Why go to work?
John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
The purpose of labor and leisure is a strategic question for the conscientious believer. A large part of most days is given to one’s work. If Christianity is relevant, it must address how eight to five Monday through Friday is used to the Glory of God. Many people would rather be doing something other than their vocation. There is no sense of eagerness or excitement about heading to work on Monday morning. The prospect of retirement looms as a far more exciting possibility than continued labor. These people, however, tend to feel guilty when they engage in leisure.
The question, "Why go to work?" profoundly influences their whole perspective on life and thus how they live.
How it all began.
The Genesis account seems to indicate that God brought to creation a sense of rhythm. He created in six days and rested the seventh.
Genesis 2:2-3 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
It is an example of work and rest and the introduction of rhythm. Although God did not at this time command that mankind emulate Him in this six to one ratio, a sense of rhythm is nonetheless present, even after the fall. In Genesis 3:17 – 19 Adam is to work hard to harvest.
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "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, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
The concept of things being seasonal is ubiquitous {being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent} in Scripture. Look at
Eccl 3:1- 8 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
or
John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
Thus we see night and day, springtime and harvest, summer and winter, living and dying, etc. Work and leisure is understood in this context of rhythm.
Still, the Scriptures appear to give mixed signals regarding labor. Prior to the Fall God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden ‘to till it and keep it"
Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
On one hand God gives man work to do, but on the other hand we read man toil and travails in his labor.
Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "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, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
It is before the "Fall of Man" that God gave man labor. From this we can conclude that work is good. Even after the "Fall" it is easy to see that man is fortunate in having work. How terrible it would be if man had to live his time on this earth in boredom with nothing to do. Work is an expression of God’s grace.
After the "Fall" man was opposed in his labor. With it came pain and frustration, but work itself remained good.
One of the great themes in the book of Ecclesiastes is that all of man’s labor is vanity on the one hand, but man is to enjoy his work on the other.
Ecclesiastes 2:18-24 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him-- for this is his lot.
The frustration that Solomon senses from the toil of his labor is balanced by the joy that labor produces.
A Biblical mind-set regarding one’s vocation requires understanding God rhythm along with keeping these "mixed signals" in balanced tension. Remembering certain principles or axioms will assist in this endeavor. This paper will identify nine such principles, five dealing with work and four with leisure.
WORK
YOU DO NOT WORK TO EARN A LIVING
The Bible gives two fundamental reasons for going to work: God commands it and it is an environment {not the only environment} in which the believer can represent Jesus Christ. The Christian does not work to earn a living; it is God who provides for his needs. The Bible is abundantly clear on this issue as illustrated by the words of our Lord Jesus Christ in the "Sermon on the Mount".
Matthew 6:24-34 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
The Greek word merimano appears nineteen times in the New Testament, six of them are found in this passage. KITTEL defines it, "to care for something or someone. In verse 34 the word is precede by the word for no so the King James Version of the Bible translates the word "take no thought"; the New American Standard Version translates the words "do not be anxious". It is contrasted with verse 33 where the believer is urged to concentrate his attention of "the Kingdom of God and His righteousness," confident that God will provide needs such as food, drink and clothing.
The Apostle Paul summarized Jesus’ admonition in the Matthew 6 passage with these words, in Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Supposing a Pastor said, "The reason I do the best job I can in sermon preparation is in hopes the church board will give him an increase in salary. I am a pastor because I need to earn a living. When I speak outside the church I make my selection on where I go based on who will pay the highest honorarium. As a matter of fact, I hope to become well known so I can raise my speaking fees." In hearing this you should conclude that he is in the wrong vocation,
1 Peter 5:22 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, {filthy lucre – KJV} but eager to serve;
All believers are full-time Christian workers. The only difference between the pastor and the laity is how his vocation is funded. If it is wrong for the pastor to view his pulpit as the means for earning a living {and it is}, so also for God’s people irrespective of their vocation.
