Monday, September 1, 2008               Labour Day (Canada, U.S.A.)

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A Christian View of Labour

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24).

Some people have taught that there is work for the Lord — what we call Christian service — and then there is all the other work that most of us are involved in.  One is sacred and the other is secular.  One is kingdom business and the other, well, lets just say that it would be seen as less than that.  What is interesting is that the Bible actually knows none of this distinction.

We have done the same thing with almost everything.  We think that a tenth of what we earn belongs to the Lord and the rest is ours to do with as we please.  1 Corinthians 4:7 says "What do you have that you did not receive [from God]?" and Job 41:11 says, "Everything under heaven belongs to me."  We think that we are the boss of ourselves and the king of our castle.  Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it."  1 Corinthians 6:20 is even stronger for those who claim the name of Christ:  "You are not your own; you were bought with a price.  Therefore honor God with your body."  We think that one day a week is reserved for the Lord, but when scripture says, "This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24), it was not referring to any specific day — he has made them all and they all are meant for joy.

What we need to see is that God not only desires to be but actually is intimately part of each and every single thing that we do.  Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).  God's Spirit lives in you and me (1 Corinthians 3:16).  Scripture would go so far as to say things like "your bodies are members of Christ himself" (1 Corinthians 6:15) and "he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:17).  Colossians 3:3-4 says that we actually have no life that is separate from Christ and that in reality, He, namely Christ Jesus, is our life.   The New Testament is filled with such verses.  The point is that there is no part of our life that is exempt from being Christian.

In the area of our work almost more than any other, this is an important thing to realize.  We probably prayed and asked God to help us find a job.  And he came through.  If he provided the job and placed us there, do we think that he is not concerned about every day that we are there and what we are doing?  What is his purpose in putting us in that particular place at this time?  What does he want to do there that he needed you or I to be a part of with him?  We do not ever live only to ourselves.

"We cannot live to ourselves only in this world. 
Our lives will always be doing either good or harm to those who see them. 
They are a silent sermon which all can read." — J. C. Ryle
 

It is not just the preacher who preaches on Sunday.  It is not just the missionary who works for the Lord.  We all do wherever we are each and every day.  All work is the Lord's work.  That is why Paul said,

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24, see also Ephesians 6:7-8).

And yes, people are watching.  But more than that, the Lord is watching how you and I work.  We could translate the verse that comes just before this in a modern idiom.  "Employees, obey your earthly employers in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord" (Colosssians 3:22).  Work as unto the Lord.  Thank him for the work that he has given you to do.  Do it to the best of your ability.  And be in the workplace a shining example of one who honors Christ in all that he or she does.  We receive a paycheck from our earthly employers periodically.  Apparently God is putting something into an account based on the way he sees us working too!

Finally, one of the words that we translate "worship" in the Bible can also be translated "work."  That is the way that the Old Testament people of God saw their lives.  We should too.  And truly, when we work as if it were the Lord Christ who was our boss, then everything and anything that we put our hands to can be not just work, but an act of worship to a loving God!

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