YOUR WORK: SURVIVAL OR SATISFACTION (PSL)

Message by Rev Dr Stanley Lim
 
In your lifetime you will spend about 40% of your waking hours in your work. Will those hours be spent in frustration or fulfillment?

This depends largely on how you fit your work into the totality of your life.

I really do not know about your present work situation. Perhaps you are in a happy situation, problem free or maybe you are struggling daily with moral and spiritual survival. Nevertheless, everyone who works for a living will go through some phases of survival as well as satisfaction.

Being a Christian does not exempt us from having problems. Maybe you have heard someone saying to you that if you are a Christian you are supposed to enjoy life and not have the problems and concerns common to the world. That is good theory, but in reality it is obvious that Christians also have fears, unpaid bills, conflicts on the job, consuming ambition to get ahead, a thirst for greater financial freedom, or just a “little” taste of the luxuries of life.

Many questions and issues confront Christians in secular jobs:

• What can I do when I do not like my work but cannot change because of educational or financial restrictions?
• How can I do well in my work without “selling my soul” to the company?
• I feel guilty working at a secular job when I know I could be on the mission field. I get convicted whenever I attend a missions conference. What should I do?
• My work is so demanding that it takes 15 or 20 extra hours a week just to keep up. It is hurting my family, but how can I refuse to do what my boss asks of me?
• Is there anything wrong with working hard to get nice things for the family?
• Is there anything wrong with being “just a housewife”?
• I am “just” a factory worker. What good am I to the kingdom of God?
• I have been to several family seminars and am deeply convicted about my relationship to my family. But still I have to put bread on the table. How can I achieve a balance?

Before looking at the Christian view of work, we need to ask whether there is a Christian view of society. The Bible teaches several things about human society.

Society is established by God – God established human society with certain objectives. In Genesis 1:26 man was “to rule … over all the earth.” He is to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.” God also established concepts of government, order and justice. These were distinct from spiritual rules of worship. So God’s objectives for human society were : -

• To glorify Himself in all creation (Ps. 19:1-6)
• To establish authority and order (Deut. 16:18-20)
• To meet man’s physical needs (Gen. 1:29,30; Deut. 15:2-14)
• To establish concepts of justice and man’s relationships (Exo. 20:1-17)

Society is not inherently evil – Human society is not inherently evil or wrong. People do evil things, not society; but people constitute the society. By God’s sovereignty we were each born into a segment of total society and cannot escape from it, nor should we want to. We want to influence our society to good and not allow society to influence us adversely. It is true that the world system (cosmos) is condemned in the New Testament. But the world system is not the same as society. Society is a grouping of people around a common goal (e.g. survival, business or protection).

Society provides an environment – Human society provides an environment in which God confronts man.

Human society is the mechanism by which man lives and functions as a human being. In this process each man is then confronted by God about his purpose in life and his personal relationships to God and Christ. The prime tools of confrontation are :-

• the Scriptures (specific revelation)
• the creation (general revelation)
• individual Christians sharing their faith (personalized revelation)

Society perpetuates the race – Human society is self-perpetuating and self-preserving. Everyone takes part in the sustenance of everyone else. Every person makes a contribution to society. Every pre-occupation fills a need, or at least a want. Ultimately we are all dependent on one another.

So what is the Christian view of society? Society was divinely ordained by God for the purpose of sustaining His human creation. Therefore, we must be vital and active participants in every area of society to reach people for Christ and to influence it to be more Christian in character. We are an anti-pollution influence on the society. You are a key part of God’s plan for reaching a pagan society. His plan is for you to be salt and light in the society.

Let’s take a look at the View of Work in the Old Testament. In the OT, work is highly honored, especially skilled labour. Throughout the OT these principles stand out:

Everyone should work – There was honor in labour. Exo. 34:21 gives this command: “You shall work 6 days, but on the 7th. Day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest.” Emphasis is usually placed on resting one day a week. But note that it says, “You shall work 6 days”. Every man contributed his part in supporting his family. In Prov. 6:6-8 God commands us to observe the ant and learn: the ant works hard to gather food to sustain life. Work is clearly an essential part of life.

Working hard is good – The Proverbs are filled with admonitions about hard work. “He who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys” (18:9). “Laziness casts into a deep sleep and an idle man will suffer hunger” (19:15). The OT condemns laziness and commends hard work.

Work is an integral part of life – This concept stemmed from the high view of responsibility to one’s own family. Failing to provide for them made a man an outcast from the community. Every Jewish child was required to train for a manual occupation. Genesis 2:15 – “The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

All legal profession were honorable . We see approval of all kinds of work:
- Laboring (1 Kings 5:7-18)
- Manual skills (Exo. 36:1,2)
- Business/Managerial (Daniel, Moses)
- Mental/Scientific (Daniel)

Some professions were “illegal” or dishonorable. These included prostitution, lending at high interest, any business which cheated or took advantage of the poor or any business conducted dishonestly.

Work was satisfying – Man was not made to dread labor but to be fulfilled by the creation of his hands or mind.

“The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much” (Eccl. 5:12).

“In all labor there is profit (Prov. 14:23). “I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities (work), for that is his lot” (Eccl. 3:22).

Let’s rediscover the joy of work. There are 6 Critical factors in providing the Joy of Work:

1. Intellectually stimulating assignment
2. Skill enhancement & variety
3. A sense of achievement
4. Timely recognition
5. Work autonomy
6. Personality-Job fit

I will bring the View of Work in the New Testament in Part 2 of “Your Work – Survival or satisfaction?” the next time around.