Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Sept/72

Contributor - Lou Harvey

Title - Work - Bane or Blessing

Topic - Work

When we look at this whole aspect of work, or vacation, we have sometimes wondered what it is all about. So often it seems to be a constant struggle to keep our stomachs full. Others find it a constant struggle to get a bank account so that they can have all, or at least some, of the things they want. We have all probably wondered at one time or another if work is really good for us or is it just one of those necessary evils and facts of life? Depending upon what kind of job one has and depending also on one's whole view of life hinges many answers to this question about work. Is work to be a good or an evil ? Is work to be one of our joys of life ? Is work just something that we have to live with because we can't change it?

There is not going to be any attempt made to answer all the various questions and speculations about work and the world around us. The object here is merely to get us to think about our individual approach to work and to point out something of the believer's approach to work. In doing this we will go back first to get a little history and theology of work as it has developed through the centuries and then some practical observations of the Christian believer and his approach to his work.

A definition of work that appeared in print not so long ago and which is an acceptable starting point for us is the following: "Work is here understood as human activity designed to accomplish something needed and valued for its function in civilized life . . ." Along with this definition is the additional comment that work is a term most commonly applied to manual or physical labour but there is no satisfactory reason for excluding intellectual or other psychological effort from one's understanding and definition of work. Thus, to make it clear for ourselves we consider work to be physical and /or mental exertion and labour to accomplish something needed and valued for its function in human life. For our purpose, the a worker may be an office worker, a construction man, an author, a salesman, a doctor, etc. - any one who is producing something that is needed and valued for its function in civilized life .

As we go back a few centuries! we see that there have been various approaches to work. At the height of the Greek and Roma] civilizations, pure physical work was not held in high esteem. Ii fact, a consequence, in part a least, was the institution of slavery in that era of history. , Ii contrast we find, according to the Scriptures, that physical labour was held in great esteem among the Hebrews, and they were , working people despite the existence of the forms of slavery here and there. We also find that the Hebrew people, freed from the slavery of Egypt by God's act., of love and power at the time oi the exodus, then served God ir work, rest, and worship and their pattern of work was taken after God's own pattern in Genesis 2: 1 - 3. It is easy to see that their work was directed to the eternity, the unchangeableness, and to the holiness of God. I The rest from work effected the animals of work as well as man. For the success of his work man was seen to be completely dependent upon God without whose help man's labour was in vain. (Psalm 127: 1 - 2.) Work throughout the Scripture of the Old Testament had significant value and in the earthly sense it had value in discipline, security, and the avoidance of evil.

We find the Gospel approach to work exactly the same ! People were at work. Farmers, fishermen, harvesters, vine dressers, tax collectors, servants, etc. We see that even the Lord Jesus Christ in His human form toiled and worked in that sense much longer than as a preacher. He came from a home where work was known and was taken for granted. The Lord Jesus Christ even said of His own mission of salvation that it was His work. However, it does have to be noted here that Christ's teaching and example was mainly that of man's relationship to God - and it was not man's relationship to economics.

The teaching of the Apostles was and is that work is seen as a moral essential of the Christian life. James says it is wrong to in any way deprive the worker of his just wage. Peter teaches us that the hardship of work in patient union with Christ guards man from evil. We also find there is a spiritual basis for the master-servant relationship or, for today, the management--Work-' er relationship, and, according to John, even menial labour is to be a work of love. (John 13 :12 - 17) The Apostle Paul, however, brings up the greatest -theme and the theology of work when he says, "We did not eat anyone's food without paying for it. In fact we toiled and laboured night and day to avoid being the slightest expense to any of you. This was not because we had no right 'to ask our necessities of you, but because we wanted to set you an example. When we were actually with you we gave you this prin ciple to work on: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." Now we hear that you have some among you living quite undisciplined lives, never doing a stroke of work and busy only in other people's affairs. Our order to such men, indeed our appeal by the Lord Jesus Christ, is to settle down to work and eat the food they have earned themselves. And the rest of you: don't get tired of honest work !" (II Thess. 3 : 8 - 13, Phillips.)