A frequently heard objection to this is the Apostle Paul’s counsel in 2 Thessalonians 3:10;
… "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Paul is not arguing that we work to eat; otherwise he would be taking exception with his own words and those of Jesus as well. He is saying that God gave man labor, and if he refuses to work, provision should not be made for him. In verse one of this letter he is talking to believers;
Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you.
In verse 6 a command;
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
Verse seven Paul gives an example;
For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
And then the instructions in verse 10;
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
God may use one’s job to provide for him, but that is entirely different than saying that he looks to his labor for provision. It is God and God alone that he looks to for the meeting of his needs.
There is a number of what may be called "one-way streets" in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says drunkards {and others} will not inherit the Kingdom of God,
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
But this does not mean that if one does not get drunk he will inherit the Kingdom of God. So it is with the Thessalonians passage where Paul says that the person who does not wok does not eat, this does not mean that a person works to eat.
Ephesians 4:28, like 2 Thessalonians is dealing with those who are indolent {disinclined to exert oneself; habitually lazy}.
He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Paul warns that they are not to steal but rather work so they can contribute to the meeting of other people’s need.
There are numerous tensions or seeming contradictions in the Bible. This is due to not understanding God and His infinite Being. A finite mind can not grasp an infinite concept; this is where faith steps in. A person can believe in the God of the Bible or not. This does not change the fact that He does not exist. Hebrews 11:6 addresses this issue;
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The most familiar issue is the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. It is analogous to the tension between work and leisure.
Suppose one argues, "I am not a Christian, but I have read the Bible and understand that God elects whom He will. According to the Apostle Paul this was decided from before the foundations of the world. Therefore, if God elects me, I will be saved, and if He does not, I am going to be lost, and there is not a thing I can do about it."
A correct response to this statement would be, "The Bible also says there is a well-meant offer of the Gospel. You have herd God’s offer of redemption and if you do not believe it the problem is yours not God’s. The responsibility rests squarely on your shoulders."
On the other hand, if someone said, "I am a Christian because of my own effort. The reason I am going to heaven and other people are not is because I live a better life than they. Jesus died for the world. The reason I am saved and others are lost is because of what I did and what they failed to do. In the final analysis I am going to heaven because of my response to the offer of Jesus.
A proper response to this would be, "The Bible is very clear in pointing out that an individual does not go to heaven because of what he does but because of what Jesus does for him. It is ‘not by woks of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy that He saved us.’ Again Paul reminds us;
Titus 3:5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.
In the above illustration dealing with the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man differing sermons are preached to different needs. So it is with the matter of labor. If an individual is slothful and says, I don’t have to work; God will provide for my needs," and that individual refuses to labor, insisting on living on welfare, then he needs to hear the message from Thessalonians. If, however, he argues that he labors to earn a living and that his income is a product of his own work, then he need the message from Titus/Ephesians. Some Christians may be lazy, looking to others to work for them, but most are hard working and conscientious folks, trying to serve God in the context of their vocation. People should feel as uncomfortable saying they work to earn a living as in saying they work to go to heaven.
If the believer does not understand this and concludes providing for his needs is in the final analysis is his own responsibility, then his attitude toward others in the marketplace will be to use people and minister to them at the same time.
Some argue the people to whom they minister are different than the people with whom they work. They use some in their endeavor to earn a living and minister to others. If they embrace this argument, they end up compartmentalizing their lives. Eight to five Monday through Friday, becomes secular rather than spiritual and is not for the full-time Christian worker.
Hard work is encouraged in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus makes it an issue of focus. His follows are to work had, but for a different reason than the world. They do not work to earn a living; rather they are motivated in their work by God’s kingdom and His righteousness.
THERE IS NO CORRELATION BETWEEN HOW HARD YOU WORK AND HOW MUCH YOU MAKE.
In one sense this is merely a derivative of the first point. If it is God who provides, then there is obviously no correlation between how hard one works and how much he makes. The perception of most people is this simply is not so. Most businessmen/women feel that they can out-earn their needs, that there is a direct correlation between how hard they work and how much they make. A given amount of work produces a given result. Such reasoning does not take Providence into consideration {worldly brainwashing}. God calls attention to this fact as we see in;
Haggai 1:6 You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."
