There was a time I spoke about Christian’s attitude towards work to high school students. So, in the introduction, I asked the students to get tools for work and go out to the field to cut the grass. Before I finished giving them instructions on what we were supposed to do, everyone was in tension. It was such a surprise not only to the students but also to the present teachers. It seemed so natural that as the students were ready to get the tools for work, I had to stop them.
I intended to see how the students would react. You can imagine a pastor, before preaching, as part of the introduction asking the members to do a particular activity that may seem uncomfortable. If that is not done so well, the listeners will be distracted and lose interest in what is to be spoken. I was careful that not to happen. After I had stopped the students, I had to ask them how they felt when I asked them to go out and work. From their responses, it was clear that I caught them by surprise, yes, but there was a negative attitude towards work from the students.
At times there is always this feeling of negativity towards work. Of course, the students’ minds were set on listening to the sermon. The students had not been prepared beforehand to come and work at such an hour. Maybe the type of work also made the students have a negative feeling as it would happen to too many out there. Inherently, it seems work is associated with a negative attitude because of how it has been perceived in different contexts and throughout history. Fredrik Lars Svendsen argues,
This negative attitude towards today’s work life can be seen as a part of the very notion of work. The etymological roots of the various words for work in different languages indicate that it is something highly unpleasant. This is especially clear in the case of the French travail, which stems from the Latin tripalium, which was an instrument of torture composed of three sticks. The Greek ponos means sorrow, the Latin labor refers to drudgery and the German Arbeit meant hardship and adversity. The Hebrew avodah has the same etymological root as eved, which means “slave.”1
This historical background may hint at why there is always that negative attitude towards work. Svendsen further explains that, at least in the modern definitions, you may find definitions with positive connotations. He argues, “Modern dictionaries are not quite as negative. If we consult one it will typically give us keywords such as “a job”, “involves physical or mental effort”, “to manage something to gain benefit from it”, “to use a particular material to produce an item” and so on.”2
There may be other different meanings attributed to work; for instance, work in the Christian perspective means “glorifying and serving God by providing for the needs of others and of society. The Christian understanding of vocation includes God’s call to persons to perform labor. In this way they live out their Christian commitments.”3
It may also be the same as elaborated by Quinn and Strickland that “‘Vocation’ simply means ‘calling,’ and each of us inhabits multiple callings. For a Christian, the first and most important calling is to trust and obey Jesus. Through our union with him, we live out other callings in the arenas of family, church community, neighborhood, and occupation or place of employment. There may be more vocations for some, but likely not fewer.”4
The distinction here is the attachment of a calling or vocation to work, which is done as a duty obligated to be a Christian. In that connection, Christians are called to work to earn a living or survive. In this context, without working, there will be nothing to earn a living or even survive. As usual in life, there is no way to avoid work. It becomes challenging to live or survive if there is no work to do to earn a living.
Finding work to do at least earn a living is a desire everyone looks forward to in life. Out of this, you will hear of the employed as those with work to do to earn a living and the unemployed as those with nothing to do to earn a living. It is a known fact that the unemployment rate continues to grow every other day. At some point, it may mean that meaningful work or with dignity is that you get to be employed and earn a living. That is why in some instances, even someone doing a non-salaried job will still not feel satisfied that the work being done is fulfilling.
It is advisable also to find other ways of working to earn a living other than just looking forward to being employed. We live in a world where people are rising to occasions of being innovative, even being job creators. It even begins by just starting a small business that can eventually grow. In this case, being self-employed can also be worthy in getting work to do that can make someone earn a living. You may even be employed but still, look for other ways of working that are meaningful in increasing your income.
In whichever way, having some work to do, be it salaried on non-salaried, can be a blessing. For instance, serving in ministry can be non-salaried, but at least out of what you do, you can still earn something out of it for a living. Accepting the work you do, even if you do not like it or even earn little, can be difficult, but it is necessary to bring joy to your work. Someone once said that if you do not find happiness in what you do you will not find it anywhere.
It does not matter, even if you are salaried or not. Work is essential in our day-to-day life. Through work, we make our living. It isn’t easy to imagine how life would be without work. Work necessitates life. Without work, then there would be no life. It is through work that livelihoods are sustained. That is why Paul, in his letter to Thessalonians, exhorts, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2 Thessalonians 3: 11-12).5
It may be challenging to find work to do, but keeping on trying to find work to do is good other than living in idleness.
