Work and Worship - Baptist21

As we all wrestle with how we view our job as a Christian, undoubtedly important questions arise. In this post Benjamin Quinn both asks some of those questions and offers helpful resources for pastors and laypeople alike. Let’s continue the discussion and all seek to redeem our understanding of work in light of the gospel.

What is work? Does it matter to God? How do these forty or more hours each week relate to our faith?

Our pews are filled with workers who ask these kinds of questions. Pastors, even the most attuned and sympathetic, often struggle to provide answers beyond “work hard, tell the truth, and share the Gospel when possible.” Hard work, truth telling, and evangelism are indeed critical for Christian workers, but could there be more to our work and its relationship to our faith?

What if God created us to be workers whose purpose and personhood somehow come together when we rightly engage with creation? How was work different before Genesis 3, and where do we see sin’s effects today? How might we redirect sin’s effects on our work toward proper ends? Further, how does our work today relate to the new heavens and earth?

The purpose of this post is simply to raise these questions, and offer a handful of resources I’ve found helpful on the topic. Below are books, lectures, videos, and websites worth perusing. An asterisk is placed beside those I recommend to start with.

As we continue in our work, may we, as our Lord said, “work for the food that endures to eternal life.” (Jn 6:27)

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Books:

*Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God’s Work. Boston: Dutton Adult, 2012.