Deuteronomy 28:38-42 You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land.
Psalm 75:6-7 No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
A stock broker with a MBA from one of the prestigious graduate schools in the country said that an experiment was run on how to best select stock purchases. The Wall Street Journal was pinned on a board, and a monkey threw darts at it. The stock hit by the darts was purchased, and the success rate using this method was found to be as good as that obtained by scientific analysis.
The wheat farmer of Kansas understands this, as does the skilled labor from a closed steel mill now working for minimum wage at Burger King. Or ask the man from the ghetto or Indonesia who works hard and earns little. One real estate broker hits it big; another goes broke. One family buys a home, and it appreciates so in five years they have tripled their money. Another family purchases a home, only to find that it is in a depreciating neighborhood, and they lose their savings. Some people are born into wealth, some into poverty. All people everywhere understand that this is how life is lived.
This is not to suggest that people are not to work hard, but rather to work hard because God commands it. The Apostle says in Colossians 3:23;
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men,
Ecclesiastes 9:10 also speaks to this point;
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
The believer does quality work as unto the Lord because God commands it and because his credibility as an ambassador of Jesus Christ is at stake.
The application of this principle affects planning. There are two basic approaches to business planning. It is done according to priorities or according to income. In the latter the planner determines beforehand how much he wants to make in the year and then orders his priorities accordingly. In the former he determines before God his priorities and on that basis how many hours God wants to spend in his vocational week.
Both approaches are subjective. If, however, he plans according to income, he will allow the market place to dictate the level of his commitment to Jesus Christ. When he perceives that his needs are not being properly met and he is not reaching his financial goals, instead of looking to God he will begin to work harder. Family priorities, time with the Lord and ministry commitments will give way to the pressing need of meeting financial goals.
For example, if Bill owns an office building that is ninety percent vacant and has established priorities on the basis of income rather than time, he will sacrifice other commitments in order to work long hours in hopes of leasing the building. The level of his commitment to Christ will wane as the pressures of the marketplace increase.
The marketplace will dictate his level of commitment to Christ in yet another way. Jim, a committed Christian, is called into the presence of his superior and told, "You have a great future with this company, but leave your Christianity at home. I don’t care if you pray, go to church and preach about your Jesus, but don’t bring it to work with you. If you do, this company will terminate its relationship with you.
Acts 4:19-20 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
Acts 5:28-29 "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!
If Jim feels that he works to earn a living and there is a correlation between how hard he works and how much he makes, he will follow the advice of his superior and leave his commitment to Christ at home. When the environment is friendly, he will integrate his faith with his avocation; when it is unfriendly, he will not...
These are the predictable consequences of those who believe there is a correlation between how hard they work and how much they make.
God expects you to be so God centered that whatever you do and whenever you do it will be done "as unto the Lord".
THERE IS NO INTRINSIC VALUE IN THE PRODUCT OF WORK
The word to underline in this axiom is PRODUCT. The product of work may have a utilitarian value, but it has no intrinsic value. It may have a value in helping someone do what he wants to do, but the object has no value in and of itself. An automobile, for example, has a value in that it helps one get from point "A" to pint "B", but there is no intrinsic value to the automobile. It is nothing but a piece of decaying rot which will eventually be relegated to the junkyard. Peter reminds us that this is the fate of "all things" in 2 Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Work does have a value in that it is used by God to determine reward in heaven as is drawn to the believer’s attention in passages such as 1 Corinthians 3:10 - 15
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
So also God may assign value to what he does because of a love relationship that exist between them, but this does not mean that there is any intrinsic value in the product of work.
