A Biblical Perspective on Work

1. A Biblical Perspective on Work How a Christian Worldview Can Affect Your Thinking About Work

2. What are some adjectives you’d use to describe work, particularly vocational work? • Takeaways from today: • God created work, not as a way for us to find our significance, but as a way for us to serve Him and others. • Understanding your unique purpose also helps your work decisions.

3. Created by God & inherently good • Gen 2:3 – creation described as work (“God rested from His work”) • God created work for mankind before the Fall • Gen. 2:15 – placed in Garden to work it • Gen 3:17-19 – ground cursed; toil • Fall made it inevitable that work would sometimes be frustrating or seemingly meaningless/pointless

4. Created by God & inherently good • Eccl. 2:18-25, 3:12-15 – frustrating, but also a gift from God • All legitimate work equally valuable to God • Work has dignity because it’s something God does & because we do it as God’s representatives

5. Not to gain significance or identity • Gen. 11:2-4 – Tower of Babel – “that we can make a name for ourselves” • Jer. 9:23-24 – Don’t boast in our accomplishments, but only in the Lord • We derive true meaning & identify only by understanding who we are in Christ: • 2 Cor. 5:17-20 - new creature; ambassadors for Christ • 1 Peter 2:9 – royal priesthood

6. Not to gain significance or identity • Work not created to make you happy or to bring you personal fulfillment • You won’t have a meaningful life without work, but work can’t become the meaning or purpose of your life • We either get our name—our defining essence, security, worth, and uniqueness—from what God has done for us and in us (Rev. 2:17), or we make a name through what we can do for ourselves • Personal example

7. Key way we serve God and others • Mt. 22:36-40 – work one manifestation of obeying these commands; we demonstrate love in glorifying God and in serving others • Eph. 2:8-10 – created for good works • 1 Cor. 7:17 – lead the life, both inside and outside of the church, to which each of us has been called • Question to ask: how can I use my talents and abilities to best serve others via my vocation?

8. Key way we serve God and others • Part of serving others is our witness, both silent and audible, to Christ, including in how we do our work (more on that next week) • Work properly seen is relational, not task-focused • Personal story on grasping relationship importance

9. Table Exercise #1 • Discuss how you may have struggled with basing your identity on your job or role, or if you have not struggled with it, how have you avoided this struggle?

10. Purpose • Def: What God wants your life to add up to and why? • First and foremost, a journey of discovery and discernment • Needed to give us focus and direction to our lives; a filter for decisions • 3 types of purpose • Ultimate – largely a mystery to us, entirely in God’s hands • Universal – to glorify God as we grow in our faith and become involved in His program, especially through evangelism and discipleship • Unique – how you believe God wants you to fit into His universal purpose

11. Purpose • Components in discerning unique purpose • Look backwards to see how the ways God has worked in and through you should affect your next steps • How has God gifted you, and are you using those gifts? • What is the self your heart longs for? • What is God calling you to do, both in serving Him and in your vocation • Combining your competence (including how you’re “wired”) with your [unselfish] passion • Passion vs. Purpose (Crawford: “the passion of our life has to be for/on eternity, not on our own earthly lives or happiness.”) • Through work we come to understand our unique abilities and gifts

12. Table Exercise #2 • Do you have a unique purpose/life purpose statement? If so, what is it? If not, are you willing to discover yours?