Adopted from L. Byars, 2/90.
Revised by Tony E. Denton
for this presentation, 6/07.
ASiteForTheLord.com
It seems that the pagans of Christ’s day viewed
labor as for slaves; work was degrading & avoided
because of the effort involved. Notice…
Acts 17:21: All the Athenians and the foreigners …
spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or
hear some new thing.
Ephesians 4:28: Let him who stole steal no longer,
rather let him labor, working with his hands what is
good, that he may … give to him who has need.
First Thessalonians 4:11: Work with your hands, as
we commanded you. And…
Second Thessalonians 3:10-11: If anyone will not
work, neither shall he eat. We hear that there are
some who walk among you in a disorderly manner,
not working at all.
This distaste for work is even reflected to
some extent in our society today.
The 1960s saw the rise of the hippie
subculture in America, a group that
had the demoralizing attitude that
work is a curse on man.
Today government welfare has taught many
of our citizens that they can live better by not
working, causing work to lose its value. So…
OUR QUESTION FOR TODAY IS THIS:
HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS VIEW WORK?
LABOR POSSESSES VALUE.
The value of labor is seen in the creation.
Labor was God-ordained in the work of creation:
Genesis 1:1 states that In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth. Later…
He created man and placed him in a garden to work:
Genesis 2:8 & 15 tell us that God planted a garden
and that He put man in the garden … to tend ... it.
(Labor before man’s fall reveals the importance that
God placed on labor for man’s own good.) In fact…
Everything God pronounced good in creation was a
product of His labor: light (Gen. 1:3-4), water & land
(9-10), vegetation (11-12), stars, moon, & sun (16-18),
animals & mammals (20-25), and even man (26-31).
LABOR POSSESSES VALUE.
The value of labor is taught by harsh realities.
As a result of man’s sin, he was cast into a harsh
world where labor became a toil: Genesis 3:17b-19a
read, To Adam God said, “Cursed in the ground
for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days
of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring
forth for you…. In the sweat of your face you shall
eat bread until you return to the ground”; but there’s
value even in this: the thorns and thistles of life always keep the consequences of sin before us.
Even the eroding power of time, use, & the elements
cause the work of maintenance to be a valuable labor: Ecclesiastes 10:18 reads, Because of laziness
the building decays and … the house leaks.
LABOR POSSESSES VALUE.
The value of labor is experienced in rest.
We experience the satisfaction
of accomplishment once
our labor is completed.
As God created things He saw His work was good,
but not until it was completed did He see that it
was very good (Genesis 1:31). Likewise…
When we look at our to-do list and notice every
item crossed out, we feel the satisfaction of accomplishment; labor allows us to feel this satisfaction and so is profitable for our contentment.
LABOR POSSESSES VALUE.
The value of labor is experienced in rest.
We find peacefulness in rest because of labor.
Before God found value in rest, He labored: Genesis 2:1-2a read, The heavens and the earth and all
the host of them were finished. So … God ended
His work which He had done, and He rested.
Labor gives our rest value; divorce labor from rest,
and our rest becomes restlessness: Proverbs 26:
14 reads, As a door turns on its hinges, so the
slothful turns on his bed; and Ecclesiastes 5:12
reads, The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of
the rich will not permit him to sleep.
LABOR CAN POSSESS FUTILITY.
In spite of the value of labor, many believe that labor is empty and futile: Ecclesiastes 2:18-22 read,
I hated all my labor in which I had toiled…, because
I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?
Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled
and in which I have shown myself wise…. This is
vanity. Therefore I turned my heart and despaired
of all the labor in which I had toiled…. For there’s
a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, &
skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who
hasn’t labored for it. This also is vanity & a great
evil. For what has man for all his labor and for the
striving of his heart with which he has toiled…?
LABOR CAN POSSESS FUTILITY.
The only solution for such a vain view of work is
to convince oneself that his labor is in fact good.
Solomon went on to say in Ecclesiastes 2:24 that
Nothing is better for a man than that … his soul
should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw,
was from the hand of God. Then…
In 3:22 he wrote, So I perceived that
nothing is better than that a man
should rejoice in his own works, for
that is his lot.
So…
LABOR CAN POSSESS FUTILITY.
Why do many people see work as unimportant?
Well, there are at least four reasons:
1. Many see their jobs as a means to achieve selfesteem and recognition. They’re the ones who
are driven to be the best in their fields. Life has
purpose when they achieve this esteem, so their
jobs are seen as the means to attain their goals.
2. Others see their jobs as a means to get power and
control. They’re the ones who want to be rich and
high on the corporate ladder & social scale. They
hunger & thirst for power to give their lives meaning and purpose; so their work is viewed as the
means to attain this end.
LABOR CAN POSSESS FUTILITY.
Why do many people see work as unimportant?
Well, there are at least four reasons:
3. Others see work as the means to achieve pleasure. They see life void of purpose unless they’re
having a good time, so in order to give life this
purpose, they’ll work on the week days to afford
to party on the weekends, making work the necessary evil that gives life purpose.
4. Still others see work as an end in itself. They’re
compulsive workers—not comfortable unless
busy at work. Deep down they know their lives
are void of real purpose, so (although God didn’t
mean for it to be such) they make labor a purpose
for living—they work to have something to do.
LABOR CAN POSSESS FUTILITY.
What then is the purpose of labor?
1. Labor is to sustain life: Second Thessalonians
3:10 reads, Even when we were with you, we
commanded you this: If anyone will not work,
neither shall he eat.
2. Labor is to support our families: First Timothy 5:8
reads, If anyone does not provide for his own, especially for those of his own household, he has
denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
So labor is to honor God—not to give purpose to life!
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We honor God in our labor when that labor helps
advance the redemptive work of God.