For example, when my children were young, they brought home their art work in varying colors. After talking about them, they ended the same place I am sure your children’s drawing end – on the refrigerator door. Here they were in prominent view for all who passed through the kitchen. They were exceeding important to my wife and me because they were drawn by our children. But they would never qualify for the National Art Gallery, and we would get nothing for them if we included them in a garage sale. So it is with God’s relationship with His children. Because He loves them, He may assign value to what they produce, but that does not mean that the things produced have value in and of themselves. They are going to burn.
Labor’s value as viewed from the worth of the product is equal in importance for all people from God’s perspective. Since the product is going to burn, it is the focus of the labor that is important to God. The product of a coal miner is as important as the product of an architect the man in the gulag in solitary confinement for his faith is as productive for God, if the focus of his life is correct, as the great evangelist. It is one of the great equalizers of the human race.
Man’s labor may be directed toward creating wealth, such as the farmer in the field or the bricklayer constructing a building. It can be in terms of self-improvement, such as the mastering of a skill or the learning of a language. Such accomplishments received recognition from man, but the Apostle Paul’s evaluation of his own accomplishments in Philippians 3:8
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
In the above passage the word translated as rubbish is skubalon in the Greek and means any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, garbage, dregs; used of things that are worthless and detestable. In the King James Bible it is translated "DUNG".
If this is not clearly understood by the believer, he will labor for the temporal rather than the eternal. It is the thing Jesus warns against in John 6:27
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
He will perceive greatness in terms of what he is able to create or accomplish. Feedback in terms of recognition and the accolades of man encourage this tendency, and his focus becomes riveted on the temporal rather than the eternal.
As he labors on behalf of the eternal, it is not the fruit of the labor that produces significance but the FOCUS of that labor. For two individuals can be doing the same thing, one participating in the program of God while the other is not. The fruit of the labor is the same, but the FOCUS is different. The individual who works on the lathe in the factor is engaged in spiritual labor when the focus of his life is "the Kingdom of God and His righteousness". Conversely, an individual can be a missionary for the Gospel in a foreign land and be engaged in secular work if the FOCUS of his life is someday becoming president of the mission.
Thus the secular is spiritual when the FOCUS of a person’s lie is temporal. The slave in the salt mine is just as important in his labor as the pastor or missionary, assuming both are laboring for the glory of God and His Kingdom.
There is an unequal distribution of gifts and opportunities. Some people are marginally gifted; others are multi-gifted. Some are able to labor in God’s vineyard for many years; others for only a short period of time. Thus it is not the amount of fruit which an individual produces that pleases God, but the degree to which he is faithful to the opportunities God has given him. All of this is blurred if Christians do not have a firm grip on the fact that there is no intrinsic value in the product of work.
SIGNIFICANCE IS NOT FOUND IN THE KIND OF WORK YOU DO
The last half of the 20th Century America has been marked by an identity crisis. People in a state of disorientation are looking desperately for a sense of self-worth and purpose as seen by the many self-help/self-esteem books hat are on the shelves. The entrance of women in the market place is a vivid example of this phenomenon. Not infrequently is heard the argument that the home does not produce an environment conducive to a sense of self-worth. Women want more out of life than dishes and diapers. Men have all the fun. It is competing in the market place that gives challenge to living. To exercise one’s gifts in the context of a vocation is to sense one’s significance. This is one of the great lies of our age. One’s FOCUS should be on the ETERNAL {God, His Word, Souls of men}, not the temporal {things, power, money}.
Significance and a sense of personal worth are found in a person’s relationship with God. In Jeremiah 9:23-24 God identifies three areas in which people with a worldly view looks for significance: wealth, wisdom and power.
This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.
The world defines greatness in terms of these three factors. People are lead to believe that they are important to the degree that they excel in one or more of them. In the economy of God, however, one is able to boast not in any of them, but solely in the fact that he knows and understands God.
People are not significant because they have obtained a PhD, or reached the top of the corporate ladder, or anyone of a thousand worldly standards of success. Such things Paul calls "DUNG". God’s children are significant because they are created in the image of God. He has declared them to be of eternal worth. He has made them "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ"
Romans 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Significance is not found in the exercising of one’s gifts. Gifts differ both in kind and intensity. Two people may have the same gifts with one more gifted than the other. When people look to their gifts for fulfillment, they invariably compare themselves with others. They feel inferior when in the presence of those more gifted than they. Even the highly gifted fear from what is called "the fastest gun in town" mentality. They know someday another will "ride into town" that is more gifted then them.
