On The Office there is a character named Angela – it’s apparent she’s a Christian. It’s not apparent through her sharing her faith or attending church, rather it’s because she’s so judgemental about certain things, the producers have drawn a caricature of a real phenomenon where many Christians don’t know how to reconcile work and their beliefs.
At its worst, this confusion can come out as prejudice, anger or manipulation. Or it can be inappropriate and insensitive attempts to convert everyone they work with.
Instead, sometimes Christians will withdraw. They can either quit working in their industry, feeling the only way to be true to their faith is to work at a Christian ministry. Or they might find a company where all their co-workers are Christian. Or, Christians might compartmentalize their lives and give up their beliefs Monday-Friday, and only live out their faith on Sundays.
Neither extreme is good. In one Christians withdraw from the world that God created. In the other, they see their contribution only as moral police and evangelists.
What if God is calling us to do good work in his world? What if God is calling us to be serving others and creating – not just in Christian ministries, but in industry, education, art, media, business, civil service and more?
How could you tell the difference between a Christian doing God’s work, then, and anyone else? What difference does being a Christian make? Clue in this short little bit of a Psalm, a kind of musical poetry in the Bible:
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.
Psalm 127:1-1 ESV
We come back to foundations…something we looked at in last series. The image is of two subcontractors – say two carpenters, perhaps even working for the same general contractor. Or the second image: two soldiers guarding a base. They could both be in the same country, same regiment, same platoon. The difference is one works for God, and the other works for something else. You can imagine the possibilities, they could simply work for the company, dad, greed, comfort and security in life, ego, etc.
That kind of work, the Psalm says, is in vain. It’s an exercise in frustration.
When we think the world revolves around us, we can’t stop. Can’t rest. Up early, go go go, late to bed. Not because there’s something to be done, but something to be proven.
But the one who works for God first, and humans and himself second, does work with purpose – it’s not in vain. Most tellingly, it leads to the kind of satisfied rest in knowing you’ve done your part, and the world doesn’t revolve around you. “God gives his beloved sleep.”
We’ll explore tomorrow how work, of various kinds, can be “for God”.
Question: What kind of work have you done that felt like it was “in vain”? How did it feel useless?
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“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:13-14 ESV)
Which way will you go? Follow the law to keep in a right position, watching what you do? People will try to tell you their way to please God, go to heaven, to be a good person, etc.
Or will you go the hard way, relying on God’s grace alone? We can’t take anything with us through the narrow gate.
Only a few make it through, it's true enough. Everyone can avoid hurting others. But can you love others? That's hard.
Thankfully Jesus has gone ahead. He is the door. The way. He doesn't just avoid sin, he loves sacrificially, to the death.
He uses death to destroy death. He uses self-love to teach us to love others. His power and genius!
Others will tell you, “here’s what not to do, and do, to reach God.”
Jesus says God reaches us…and he is the door, the gate, who lays down everything to love sacrificially.
He gave us his love, rather than what we deserved, death.
How? You start with God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself.
God helps us see ourselves clearly, destroys our self-centeredness, then teaches us to love others.
Challenge: Make a list of the ways you like to be treated. Not just favourite flavours and colours, but what helps you relate well with people. Now consider, who will you see today, whom you do not treat in this way? Pick one of those list items, and change that today.