The fact of work, working, a job, a vocation, or whatever it might be called, is and always will be a part of our lives. Our technological ability may continue to change the kind of work we do, but it will always be before us and we will find, as we do today, that work in general is not easy. The fact that we have complicated modern conditions of work does not change the fact that it is always hard to earn a living. So, how are we to approach the fact of work ? There are still two ways to approach work. On way is to see our work as a status symbol and money as our god. The other approach is to see our work as itself an end goal and a contribution to the good of society and mankind. The Calvinistic Christian approach is to see our work as a calling of our God and, therefore, an opportunity, privilege, and responsibility to let our work, whatever it may be, give honour and glory to God.

This does become difficult in our age of assembly line mass production. It is quite a boring thing, for example to put door handles on the doors which will be attached to the car later on down the assembly line, or to stand all day screwing light bulbs into sockets inside refrigerators as they come down the assembly line, or to constantly weld pieces of metal together so that after a few more operations those pieces can become the frame of a new car. The approach that the Christian must take about his work is that first of all work, though it be hard or boring, is not necessarily evil. The concept of work even in the book of Genesis is that work is good. I am not speaking here, however, of those activities and occupations that are expressly condemned by the Word of God as being immoral and destroying human nature, or even activities and jobs that are related to the destruction of body or soul. The kind of work I speak of is that kind of activity designed to accomplish something needed and valued for its function in life and that contributes to the upbuilding of our lives and not to its destruction. - So our work, whatever it is, is not to De an evil but a good. Man was given hands to work with and a brain to think with and Dr. Sherwood Wirt once said quite succinctly, "It is a natural thing for a man to want to work, but until he receives his call from God, until he is empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry through his function of work in life, his work is a &udge, a bore, and simply a method of survival." Herein lies the great factor for work today the need for each Christian believer (assembly line worker, maintenance, salesman, house keeper, office worker, whether it be on either end of the management-worker relationship) to see his work 'within the framework of his redemption in Jesus Christ. One of the factors of life which is being constantly overlooked and forgotten is that when a worker has given his life to Jesus Christ, it is at that point that God gives him a sense of vocation, a calling to his work. It is then that an individual's work is lifted from drudgery and boredom to something that is realized to be useful and a valued function in life. This redemptive factor is carried through not only in the work itself but also among the people with whom the believer is working. As Christians we are called not only to do our work for the glory of God, but at one and the same time to relate to our fellow workers that same redemptive life that God has given us in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Work does not have to be glamorous to have divine significance and meaning!

That great text in Corinthians (I Cor. 10 :31ff) ought to be applied by each Christian in whatever his work may be, whether it be nasty, dirty work or whether it be tolerable or even enjoyable work. Paul stated that whatever we do - do all to the glory of God. This is the great need today, that the Christian worker will see his work in his redemption in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he will relate his gratitude to God for his salvation to his work and to those who work around him. Realizing all the complications of modern-day production, the Christian worker can still have a powerful impact on work, on his fellow workers, in his union and on the whole of society. Let us live, worship, work and relate to the world around us in such a way that we are salt and light of Christ.

In closing this last thought may be meaningful to a great many today. It is said of Mrs. Billy Graham, and of a great many others as well, that they have put signs up at places where they have difficult, hard, boring work that is drudgery to them. Mrs. Graham, for example, has above her kitchen sink a sign which states, "Divine services held here every day." This is our need; this is when our work takes on the different quality, form, and meaning. Our work, as nasty or as delightful as each individual thinks it is, is the place where we can and must serve and worship God and also serve humanity each time we punch in. Work is a gift of God, a privilege and a responsibility, a necessity of life, and a time of worship and service. Whatever work you do - do it to the glory of God and then it will really count for both time and eternity.

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