Nor are significance and the value of labor found in anyone’s vocation. If he looks to his vocation as the source of his fulfillment and receives negative feedback from those with whom he works, he will develop a low self-image. Conversely, the greater the recognition of man, the greater is his sense of self-worth. When a person’s significance is a derivative of his vocation and he loses his vocation, he loses his reason for living.
Steve, a Christian politician, severed in the U.S. Congress for many years. When his district was gerrymandered, he lost the election. For years his life was wrapped up in his vocation, and when it came to an end, he became disoriented, lost his reason for living and died a frustrated man.
Many young people marry several years after college and often the wife has a job in her field of interest. If the husband joins the military a required move is the rule. If the wife cannot work from home or there are no job opportunities in the new location she becomes frustrated and feels she has lost her self-worth.
Often this also happens when the wife gets pregnant. If her focus is wrong {temporal vice eternal} she will work as long as she can, and then try to go back to work as soon as she can.
Joseph was as significant in God’s economy when in prison as when prime minister of Egypt. Moses was as significant during the second forty years of his life in the desserts of Midian as in his last forty years as God’s deliverer. Significance is not to be found in the kind of work one does, nor in the gifts he has, but in being part of the family of God.
YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE NOTHING TO THE WORK OF GOD.
Again and again God reminds His people that His work was finished before the foundation of the world. He created it; He set it into motion; He sustains it. From start to finish it is His work.
Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.
His children can participate in the work of God, but they can contribute nothing. To contribute is to give something, to furnish or to supply. The dictionary defines contribute as "to give something to a common fund or store; to lend assistance to or aid in a common purpose". It has the idea of helping or meeting a need. To participate, on the other hand, has the idea of sharing in something, or as defined, "to possess some of the properties; qualities or attributes of something". It connotes the idea of privilege – the privilege of having a slice of the action.
Contribute: To give or supply in common with others; give to a common fund or for a common purpose To help bring about a result; act as a factor.
Participate: To take part in something: participated in the festivities. To share in something:
God in His love and grace gives His own the privilege of participating with Him in what He is doing. However, if a person believes they can contribute to what He is doing they are deceived.
The conversation between Esther and Mordecai draws attention to this truth.
Esther 4:13-14 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Esther was Queen when Haman, the King’s prime minister, devised a plot whereby the Jews were to be exterminated. When Mordecai draws Esther attention to this plot, he suggests that she can participate in the solution, but if she elects not to, God will bring deliverance from another quarter. God’s promise to Israel will not be altered by the diabolical intentions of Haman. Esther is invited to participate in the solution.
By way of illustration, suppose you were had an unbelievable real estate deal and come to me with the following offer: If I invest $5,000 with you, you will guarantee a return on the investment of $5,000,000 within six months. Not only so, but you are willing to sign a note to the effect that if the profit is not forthcoming, you will return my $5,000. You point out that you do no need my money to consummate the deal; it is an offer you are making out of the generosity and goodness of your heart.
Six months later I receive the $5,000,000 from you. I respond by saying, "Aren’t you glad I helped you put the deal together?" If you were incredulous over such a remark, you would be justified. I did not help you. Out of your generosity you allowed me the privilege of participating with you in that which would ultimately benefit me. So it is with God. We do not help Him in the ministry. He helps you by allowing us to minister.
Those who do not understand that they can contribute nothing to the work of God will;
a) establish wrong goals;
b) make them of primary importance;
c) ultimately compromise the commands of God in an effort to accomplish them.
This can be seen on an individual level. A man said, "I want to serve God. My wife is not a believer and hinders me in everything I endeavor to do for God. She is a millstone around my neck. I have decided that I will divorce her so that I can serve God better." Unfortunately this is not an uncommon attitude. Because this gentleman feels he can contribute something to the work of God, he concludes that his contribution is important, leading him to break the commandments of God in an endeavor to accomplish it.