While God maintains His work of creation,
creation was only the basis for His greatest work—the redemption of man; this
spiritual labor is the very focus of the
divine purpose, and from this we realize
that physical labor is necessary, but its
value is insignificant in comparison to
God’s spiritual work. So…
A Christian doesn’t just labor at his occupation for
the sake of labor: he labors for the purpose of advancing the redemptive work of God!
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
Jesus is our example.
He was a fellow-laborer with God; in His creative
work He made the heavens & the earth: Colossians
1:16 reads, By Him all things were created that are in
heaven and that are on Earth, visible and invisible.
… All things were created through Him and for Him.
But it took His reconciling work to bring heaven and
Earth to the Father: verses 19-20 read, It pleased the
Father … to reconcile all things to Himself by Jesus,
whether things on Earth or things in heaven, having
made peace through the blood of Jesus’ cross.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
Through physical labor God prepared His Son to
do His work.
By God’s design Jesus wasn’t born
to a king, but to a carpenter (Mat.
13:55a). And being the son of a carpenter, Jesus probably learned the trade of His
father, for the rabbis said, He who doesn’t teach his
son a craft is, as it were, bringing him up to robbery.
Just as Moses was taken from Pharoah’s palace and
made a shepherd to prepare him to be a shepherd of
God’s people, so also Jesus was taken from the portals of Heaven & made a carpenter so that He could
learn to fashion men into new creations.
Then…
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
Jesus glorified God by accomplishing His work.
As He labored to bring men to God, Jesus spoke often about His work.
In John 4:34 He said, My food is to do the will of
Him Who sent Me and to finish His work.
In John 5:17 He said, My Father has been working
until now, and I have been working.
In John 5:36 He said, The work which the Father
has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—
bear witness of Me that the Father has sent Me.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
Jesus glorified God by accomplishing His work.
He was compelled to accomplish this work, for
through His labor God was glorified: in John 17:4
Jesus said to God, I have glorified You on the earth.
I have finished the work that you gave Me to do.
Through His sacrificial labor we became God’s
workmanship: Ephesians 2:10 reads, We are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works which God prepared….
Jesus gave God honor by purposing to do God’s
work, working with God in man’s redemption and
accomplishing His work.
Like Jesus…
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We’re workers together with God, something that’s
true in at least three ways:
1. When we make God’s work our purpose in life,
we’re workers together with Him.
The soul of man hungers for an eternal purpose
to which he can give his whole life; such an abiding purpose gives life stability and focus.
We can learn a great lesson here from the call at
Jacob’s Well:
The disciples asked Jesus to take bread, but He
had found true nourishment in the work of God: in
John 4:32-34 Jesus said, “I have food to eat of
which you do not know. Therefore the disciples
said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him
anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is
to do the will of God and to finish His work.”
As the Samaritans were drawing near (vv. 29-30),
Jesus called His disciples to the work of God, not
the harvest of wheat, but of men: verse 35 has
Jesus saying, Do you not say, “There are still four
months, and then comes the harvest?” Behold, I
say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields,
for they are already white for harvest!
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We’re workers together with God, something that’s
true in at least three ways:
2. When we allow God to prepare us for His work
via our trade, we’re workers together with Him.
Physical labor is a discipline that requires the
exercise of character; and since God needs responsible, equitable, disciplined, and persevering
workers, let’s consider these three questions:
A. Has our work made us responsible? The ability
to be accountable for our actions and to our bosses is responsibility; First Corinthians 4:2 reads, It
is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
B. Has our labor made us equitable? The requirement of justice that demands honesty and fairness
on the job is equity, such as in giving a full day’s
work for a full day’s pay: as Second Timothy 2:15
alludes to, let us be workers who do not need to be
ashamed.
C. Has our labor made us persevering? The ability
to endure through a task until it’s finished is persevering: in Matthew 10:22 Jesus said, You will be
hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We are workers together with God; this is true in
at least three ways:
3. When our work becomes a ministry, we’re workers together with God.
Our attitude toward work must be that work isn’t
just a means of support; to the Christian it’s a
means of ministry through which he can advance
God’s work of redemption, directly while at work
and indirectly with his wages for preachers.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We are workers together with God; this is true in
at least three ways:
3. When our work becomes a ministry, we’re workers together with God.
We need to serve our employers with the dedication of a servant of Christ: Ephesians 6:5-7 read,
Servants, be obedient to … your masters (or employers) … with fear and trembling [and] in sincerity of heart as to Christ; not with eye-service
as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart; with good will doing
service, as to the Lord and not to men.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We are workers together with God; this is true in
at least three ways:
3. When our work becomes a ministry, we’re workers together with God.
We need to reflect the character of God in our
work by being faithful, diligent, honest, and persevering; this is living the godly life before our
associates.
We need to declare the Gospel to associates, directly at work or by setting up studies; at work
isn’t the place for religious debates, but it is the
perfect place to interest our friends in the Gospel.
HOW CAN WE HONOR GOD
IN OUR LABOR?
We are workers together with God; this is true in
at least three ways:
3. When our work becomes a ministry, we’re workers together with God.
We need to do our best to expand our circles of
influence through excellence in our jobs: Proverbs 22:29 reads, Do you see a man who excels
in his work? He will stand before kings; he will
not stand before unknown men.
This striving for excellence isn’t to give our lives
purpose; the work of God has given us that. Our
passion for excellence should be for the sole purpose of becoming more effective in God’s work.
In Conclusion…
1. The Christian places great value in labor.
2. Work is necessary for life, but it isn’t the purpose of life.
3. Physical labor achieves its highest aspiration
when it honors and glorifies God.
The true occupation of a Christian is to further
the work of God. So…
We should strive to excel in our jobs for the
glory of God!