A theology of work

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Von

Von

Puritan Board Sophomore
When someone asks me "Do you enjoy your work?", I find it a really hard question to answer for the following reasons:
  1. I like holiday more than work. I like weekends more than work. I like church more than work. I like spending time with my family and friends more than I like spending time with colleagues. So in comparison - no, I don't like work more than these.
  2. Do I like my work more than other occupations? I would say yes, but then again, I am not trained for any other occupations, so I can't imagine doing anything else.
This is further complicated by the following three things:
  1. Work was given before the curse in Genesis 3, but the futility of work is still part of the curse. If part of work is linked to the curse, then which part are we supposed to like?
  2. As I understand it Christ came to (please bear with my theological ignorance....:confused:) lift the curse completely, but only partially in this life. Is there a redemption of work involved in this?
  3. If the answer is to work for the glory of God, how do we PRACTICALLY do this?
 
Exodus 20:9
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

I have always loved my jobs, and I have had a number of them. It is the gift of God, one of the many good things the Lords has given to me. I have also had many difficulties to be sure. Mostly with my interaction with other sinners. The work itself has cost me half a finger, broken neck, three broken toes, a severed tendon in another finger, and a blown rotator cuff tendon which the doctors say is unrepairable. But I still loved my jobs. I still do.

Think of the alternative. Poverty, temptation due to idleness, lack of self-worth, etc.

Remember. A man's work is cursed by the fall, but work itself is not a curse. It is a great blessing. Adam worked six days a week before the fall, but after the fall he found his work difficult and done in the sweet of his brow and with thorns and thistles. As considered "under the sun," i.e., without reference to God, work indeed can be grievous.
Ecclesiastes 2:17
Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
(See: Ecclesiastes 1:18; 2:8; 2:22, etc.)

The enjoyment of work does not automatically go with the turf. It is a gift of God which is given to whomever he wishes.
Ecclesiastes 3:13 (KJV)
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

A few more verses on the alternatintive to work:

Proverbs 12:24
The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.

Proverbs 15:19
The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.

Proverbs 18:9
He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.

Proverbs 19:15
Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

Proverbs 21:25
The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.​

I attached a short 7-page pdf on work by Rushdoony that you may find helpful.
 

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Ed Walsh said:
I attached a short 7-page pdf on work by Rushdoony that you may find helpful.
Click to expand...
Thank you! By the grace of God you are the first to shed some light on my conundrum. That is a great piece by Rushdoony and answers a whole bunch of questions.
 
Ed covers it well.

Just this morning, early, after I finished talking to a client in jail before his trial today, one of the jailers asked me, "Mr. Bottomly, when do you think you'll retire?"

I looked at him quizzically and quoted Jerry Jeff Walker from his "Honky Tonk Music": "I'm gettin' paid for doin' something I'd be doin' anyway." I followed with, "I reckon I'll retire when I no longer can ambulate myself to a courtroom."

It is indeed a blessing to be able to say that. There have been only a few times in my life I could say I had some kind of depression. They always occurred when I found myself in circumstances where I wasn't active or working. And when depressed, I didn't want to work. The way out was simple: get up and do something.

I noticed in the KJV on Genesis 3:17 that it says "cursed is the ground for thy sake." We all know the ground is cursed and the thorns, literal and figurative, come up every day. But it's for our sake. Even the cursed ground works as a grace upon sinful man.
 
I think we feel the curse of it when it's become a form of slavery to some third party, or maybe even to our own idolatrous ideas; when our bodies are too frail to sustain work and we really need rest; when we are ill suited to the kind of work we are doing -- we were made with different aptitudes and we can best contribute to our community when we're using them; and when we put in a great deal of effort for something that we feel to be ultimately ineffectual. And ultimately every thing is. Even the most enduring work is subject to destruction -- like the great libraries that burned in Alexandria, and the beautiful buildings that have been bombed in wars. A lot of work doesn't last as long as that. It's just this little heave at the fabric of the world that ebbs back again. Or else we accomplish something 'lasting' that will be twisted and misused for destruction the next generation.

I think that when we do what we do to the glory of God we are able to accept the futility. We aren't looking to usher in something enduring, as a linear effect from own efforts. We know that the linear course of everything is to fall into the ground and die, so it can be resurrected. And so all our work falling into the ground becomes a sort of acted prayer for God's resurrecting work. It's interesting that 'eat, drink, and be merry' in 1 Corinthians 15:32 is echoing Ecclesiastes (8:15), where we are also told that labor is vanity (even characterised as a gift, work in Ecclesiastes seems to be a distraction from vanity, not a victory over it -- the epic of Gilgamesh arrives there). But the impact of Christ's resurrection is that our that labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

Those who can't work as they wish understand the correlation between dignity and work very well. Not being able to contribute, not being able to fulfill that aspect of human dignity is an experience of shame that people with chronic illness can really struggle with. But there are usually small things to do for others, and we can still 'abound' in the restful work of prayer or hoping in God, which is not in vain.
 
Good observations, Heidi. Probably 90% or more of everything I do ends up to be futile. And after fatigue or infirmity, the urge is to just lie down and moan.

Then I remember Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He's just come off of a spectacular victory showing God's power, he has run back to the city, on foot, before the king--and then Jezebel says she wants him dead.

Elijah, exhausted, deflated, seeing that everything seemed to be for naught, flees to the wilderness where he was given rest and encouragement (along with a little chastening).