It can also happen on an organization level. When leaders of an organization feel they can contribute to the work of God, they end up using people rather than ministering to them. What is best for the organization takes precedence over what is best for the person. This can be particularly noted in Christian organization whether it be church or para-church. Leaders who feel they can contribute something to the economy of God, in their endeavor to build men and women of God, end up using people to build their organization.
The person who believes he can contribute {how ever small} something to the work God is doing will define his ministry in terms of how he perceives God is leading him. In this view God becomes dependant upon his contribution, anxiously holding His breath waiting for him to accomplish his task. Others, perceived as an obstacle, are run over, and he competes for the limited resources of men and money with those equally eager to make their contribution.
LEISURE
In one sense leisure is different than rest. Leisure is what gives a person rest, but what is leisure for one person may be work for another. For example, mowing the lawn may be leisure for one person and work (possibly his avocation) for another. Leisure tends to turn into work when one feels there is something he needs to accomplish. For this reason many find their hobbies turning into work.
Although there are these subtle differences between rest and leisure, to pursue them would be to derail the purpose of this paper. Therefore, in this presentation rest and leisure are considered synonyms.
Leisure brings balance to work in the rhythm of life. The Bible in general and the New Testament in particular does not say much about rest and leisure. In the Genesis’ account of creation God rested on the seventh day, but from Adam to Moses there is no command to the effect that man should emulate God in this regard, and the need for rest is not mentioned.
During the Exodus (Exodus 16) the idea of man participating in a Sabbath rest is first introduced. In Exodus 20 it is stated as the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue. From Moses to Christ the Sabbath observance became an important issue in the nation of Israel with dire consequences meted out for failure to keep it.
SIDE NOTE: In Galatians 3:24-25 we read;
So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.
ALSO: Galatians 4:4-5 reads;
But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT THE LAW:
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
THE LAW IS NOW WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS as was foretold in Ezekiel 11:19-20;
And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
THIS CAN BE DONE AS LAID OUT IN;
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Thus from the death of Christ on there is no command to the effect that God’s people should rest or that they should set aside any particular day as holy or sacred. In Romans 14 Paul argues that all days are alike in the sight of God and it is up to the individual to decide if one is more holy than another. In Colossians Paul states;
Colossians 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Many commentators who favor the argument that the Decalogue is applicable today reason that these two statements by Paul refer to special religious days of the Old Testament. The statement does not negate the keeping of the Fourth Commandment.
Even if it is accepted that the Fourth Commandment is applicable for the New Testament in the form of the Lord’s Day, it still leaves unanswered questions such as, how many hours a day should a person work vis-à-vis leisure, how many days a year should be taken for vacation and when {if at all} should a person retire.
To further complicate the problem, there is no mention of how free time is to be spent. In Ephesians 5:15 – 16 Paul states:
Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
And in I Timothy 5:13:
Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
As one can see there is more said about not abusing rest than about what to do with rest.
Hebrews 4 is a great chapter on "The Rest of God", but it deals with unbroken fellowship with God on a day-by-day basis rather than how the believer’s leisure time should be spent. Eukireo, the Greek word for "leisure’, is mentioned but a few times in the New Testament, for example, in Acts 17:21;
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
It is used negatively regarding the Athenians. In Mark 6:31 we reads;
Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."
Here they wanted to rest but there was no leisure. Numerous places mention that they "rested on the Sabbath day".
Luke 23:56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Although the evidence for leisure and rest is far skimpier than for work, Biblical principles can be deduced which are helpful as a guide for determining how to handle this important of life. Because they are directly related to work and in some cases are a corollary to the principles on work, there exegesis will be somewhat shorter.