Some people would refuse to work and start idling around and being busybodies. In this case, it becomes difficult to survive. Live alone that it leads to instances where families are neglected. When this happens, it may even lead to a myriad of problems. For example, increase in crime, divorces, early marriages, depression, and early pregnancies, to mention but a few. It is always good to remember as a Christian that refusing to work to provide for your family can be a disgrace. It is recorded in Paul’s letter to Timothy that “And whoever does not provide for relatives, and especially for family members, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1Timothy 5: 8)
Being able to work or finding some work to do is vital, and it is a gift from God. God is the source of work. In the first chapter of the book of Genesis, for God to create, God works. Work is entirely connected to creation. After creating human beings, God initiated work in the garden of Eden. It is recorded, “the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15) Even after the fall, it was also evident in the pronouncement of the curse that human beings will have to work to survive. In part of the words of the curse, it is mentioned that “in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground.” (Genesis 3: 17f- 19a)
Throughout the Scripture, there is evidence of people working. For instance, in the story of Cain and Abel, they both worked where Cain planted vegetables and Abel reared sheep. On the other hand, Jesus was working in serving God, humanity, and all creation. In John 5:17, it is recorded, “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’” Therefore, work originates from God.
At times in life, Christians may overwork and even forget to rest. It is recorded in the book of Proverbs that “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist.” (23:4). It is essential to remember that even God rested on the seventh day after working so hard to create. That is why the Sabbath day became so critical as part of Jewish worship. It is recorded,
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. (Exodus 20: 9-12)
It only became a problem when the Sabbath took the place of God in the same way work can do. Jesus had to reinterpret the essence of the Sabbath by redefining its meaning. The distinction here was that work or the Sabbath day are essential, but they should not take the place of God. It may also mean that working can be a way of also worshiping God. I remember when a colleague at work got worried that we were working at the expense of worshiping God. It meant that our work had taken the place of God, or our work had become an idol for worship. Often, if care is not taken, it is easy to idolize your work. Work can also be a way of serving God or even worship. In the incident I just shared, I had to ask my colleague, what if our work was part of worshiping God?
I feel that is why Jesus had to clarify the essence of the Sabbath as not taking the place of God. Idolizing the Sabbath is the same as idolizing work. In the fifth chapter of the gospel of John, there is this story of Jesus healing a sick man at the pool by Sheep gate at Jerusalem (1-17). What becomes striking is the controversy of Jesus working during the Sabbath day.
As would be, it was not required to work during the Sabbath, so Jesus had done something awful in healing the sick man and letting him carry the mat that was working during Sabbath. As noted earlier in Jesus doing that, he was working, and all through also, God has been working (vv17). In this context, work is connected with serving and worshiping God other than worshiping the work itself.
At times working may be harmful if, in any case, it is preoccupied with worry about what to eat tomorrow (Matthew 10:19). It makes people overwork or even neglect working hard under the pretext of using shortcuts. Worry and anxiety cause people to amass wealth because of not being sure how tomorrow will be. It leads to even oppressive situations where the love of money takes center stage at the expense of human beings.
Being content with what you earn and living within your means can help. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul is right in noting, “Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances, I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need.” (11-12) It takes the grace of God to learn to be content, as in Paul’s situation, but there is always that urge to want more which can lead to worry and anxiety.
As a Christian, working is valuable to your well-being and can also be beneficial to others. To be able to support those who are in need with what you earn from the work you do can be fulfilling. Being able to stand with those who are in need should not be only in word but also in deed. Some circumstances that make it difficult for people to find work to do may include illiteracy, poverty, war, and diseases, to mention but a few that increase the number of those in need out there. It is also unfortunate that we live in a world filled with greed that makes sharing resources equitably difficult. As a result, those who find work to do to earn a living continue to dwindle every other day.
It is important to thank God for the rare opportunity to find work to do and the ability to work. No matter what type of work you do, do it as you do it unto the Lord as recorded in the book of Ecclesiastes “Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going (9:10). May God continue blessing the work of our hands as expressed in Psalm 90:17 “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and prosper for us the work of our hands—O prosper the work of our hands!” Amen.
Oscar Lugusa Malande is a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Vihiga Yearly Meeting in Kenya and holds a Master of Arts in Religion and Certificate in Entrepreneurial Ministry from Earlham School of Religion. He is a doctoral student at the University of Birmingham, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre. Oscar currently teaches at Friends Theological College Kaimosi in Kenya. Oscar is married to Zipporah Adema Mileha and they are blessed with four children, two girls, Axtel Imali and Georgia Muhonja, and two boys, Samuel Malande and Jay Riggs Mulindi.
- Fredrik Lars Svendsen, Work (London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2014), 5 Accessed June 27, 2022.
- Ibid.
- Donald K. McKim, The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, Second Edition: Revised and Expanded (Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition), 346.
- Benjamin T. Quinn, and Walter R.. Strickland II, Every Waking Hour: An Introduction to Work and Vocation for Christians (Ashland: Lexham Press, 2016), 11. Accessed June 30, 2022. ProQuest Ebook Central.
- All biblical citations in this sermon are from Coogan, Michael D.; Brettler, Marc Z.; Perkins, Pheme; Newsom, Carol A.. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version (p. 1996). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.