punishment entered the picture.
And keep this in mind: Adam’s job was not secular; it was a sacred trust from God. Today we would call Adam’s job description a “secular” job, but that was not how God intended it. It was a sacred trust assigned by God, and it was meant to bring purpose and fulfillment to Adam and all of us who followed him.
The same is true today. The nature of the work we do does not determine if it is sacred or not. It does not depend upon who signs our paycheck. Work is sacred when it is assigned by God.
Has your work been assigned to you by God? Are you confident that you are in the job God wants you to be in? God doesn’t ask us what we want to do. He assigns us work. Ephesians 2:10 tells us: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
It may come as a surprise to some of you to hear that God is not here to make us feel fulfilled in the career or work that we choose. We are here to do the good work that he has prepared for us to do. So, when we go to God for our work assignment, we are not asking for the easy place, the nice place, the well-paying place. We are asking for the job that he has chosen in advance for us to do; the place where he plans to use us in his Kingdom work.
God is the Universal Business Owner and Manager.
The authority lines are also clearly drawn in this working relationship with God. He’s the boss and as his coworkers, we are to be submissive to his authority. He is a benevolent dictator; it’s not a democracy. He is the perfect manager and can be totally trusted.
We Are Coworkers with God.
As originally intended by God, we are to be engaged in our work as a partner with him. Look again at the first work assignment as given to Adam; God never left him alone. God was always there with him. It was a partnership.
God intended for us to be coworkers with him. He is a “hands-on” manager; he never leaves us or forsakes us. There is a clear division of labor with God: he gives the assignments, we work as instructed. But the great news is that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:6) What a deal! He assigns us the work, works beside us all the way, and carries us through to completion. What more could you ask for in a working relationship with your Boss?
Jesus used a very graphic image to illustrate our working relationship with him. He said: “Take my yoke upon you. . . “ (Matthew 11:29). He invites us to get into the yoke with him. A yoke is a wooden block that holds two animals together as they work. Jesus wants you to join his work by working alongside him in close fellowship. What a beautiful picture that is for us, and one you can think about each day as you leave for work. Instead of dreading the day ahead, remind yourself that it’s you and Jesus going to work together. He is sharing the work with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. That thought alone will change your attitude toward your work.