LEISURE IS NOT MANDATED BY GOD IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
There are examples in both the Old and New Testament of God’s people resting from the work, but there is no command to this effect in the New Testament. A fundamental rule of hermeneutics {Interpreting the Bible according to the grammatical-historical method} is, "An example is not a percept". This leaves the believer on his own to determine before God what he should do.
The body wears out and demands leisure. The New Testament implies this is understood and responds with a caution not to move toward excess. In 1 Timothy 5:13 we read;
Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
or Ephesians 5:15-16
Be very careful, then, how you live-- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Some people fear leisure; others are on a quest for leisure. Often this is reflected in an individual’s age. Young people are often motivated to work hard and fear they are not doing enough. Not infrequently elder people long for retirement and look forward to the days when they can be freed from the necessity of working.
It is important for the believer to realize that it is an issue of stewardship. There will always remain a tension between work and leisure, i.e. how much time should be spent working and how much time should be spent at rest/leisure. The absence of a New Testament mandate regarding leisure means he is dependent upon God to be led by the Spirit in this matter. Legislation regarding leisure/rest tends to legalism.
LEISURE CAN BE AN ACT OF WORSHIP
In the Old Testament there was a frequent link between rest and worship. We read in Leviticus 16:29 - 34
"This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work-- whether native-born or an alien living among you--because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. It is a Sabbath of rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the people of the community. "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Deuteronomy 14:22 – 26 speaks of a "second tithe" { A tenth part of one's annual income contributed voluntarily}, adding to this link the spending of wealth.
Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.
This is not to suggest that believers are obligated to keep the Old Testament laws today, it is illustrative of how God feels about leisure/rest. Regarding wealth, there are two things God hates and two things He loves. He hates hording and stinginess, for they are expressions of man’s independence. He loves extravagance and generosity, for they are expressions of dependence. God wants His people in a posture of perpetual dependence. Thus we have God calling upon His people in Deuteronomy 14 to squander ten percent of their yearly gain – AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP.
With society becoming increasing materialistic, the tendency is to push the pendulum to the opposite extreme. Many in the Body of Christ would like to marry the Biblical admonition of generosity with a social philosophy. Believers are taught they should feel guilty if they extravagantly spend God’s blessings on themselves. Balance is obviously needed here, but leisure and the spending of resources in the pursuit of leisure is not wrong in and of itself.
Work, leisure and wealth, along with life itself, are all gifts of God. There will always be well intentional people telling others how to invest time and/or money. Many fall prey to these kinds of people in an endeavor to eliminate the need to walk by faith. As already mentioned in the principle where leisure is not mandated, it is an issue of stewardship. Most conscientious Christians would love to have someone eliminate the tension of determining how much of their leisure and wealth they should spend on themselves vis-à-vis others, and yet would resent anyone telling them what to do.
In the struggle to maintain the balance, remember that leisure may be an act of worship.
LEISURE CONTRIBUTES NO MORE OR LESS THAN WORK IN THE ECONOMY OF GOD.
This principle is the flip of, "there is no intrinsic value to work", and "you can not contribute to God’s work". Leisure is valid because Christians can produce nothing of significance for God. The product of their labor has no intrinsic value, and they can do nothing to contribute to the work of God.
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob illustrate this principle. From a worldly perspective they produced nothing. They built no cities, conquered no lands, and wrote no books. "Abraham believed God and it was imputed {to attribute; credit} to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
One can believe God in leisure as easily as working.
If the man or woman of God feels work is more important than leisure because he can contribute something of significance in the program of God, then when through illness or some other circumstance he is denied a chance to work, he will feel cheated. Furthermore he will be motivated to work much, even to the detriment of other priorities. This is uniquely subtle trap for the worker who is paid for Christian work {such as a pastor or missionary}. If the feel their work is important in its contribution to God’s cause, the wife and children run the risk of being neglected. Many times this is the reason the phrase "PK" {preacher’s kid} carries a negative connotation. We see this also in the secular work place. The sales person or executive {Christian or not} robs his family of time as he devotes much if not most of his time to his work
If the Christian could contribute to the work of God, he would not be able to handle it. He would burn out trying to reach that last person whose salvation is dependant upon his contribution.
