Why go to work?

A Biblical View of the MarketplaceLost Valley Men’s Retreat

Thinking biblically…

A = Biblical Standard

B = Time

Why do we go to work?

0Most will respond by stating…

0To earn a living

0Gotta pay the bills

0I owe, I owe, So Off To Work I Go!

0My Take Home Pay Won’t Take Me Home

Why do you go to work?

0Money

0Intrinsic Motivation

0Socializing

0Societal Norm

Source: www.frugaldad.com

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow, A.H. (1943) The Theory of Human Motivation

Hierarchy of Social Needs

The American Dream

0Society will lead us to believe that work will give us…

0Wealth0Prestige0Esteem0Purpose0Values0Standards0Success

The American DreamThe American dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position."

James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America, p.214-215

The American Dream

"…to every man, regardless of his birth, his shining, golden opportunity ….the right to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him.“

Thomas Wolfe

Paradigm Shift

God NEVER intended for man to work for these reasons!

We need to re-think:0 Why do we go to work? 0 How do we approach the

whole subject of work?

How it all began…

God completed His work and rested

By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Genesis 2:2 & 3 (NASB)

How it all began…According to Genesis 2:15-20, God commanded Adam to do four things:

1. Cultivate the Garden2. Keep It3. Eat its Fruit (with one exception)4. Name the Animals

God gave man work BEFORE the Fall – Work is good! Work is an expression of God’s grace

How it all began…After the Fall man is opposed in his labor.

In Genesis 3:17-19 we see the outcome:

1. The ground is cursed

2. In toil man will eat all the days of his life

3. Man is condemned to exhausting labor until death

Man is opposed in his labor

Experiences pain and frustration

Work is still good

Lessons from Solomon…

Labor, much like a man’s legacy, is all vanity.

0 I hated all of the fruit of my labor

0 I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor

0All the days of [a man’s] task is painful and

grievous, even at night his mind does not rest –

Ecclesiastes 2:18-24

Lessons from Solomon…

0 I know there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime. Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor – Ecclesiastes 3;12 & 13

0Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him – Ecclesiastes 5:18

The Tension0Labor and toil are a vexation – at best it’s all a

mess0Enjoyment of our labor produces emptiness0Toil of our labor also produces frustration

0Balanced by the enjoyment of the good of the labor

0Eat and drink – enjoy the fruit of our labor0It’s not all bad, says Solomon

The Tension

Antinomies…

1. We are commanded to work, yet we are opposed in our work.

2. Enjoy work. Do not go to work in order to seek enjoyment.

Focus on the Eternal vs. the Temporal

Why do we go to work?

Three main reasons:

1. God has commanded us to work

2. Work is an environment for us to represent

Jesus Christ (E²)

3. Work is used by God to determine our

eternal rewards

Reason #1

God has commanded us to work

Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life…

- John 6:27

Reason #1

God has commanded us to work

0Obedience is essential

0We do not work to earn a living

0If you do not work…you do not eat

0Core issue – Willingness to obey

Reason #2

Work is an environment for us to represent Jesus Christ (E²)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

- 1 Corinthians 5:20

Reason #2

Work is an environment for us to represent Jesus Christ (E²)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you…

- 1 Peter 2:9

Reason #2In the Marketplace…0Age Range 19-65 yrs

050 hrs/wk = 2,600 hrs046 yrs = 199,600 hrs0Days at work = 8,3170Years at work = 22.8

Half of his time is spent at work!

Reason #2

0Our work is NOT secular…it is spiritual

0Minister to men right where you are - Do not

compartmentalize

0This is not by accident – God is Sovereign

0We are all in full-time Christian work

0Again…work is an expression of God’s grace

Reason #3

Work is used by God to determine our eternal rewards

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

- Colossians 3:23 & 24

Reason #3

Work is used by God to determine our eternal rewards

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

- Matthew 16:26

Reason #3

0Only ONE person we seek to please

0God is the source

0Faithfulness to opportunity

0Consequences for disobedience

0Reward is a powerful motivator

Why do we go to work?

Three main reasons:

1. God has commanded us to work

2. Environment for us to represent Jesus Christ

3. Used by God to determine our eternal

rewards (and consequences)

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as

unwise men, but as wise, making the

most of your time, because the days are

evil.

- Ephesians 5:15 & 16

Why do we go to work?