What’s the best job you’ve ever had?
The nation pauses this coming Monday to celebrate Labor Day, an annual celebration of the American worker that dates to an idea first floated by Peter J. McGuire, founder and leader of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters.
Given that Jesus and His father were carpenters, it seems fitting that a day lauding labor was initiated by a man of the same profession.
The Bible has a lot to say about work – not necessarily what we do, but how we do it.
Solomon advises us to “commit” our work to the Lord, suggesting that if we do so, our “plans will be established” (Proverbs 16:3). He’s also blunt about its necessity, writing, “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense” (Proverbs 12:11). The apostle Paul urges, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col. 3:23).
It seems that much of the “buzz” in news about the labor force these days has more to do with employees trying to figure out how to work less and get paid more. There’s also lots of talk about “work-life balance” and “remote work” – but not as much about employees making sure their employer is being honestly and fairly served by their efforts.
It’s clear that God puts a premium on work by how prominently labor is featured in the Bible, beginning with the Creation story. We learn that God spent six straight days forming the world before He paused to take a break.
Writing in his book, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work, the late Dr. Tim Keller frames the larger purpose of our employment.
“If the point of work is to serve and exalt ourselves, then our work inevitably becomes less about the work and more about us,” he writes. “Our aggressiveness will eventually become abuse, our drive will become burnout, and our self-sufficiency will become self-loathing.”
He continued:
But if the purpose of work is to serve and exalt something beyond ourselves, then we actually have a better reason to deploy our talent, ambition, and entrepreneurial vigor—and we are more likely to be successful in the long run, even by the world’s definition.
I’ve spent the last 27 years of my professional life serving the ministry of Focus on the Family. When I first learned of the organization, I was a 19-year-old college student working at a talk radio station in New York City. I immediately resonated with what its founder, Dr. James Dobson, was communicating. The Lord laid on my heart the idea of contributing to the ministry.
It would be six years before I joined the team. Upon arrival, I was immediately overwhelmed by the love, devotion, commitment, energy, enthusiasm, and integrity of the people in the organization. A quarter-plus-century later, those adjectives still apply. It’s a special place to work because the Lord is in the building – and working in the hearts and minds of our team members. We consider our work to also be our worship.
I recently heard someone suggest the key to a happy and successful life is finding something that you enjoy doing that others consider hard work. “Some of the best work is done by people who find an easy way to do something hard,” writes Paul Graham, an investor and writer. He’s not encouraging the easy path but rather a path that will be fulfilling and energizing. We tend to thrive when we love what we do.
It’s been said the sages down through the years never suggest working to get rich – but rather working to be helpful. Scripture affirms this principle. “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets,” said Jesus (Matthew 7:12). This is also what the apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote to Christians in Philippi: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (2:3-4).
So come Labor Day, let us acknowledge the American worker and the blessing of employment, which enables us to care and provide for our families. But let’s also celebrate the privilege of labor and not lose sight of its God-ordained purpose – to serve our fellow man and bring Glory to our creator.
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