What it Means to Work

"And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done."

Work is clearly, very clearly and very obviously important in the Bible. In the very beginning of the Bible, we are told that God himself works, and that we are made in his image. In fact, it wouldn't be an outrageous thing to say if we said that working is the single, most basic, most fundamental thing we can do to look like God, to reflect him, to manifest what it means to be made in his image - which we are also told right there in the beginning.

Think about it. In the very first chapter of the Bible, we're told that God created all things, that he created us in his image, and that he WORKS. The most obvious take away from this is that we are to WORK.

However, being the foolish sinners that we are, we manage to get confused even about something so painfully obvious as this.

There is a problem inherent in the doctrine of vocation. It's actually a pretty significant and glaring problem, but it's also so painfully obvious that it's often a matter of failing to see the forest because you're too focused on examining the veins in a single leaf.

The problem with the doctrine of vocation is that it is formulated and articulated by theologians - most of whom have never experienced what it is to NOT be a minister for a living.

Now don't get me wrong. There have been many ministers - and still are many ministers - who have had jobs at various times of their lives. But they even have a special name for this: tent-making. By this they mean that this job has a very specific purpose: it is a means to an end. Its only value is in enabling their ministry.

Work has its own inherent value. When we work, we image God. We manifest God. We LOOK LIKE God. God's work in creation was to impose order on chaos. When we work, we do the very same thing. We impose God-glorifying order on chaos, taking dominion over the creation.

In order to clarify all of this, we need to make several distinctions.

1. General Revelation vs. Special Revelation

Special Revelation is today equated with the Word of God. The Word of God, consisting of the 66  books of the Old and New Testament = the totality of Special Revelation available to us today.

There were other times in redemptive history when Special Revelation came in other forms. Prophecies, miracles, tongues, etc. When God had something new to say to his people that was above and beyond what he had revealed before, then he bore witness to it with signs and miracles, so that we would know that it really DID come from God.

For example, when God wanted to set Israel apart for himself and turn a bunch of slaves into an independent nation, what set that apart from just a popular slave revolt?

It was the 10 plagues on Egypt, of course, culminating with the crossing of the Red Sea, in which Pharaoh and his army drowned. Why did God do that? So that no one could ever say, "This was ONLY a slave revolt. This was just about political power. This didn't actually come from God. Moses was just a populist leader who wanted power for himself." I think we all know that if the plagues hadn't happened, that'd definitely be easy to say.

But since the miracles happened, it's impossible to say that this was about political power. The slaves didn't just overthrow the Pharaoh. They didn't stay in Egypt. They never fought a battle. The Israelite slaves were quite passive in the whole affair. In fact, God dragged them kicking and screaming the entire time.

It is further illustrated by the woman whose son was raised from the dead by God working through Elijah. After her son was raised, she said, "Now I know the word in your mouth is from God." That's the point. That's why God does it.

So the New Testament that we currently have was attested by signs and miracles. The fact that salvation extended to the Gentiles had a new and special miracle, in which the people of God began to prophesy, uttering God's special revelation, in different tongues - namely tongues/languages OTHER than Hebrew, the holy language of the holy people in which the Old Testament was written. Special Revelation itself was taking on new languages and doing so miraculously. The point was that the Jews no longer had a monopoly on God - salvation belongs to the Gentiles now too.

But now that the New Testament is completed, there is no more need for these miracles. We need only to preach the Word - which has already been proven to be God's Word through the miracles performed at that time - and that will be the only proof we need that what we say comes from God.

So that's Special Revelation. Now what's General Revelation? General Revelation is how God reveals (that's why it's called revelation) himself in the creation. You look up at the sky at night and see all the stars and you marvel at the vastness of the universe. What's next? To marvel at the God who created it all. That's the purpose of it in fact - for you to marvel at God. It's to make you understand a bit about what God is like. You're supposed to hear scientists say that they have found a star 14 billion light years away and say, "Wow, the universe is HUGE, so huge I can't even comprehend it!" And if that's true, how much more is it necessarily true of the God who spoke and the universe came into existence?

2. Common Grace vs. Special Grace

Special Grace is what we typically think of when we think of grace. This is the grace according to which God forgives our sins. Of course, it's more complicated than that. God forgives our sins because Jesus paid for them on the cross. The price Jesus paid for our sins is infinite, so this could have worked whether it saved one sinner or 100 billion sinners. It's by God's grace alone that we are counted among the number of those whose sins are covered by the shed blood of Jesus.

So what IS grace exactly? In a nutshell, it's not getting what you deserve. We deserve eternal death in hell forever. We deserve condemnation. But that's not what we get. Rather than us, Christ was condemned. He is the one who died in our place. So we don't go to hell, we go to heaven to be with the Lord. It's according to grace that we don't get justice for our sins, but rather we get mercy. Jesus satisfied justice on our behalf.

