Work Is Cursed. We Need The Gospel.

If you read media reports, you’ll discover most of them see work in a negative light.

Here are recent examples: Employee engagement is down. The perceived quality of products and services is falling. Both companies and consumers think customer service is difficult to deal with. And the American work ethic is significantly weaker than it was before COVID-19.

What all these articles are saying is that work is cursed. Our sinful state is one of total depravity, and though that doesn’t change, the culture has changed. The contemporary worker has changed. So how does a Christian live in the world where the postpandemic work ethic reigns?

To answer this question and to work for the Lord in modern culture, we go to the unchangeable gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. Work in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

On my way home, there’s a billboard advertising a sporty convertible Mercedes and proclaiming, “Expect Excellence.” When I see that, I think, Yeah! I expect excellence from Mercedes. If I’m going to make sacrifices and buy that car, I’m going to expect excellence. Everyone understands that Mercedes will produce an excellent car.

If we can say that about a company created and run by humans, then we shouldn’t be uncomfortable saying that God expects excellent work from us as Christians. Because we’ve been purchased by Christ’s blood, because we belong to him, we must live in a manner worthy of his gospel (Phil. 1:27).

We may object to this terminology because Scripture teaches us we aren’t saved by our worth but by God’s grace. God alone is worthy, and Christ came to save us from the guilt of sin that makes us unworthy.

In Philippians 1:27, the Greek axios means “bringing up the other beam of the scales, bringing into equilibrium, equivalent.” Sinclair Ferguson explains the apostle Paul is calling Christians to live a life that matches the gospel, that’s balanced with the grace we’ve received. Let your manner of life weigh the same as the gospel.

Jesus said, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matt. 5:41). Christian workers will not settle for the bare minimum at work; they’ll do their jobs excellently. Tim Keller said that a Christian pilot is excellent and exercises his faith at work by landing the plane so that it can take off again. A cook exercises his Christian faith by bringing the meat to the right temperature.

Christian workers will not settle for the bare minimum at work; they’ll do their jobs excellently.

In Colossians 3:22–23, Paul says to bondservants, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” The author of Ecclesiastes says, “Enjoy your life. . . . Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might” (Eccl. 9:9–10).

It doesn’t matter what work you do—if you’re a Christian, you’ll seek to do all things in a worthy manner.

2. Teach the younger generation to work.

I often hear how hard it is to find trustworthy workers or good help. You can pursue work as God intended by teaching the younger generation—your children, your grandchildren, your nephews and nieces—to work.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” You train your child when you teach that child to work. Mary Beeke writes,

Recently, our daughter, who is married and the mother of three small children, read a blog on motherhood. A young mom questioned, “Should I unload the dishwasher while my daughter is awake? Or should I only play with her?” A prevailing attitude today is that the best parenting is to play, either educational play or fun play, with our children during all their waking hours. To require children to work at a young age would be cruel, the epitome of “child labor”!

Child labor it isn’t, for the Lord assumes our children will work. Exodus 20:8–10 says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter” (emphasis added).

You can pursue work as God intended by teaching the younger generation to work.

In his book How Should I Live as a Single?, Joel Beeke encourages single men and women to get involved with their family and to help out with the nephews and nieces and extended family members. He says, “Serve the family that God has given you.”

My children have more than they need; few things would bring me more joy than knowing that their grandparents, aunts, and uncles are helping me teach my children to work.

Work Worthy

Let’s model work for our family, for each other, and for the little ones as we labor in a manner worthy of the calling to which we’ve been called.

We do this knowing that Jesus provided for us eternal life, our skills and abilities, and the breath in our lungs. Pursuing excellence at work, then, is simply a chance to say to God in a meaningful way, “Thank you! Thank you for the salvation I have in Jesus Christ.”