Episode Details

Prayer

Our gracious God, we thank you for the gift of life and for the gift of work.

We pray as we open your word now that you would renew our minds,

give us understanding,

and help us to live more and more in accordance with your design for the gift of work.

We pray for your help in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Reading

Genesis 2:15.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

Meditation

Work is, by God’s design, supposed to be service. Not self-serving, but an opportunity to serve others. The Hebrew word for “work” in verse 15 can be translated as “serve” or “work.” The two concepts are actually very closely related. In verse five we see that the ground needed a man to work it and, as we saw back in chapter one, man was to have dominion over the creatures and the earth. An essential aspect of dominion, therefore, is that man was called to serve. This is why Christ, the only perfect man, and the fulfillment of masculinity, came “not to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45).

The fundamental nature of work, the reason God gave us the gift of work, is to serve God and others. When God created the world in six days, a basic aspect of his work was that he worked to provide a blessing for all his creatures (thus it was that he “blessed them”). Man, created in the image of God, is then called to serve in the same task, continuing that task as history unfolds (except, of course, on a human level rather than a divine level). Man’s work, just like God’s work, is a work of service to others. Work is service.

It’s extremely important that we understand this and imprint it in our hearts. Maybe we need to change the kind of language we use to describe our work. Maybe we say: “I don’t have a job, I have service.” It’s not your occupation (which is a benign sounding thing), it’s your calling to serve. Work is fundamentally designed to function as a service to others. God gave the man strength so that he could pour that strength out through his work to the benefit other people. Just as God himself pours out of his infinite life and goodness for the benefit of his creation and people.

Notice that what we’re talking about here is really alien to the world. The general ethos of the world is that you work to make money for yourself. You work to get as far ahead as you can, to advance your career, to take care of your needs, and that often at the cost of others. But God did not give us the gift of life and work so that we could prioritise ourselves and be selfish. He gave us this gift so that we could work as a blessing and give to others. Contrary to the ideology of socialism, capitalism doesn’t fail because private property is wrong. To the contrary, private property is God’s design (as we see in the 8th Commandment). Capitalism is not the problem, it’s the blueprint. The problem is the sinful, selfishness of the fallen human heart. Corporate greed is a result of this fundamental selfishness. Capitalism doesn’t abuse people, people abuse people. So then we as Christians that work is not about selfishness, it’s about servant-ness. Work is service.

When you think about it, this actually makes a whole lot of sense. Which businesses are the ones that tend to get ahead? They’re ones who prioritise customer service – they produce something excellent that benefits other people. They prioritise the needs of others, and they meet a need in the marketplace. So also when a business takes care of customers, they get good reviews on google. You excel in the marketplace when you meet a need effectively. The Christian shoemaker from Luther’s example, as he makes excellent shoes, those shoes will be a blessing to the person who buys them. He won’t cut his feet, he will be comfortable as he walks, and he will recommend that shoe maker to other people.

I bought a leather pair