So according to special grace, we are redeemed. So what's common grace then? Go back to the garden of Eden. What SHOULD have happened after Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit? God SHOULD have put them both to death on the spot. "In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." They both deserved death for their disobedience to God. But they didn't get that. Instead, they got to live.

But it wasn't just Adam and Eve that got to live. All of their descendents got to live too, even though none of us should have been allowed to - because Adam and Eve should have been put to death. Had God put Adam and Eve to death as justice required, none of us would have gotten an opportunity to be born. None of us would have ever existed.

This is common grace. According to common grace, the descendents of Adam and Eve get to live - whether they hope in Christ and are recipients of Special Grace or not. Not only do we get to live, but we get to enjoy the goodness of God's creation. "The rain falls on the just and the unjust."

That everyone got to live is only because Jesus would come to die for the sake of the elect - his people. So it is the case that the reprobate (the non-elect) are given the opportunity to live thanks to the cross. If not for the cross, none of us would even have been born. This is why Paul says that Jesus is "the savior of the world, especially of those who believe". Savior here does not have a special grace connotation, but a common grace one.

It is according to common grace that all people enjoy life and the benefits of working and making a living. Cities and police forces and fire protection - these are the fruits of common grace. That we live in relative peace and safety is the fruit of common grace. Of course, common grace doesn't descend upon all in equal measure. Some are born in poverty in a shanty town in some third world nation, while others are born into wealth in a prosperous nation.

However much one is affected by common grace, according to the general principle of common grace, sin is restrained in the world, and the negative consequences of sin are restrained. Everything, literally everything could be much worse than it is. That it is not is thanks to the Holy Spirit's restraining work in the world to restrain evil. Even the hardest criminals draw the line somewhere. Everyone has a conscience, even if it speaks much less loudly in the hearts of some. And it's generally true that though we're all wicked sinners, most of the time we try to do the right thing, or at least avoid certain bad things. People aren't murdered VERY often, most people pay for items they put in their shopping cart, as opposed to just stealing it, etc.

3. Common Realm vs Redemptive Realm

Since there is common grace and special grace, it follows that Jesus, the true King of creation, rules over two realms. One is ruled according to common grace, and one is ruled according to special grace.

The kingdom which Jesus rules over by special grace may be termed the Redemptive Realm, and the kingdom over which he rules by common grace may be termed the Common Realm. Both are made possible by the cross.








However, Christ rules over these two realms here on earth very differently. In the Common Realm, the civil authorities - whoever they may be - are ministers of God's justice. Their call is to punish wrong doing (e.g., execute murderers) and ensure good is being done to the extent reasonable, (e.g., organize provision for widows and orphans, etc.) In the Common Realm, it must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Justice must be upheld in the Common Realm.

In the Redemptive Realm, it's NOT about justice, but about mercy. The church is NOT called to punish wrong doing - which is why penance is not biblical. The church is called to forgive wrong doing: over and over and over and over and over again. As long as someone repents, they can and should be restored. Even excommunication, evicting someone from the church, is not a punishment, but a declaration meant to shame the sinner into repentance. The idea is still to get them to repent and be restored.

Which realm do we live and work in?

We, as believers, live and work in both. We have one foot in each. This is why we tend to get confused. For instance, when someone at work is a "nice" person but fails to do their work accurately or on time, we tend to confuse the workplace with church, and since at church we would forgive them, we think we should at work too. Not so. At work, we should uphold justice because we are operating in the common realm. If you can't do the work for which you are paid, you get fired. It's justice. However, in the church, you treat people very differently, forgiving them as often as they repent.

On the other hand, some people confuse the church with the workplace and only invite the financially successful businessmen of the congregation to become elders, or they insist on seeing lots of experience on a pastor's resume before wanting to call him as their pastor. And so, young seminary graduates with a ton of debt from school are forced to take a call to some dinky church with 3 stubborn families clinging to their church because they'd never accept that they should close the doors, and they offer the poor guy 30k a year, and then tell his wife she's not a good mother when she gets a part time job and sends her kids to public school. Awesome! Two thumbs way up!

4. Three ways to sin: thought, word, deed

Jesus said that it was adultery just to lust after another woman in your heart. (Notice he doesn't say this can only be said of married men. I'm not sure why, but some people seem to be under the impression that adultery can only be committed by married people. That's nonsense.) So sin can take place in thoughts only.

And of course, sin can also be a matter of words, as the book of James so eloquently points out, saying that no one can tame the tongue. The imagery is of a forest fire, and the fire is connected with hell itself. So clearly you can sin with your speech.

And obviously, you can also sin by committing deeds. If you shoot someone at random, you have committed murder.

So there are three ways to sin: by doing something, by saying something or by just thinking something, even if those thoughts are not fully formed, but are just pure desires for evil.

And when we sin, we are expressing something. We are expressing our sinful nature. We are expressing our sinful desires. We manifest our rebellion toward God.