Kind of makes my vain futile experiences seem puny...because they, in fact, are. Yet God is faithful to refresh those who call upon him and encourage them in their objectively weak labors. By faith in Christ, they are mighty works.
 
& Isaiah's servant felt the same thing too, about his labor feeling wasted -- it's kind of amazing to realise that Christ trusted in God perfectly through that sense of futility in labor, too; and when we feel that way we're still sharing *His* experience.

I love that chapter. Even the work of a great prophet was this heave that felt like it just ebbed away -- except that God gave Elisha.

It does seem that part of the dignity of work in the image of God is that it culminates in completion and rest.
 
VictorBravo said:
Good observations, Heidi. Probably 90% or more of everything I do ends up to be futile. And after fatigue or infirmity, the urge is to just lie down and moan.

Then I remember Elijah in 1 Kings 19. He's just come off of a spectacular victory showing God's power, he has run back to the city, on foot, before the king--and then Jezebel says she wants him dead.

Elijah, exhausted, deflated, seeing that everything seemed to be for naught, flees to the wilderness where he was given rest and encouragement (along with a little chastening).

Kind of makes my vain futile experiences seem puny...because they, in fact, are. Yet God is faithful to refresh those who call upon him and encourage them in their objectively weak labors. By faith in Christ, they are mighty works.
Click to expand...
Vic,

We lack perfect knowledge and cannot see all ends. I concur that in-the-moment it may seem that many of our labors are in vain. I certainly do not want to make light of the very real disappointment we experience when something that we have done does not accomplish what we hoped it would. I have my own exhaustive list of failures, disappointments, and missed opportunities. I now have the benefit of experience, which is a euphemistic way of saying that I have enough bumps on my scalp to prove the copious number of failures in my life. To the extent that my labors have been to the glory of God, I am heartened by Paul's words to the Romans, "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord" (Rom. 15:58). The challenge before me is to toil in the Lord, and not for my own selfish reasons. The theology behind that sort of work brings glory to God alone.
 
I deeply appreciate everything that has been said here, as this last past week I've felt like all my career work was utterly futile. Brother Victor, being a tax professional (albeit from a slight different angle), I'm sure you understand :)

I was studying Genesis 12 this morning. God only told Abraham to go to a country which the Lord would show him. Hebrews 11:8 indicates that Abraham did not know where he was doing, and if you trace any map the journey was about 800 or more miles. No short distance for that time. God gave no account for it, except for a promise. He told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, and gave no reason for it, and then reaffirmed Abraham's reward for obedience. Even then, Abraham did not possess the land when he died. Him and Sarah were buried in the land, but they purchased their own tomb. Perhaps it all looks futile from the outside, but Abraham obtained the Canaan intended.

God may not give us all details concerning our work, what the purpose of all the futility is, though we know that our toil will not be in vain. Our reward isn't the earthly product or result that comes from our work, but how we as God's people become more sanctified by performing the work. And what it does to us, and how it helps us to enjoy God in heaven, are all eternal rewards we will enjoy forever, and that is the real reward.

Perhaps we must be content to leave Ur, abandon Haran, go out not knowing where we are going, and not see an earthly return for our reward, but we will get the city whose maker is God, and our works will follow us.

After all, we are Abraham's children.
 
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I was retired for a little over a year. After 6 months I was job hunting. I've had jobs that were better and jobs that were worse, but I certainly wouldn't trade in what I'm doing now for retirement.
 
Von said:
When someone asks me "Do you enjoy your work?", I find it a really hard question to answer for the following reasons:
  1. I like holiday more than work. I like weekends more than work. I like church more than work. I like spending time with my family and friends more than I like spending time with colleagues. So in comparison - no, I don't like work more than these.
  2. Do I like my work more than other occupations? I would say yes, but then again, I am not trained for any other occupations, so I can't imagine doing anything else.
This is further complicated by the following three things:
  1. Work was given before the curse in Genesis 3, but the futility of work is still part of the curse. If part of work is linked to the curse, then which part are we supposed to like?
  2. As I understand it Christ came to (please bear with my theological ignorance....:confused:) lift the curse completely, but only partially in this life. Is there a redemption of work involved in this?
  3. If the answer is to work for the glory of God, how do we PRACTICALLY do this?
Click to expand...

Tim Keller's Every Good Endeavor will be everything you're looking for. I also benefited a ton from Gene Edward Veith's God at Work. If you're not much of a R2K person, check out Amy L. Sherman's Kingdom Calling. These are fantastic works (no pun intended), and there's tons and tons of very solid and Reformed books out there on God and Vocation. The Oikonomia Network has a series of books on the different evangelical theological perspectives on vocation (i.e. Reformed, Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal, and Wesleyan, of which the former two are the most complimentary and solid) and I can't recommend them enough to someone looking into how the Gospel affects our cursed work. If you're just looking for places to start, those were the best for me when I was trying to figure out a career choice.
 
Von said:
Excuse my ignorance:

??
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm sorry I wasn't more explicit. It can get a little complicated but it just means Reformed 2 Kingdoms and is distinct from Neo-Kuyperianism. Essentially when it comes to culture, it all boils down to whether our work and the way we impact culture is primarily an evidence of obedience (R2K) or primarily part of God's work in redeeming the world (Neo-Kuyperianism). I'm of the former, but many many (some would say most) great Reformed folk are of the latter and have incredible writings and sermons and resources on faith and work. Again, I just can't recommend Keller's book enough! Good luck on your journey!
 
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