Again the Bible argues for the avoidance of excess. In this regard leisure is analogous to eating. The New Testament does not teach how much to eat nor how much to rest. In both eating and resting excess is to be avoided. Because the Bible does not argue against working excessively, it is easy to conclude God places a higher priority on work than He does on leisure. God’s Word simply does not substantiate this.
Many feel rest is a means to productive work {I can do more if I take time to rest}.This thinking will lead to a repudiation of several of the principles {no intrinsic value in work and you cannot contribute to God’s work} along with negative consequences. Leisure is not valid because it is a means to accomplish labor. Nowhere in the Bible does God teach that man should rest in order to work, nor that he should work in order to rest. Each are valid in and of themselves. Leisure contributes no more or less than work in the economy of God.
LEISURE IS NOT RELATED TO FINANCES.
Leisure is a gift of God and not the fruit of financial gain. Time and wealth are both a gift of God. We read in 1 Corinthians 4:7;
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Those born into wealth have no more right to leisure than those born into poverty. The rich and poor alike are responsible to God for the stewardship of their time and money.
The perception of most is that the poor are where they are because of a lack of hard work. THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE TRUE. We have already established there is no correlation between how hard people work and how much they make. This axiom {a self-evident or universally recognized truth}, is balanced by 2 Thessalonians 3:10
For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Most people also feel the rich deserve leisure. Few question the wealthy squandering their lives on the golf course or in other pursuits of pleasure. THIS SITUATION IS UNEQUIVOCALLY {admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding} FALSE. Since people do not work to earn a living it is God who provides, they are answerable to God for how they spend both their time and their money.
The disciple of Jesus does not retire when he can afford to retire, or when he reaches a certain age. Since a person’s vocation is an environment given by God in which to be an ambassador of Jesus Christ, to retire is to leave one’s pulpit. A person may feel the need to retire for health reasons, and even possibly because of advanced age, but it should never be related to finances.
Some in the Body of Christ believe that in order to serve God you need leisure and that requires money. These people are identified by statements like, "When I put this deal together, I will have the time to serve God".
Others feel if they have less wealth than they want, they should work more and rest less. Biblical priorities tend to be neglected as they look to the arm of the flesh rather than God for the meeting of their needs.
Remember, "Leisure is not related to finances". This axiom, along with the others dealing with rest and leisure, is inextricably {so intricate or entangled as to make escape impossible} related to those concerning work. All of them are merely facets of a Biblical understanding of work and leisure.
CONCLUSION
Today’s culture has developed a deeply embedded, non-Scriptural concept of work and leisure. A Biblical perspective on this important aspect of life cuts across the grain of what most of life teaches. These nine principles do not eliminate the tension in each Christian’s life as he seeks to maintain a balance between work and leisure but they will assist in keeping him from the extremes of legalism and rudderless.
From a 1986 CBMC laymans conference in Corpus Christi, Texas. The speaker and author was WALT HENRICHSEN.
Additional information about Walt may be gained at Discipleship Library.
A Selected Bibliography
Angrell, Goran. Work, Toil and Sustenance. Sweden: Verburn-Hokan Ohlsson, 1976.
Calvin, John. Commentaries on the Bible, Vol.45. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1956
Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol. I & II. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1964.
Carson, D.A., ed. From Sabbath to Lord’s Day. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1982.
Diehl, William E. Christianity and Real Life. Philadelphia, PA. Fortress Press, 1976.
Edwards, Paul, editor in chief. The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1967
Halverson, Richard C. Between Sundays. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1965
Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology, Vol. III Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1952.
Kittle, Gerald, ed. Et al. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eedrmans, 1974
Marshall, Paul. Thin is the Kingdom. Great Britain: Camelot Press, 1984
Middlemann, Udo. Pro-exist-ence. Downers Gover, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974
Adeny, Bernard. "Work: Necessity, Vocation, Strategy". Rodix, Jan/Feb, 1984.