Conversely, then, we who are redeemed are not ONLY sinners, we are not ONLY in rebellion toward God. We can express his righteousness, even if it is in type and shadow, or like looking through a very dirty window, because our righteousness is as filthy rags. Nonetheless, the righteousness that we express is REAL righteousness, even if it pales in comparison to the perfection of Christ's righteousness. And this is true because it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit at work in us.

So then, there are three ways to express the righteousness of Christ who is at work in us: thought, word and deed.

We can do good works (such as going to church), we can say good things (such as singing hymns to God) and we can think good thoughts (such as desiring to sin less and grow in God's righteousness).

However, as James says, we SHOW our faith through good works. Our good works are a living, breathing confession of faith. Our good works confess our faith. And they do so in a much more meaningful and profound way than when our confession consists merely of thoughts and words.

And this only makes sense. It's far more meaningful if I actually strangle my boss to death than if I only joke about doing so with my coworkers or fantasize about doing so in my dreams at night. Not that I ever...never mind. The point is, we all know that actually DOING it means a whole lot more than just words or the private thoughts of the heart. As Jesus said, by their fruit you shall know them, and by fruit, he meant their deeds (as well as the results of their deeds and speech, but you get the point).

So if we in our workplace merely SAY that we have a hope of heaven, for instance, that is of some value. However, if we are treated unjustly, are underpaid, and can't seem to get ahead - yet still come to work every day on time, put in a full day's work, pouring our heart and soul into doing the best job we possible can consistently - that witness is far more powerful than mere words. That proves we REALLY believe it. We aren't placing our hopes here in this life, but in the life to come. This is why the Bible says, "Slaves, obey your masters." Such obedience is confessing your hope of heaven with your deeds, and this testimony is powerful indeed.

But so far we have only been speaking of confessing our faith in Special Revelation in our deeds.

Work = confessing our faith in General Revelation in the context of the Common Realm through our deeds.

Sure, you can confess your hope in heaven by working as a slave even when treated unjustly. But what if you aren't a slave? What if you aren't treated unjustly at work? You can still confess that you know what it means to be a human being made in the image of God by simply working to the best of your ability.

The Bible says that when you work, remember that you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And by calling him Christ, it really means King. After all, Christ is just the Greek word for Messiah, which just means anointed one, which is to say the one God has chosen to be king. Think of Samuel going through each of the 7 sons of Jesse before finally anointing David to be king over Israel. Jesus is the anointed one, the one anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure, the one who is king forever, God and man in one person (but two distinct natures).

Christ is your ultimate King. And he rules over both realms - the Common and the Redemptive. You bear witness to the glory of God just by being a faithful image bearer, by faithfully imposing order on chaos, just as God did in the beginning. To work, to produce, to do, to be a productive contributor to society is to contribute to the benefits of common grace, and to look like God in the midst of a dying world.

Working, therefore, is like preaching a sermon. On Sundays, pastors stand up in the gathered assembly of the people of the Redemptive Realm and they speak a Word on behalf of the King.

Then Monday through Friday, the people of the pews also go out and work, and their work is likewise a confession of what they believe it means to be a human made in the image of God.

Because it is the Common Realm governed by Common Grace - ANYONE, whether believer or not, can express the image of God! Unbelievers may also do very consistently good work. When they do, it brings glory to God. They are expressing godliness. They are showing what God is like. Now, they may be doing it out of selfish ambition, often to make more money. But what did Paul say about those who preach the gospel out of selfish ambition? What do I care? As long as the gospel is preached!

Simply WORKING is good! There is real value in contributing to the Common Realm. Without the Common Realm, there can BE no Redemptive Realm. The Common Realm exists because God didn't put Adam and Eve to death. God's desire to redeem his people necessitated the Common Realm. Without the Common Realm, there could BE no Redemptive Realm.

And yet, many in the church fail to grasp this. To the most vocal in the church, a job is just an opportunity for evangelism. That is its inherent value. You're not there to do a good job, you're there to talk to people about Jesus. 

But what if you didn't measure your job performance according to how many times you made people uncomfortable with your self righteous words, but instead measured it with how much chaos you imposed order on? What if you measured your job performance according to how productive you were? What if you recognized that consistently doing the best work you can every day is not just A way available to you as an option by which you can glorify God, but is THE PRIMARY way that God calls us to glorify him?




What if, instead of feeling guilty about not doing a short term missions trip this summer because we had to work, what if instead we just worked really hard and did our best day in and day out? And what if this meant that we were successful in our careers and that it allowed us to put a healthy amount of money in the offering plate?
And what if we stopped obsessing over what KIND of work we did and just got down to doing the BEST work we're capable of, regardless of what job we find ourselves doing?
Then the light of the glory of God would shine through us - just as much as it does through the capable minister preaching a sermon.