Work, Worldliness, & Calling

Diligence in A Sleeping World

By: Pastor Bailey Miller

A proper view of vocation as a Christian is a necessary foundation to glorifying God in all that we do. We spend most of our waking hours working and therefore must take the time to understand all that God has to say about work. How are we to go about our day-to-day vocational life? Does God value hard work? Even more importantly, what is the calling on individual christians regarding their responsibility of building the kingdom of God in their everyday work? From the very beginning, work has been a gift that is given to mankind, and yet it has seemed to take on the form of a curse to an American generation and American church that would rather seek out specialized purpose rather than steady faithfulness. This individualistic neglect of responsibility must be put aside in order to step into the fulfilling work of living faith and daily faithfulness.


When God first created the earth, He put the man in the Garden to “work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This is referred to today as “The Dominion Mandate”. It was God’s plan for the man to work. He built him that way. The work that God assigned to the man was connected to his worship. His vocation was not to be separated from his spiritual life, but rather was the practical outworking of him being God’s creature. Adam was designed to be a working man and to glorify God in the way that he worked. 

So what then does it mean to glorify God in the way that you work? What separates Christian vocation from the way that the natural man goes about it? First and foremost, Christians are to work hard. The wisdom writer says in Proverbs 18:9 that, “Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys.” Christians should stand out in the workplace by the way that they work. Secondly, Christians should be heartily willing to work without being told to do so. Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica that,  “...if anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). He wrote in Colossians that, “whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Colossians 3:22-24). It is actually a shameful thing for someone to regard work as unimportant. God has made us to be working people and the Christian, especially, is ready and willing to work hard unto the Lord. When the Christian goes into the workplace heartily and applies the biblical worldview to their vocation, they bring glory to the Lord. Christians can wield their influence in the workplace by sharing the gospel and demonstrating the fruit of the gospel. It is God’s plan for His people to be in all sorts of fields and to exercise their influence in the place that He has called them to be.


Not only does faithful work fulfill the calling of a Christian, but it also practically sets them apart in order to speak the gospel into others lives in such a way that it is trustworthy and is the evidence of a life that is noticeably more joyful, steady, and peaceful than one that is lived without the gospel. In other words, if a Christian works in the manner that Christ calls them to work where he has called them to work, then that workplace will be blessed by the tangible light of the gospel and salt of salvation. Practically speaking, while co-workers may be grumbling on a Monday morning, the Christian would be wearing a smile that reflects the humble heart that is ready to work. When things go wrong in the workplace, the Christian should be the first who is ready and willing to help them go right– all with a patience and compassion that reflects the Father’s heart. Christians do not lose their ability to reflect their Father when they leave church on Sundays– that is when the actual work, both vocational and spiritual, begins.


Shaking Loose the Over-Spiritualized

There has been a noticeable phenomenon in the church where people can view jobs that are related to ministry (pastors, missionaries, etc.) as being more noble and worthwhile while viewing other professions as more common. While there is a special consideration in both honor and accountability for those tasked with building and caring for the church, the truth is that the Bible places equal responsibility for all christian work to be done with honor and excellence. The Bible knows much of men who worked what we would consider today as blue-collar jobs. Many of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen. One was a tax collector. Jesus himself was a carpenter and so was His father. We all are part of one body and are given various gifts by the Holy Spirit. The biblical prescription is for us to do what we are gifted at. Our task is to use those gifts and work so that we can glorify God - and you can do that by pursuing careers in healthcare, medicine, accounting, construction, engineering, sales, etc. Those giftings come from God. Being a doctor or a lawyer is just as much of a calling as being in full-time, vocational ministry. Someone is a Christian pastor for the same reason that someone is a Christian doctor – to glorify God. Christians are just as much called to be in fields like finance, medicine, or retail as those Christians who are given the calling of an elder, pastor, deacon, or full-time missionary. 

Do you want to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, or something else? Praise God. The world desperately needs more Christian doctors, lawyers, builders, engineers, salespeople, counselors, nurses, business owners, real estate agents, politicians, and many other vocations. Are you wanting to be a pastor or pursue mission work? Praise God for that too! Work as hard as you can at whatever calling God has given to you. Utilize the gifts that God has given to you. Embrace hard work to the glory of God and worship God as you exercise the dominion mandate.

To live faithfully in a world that is not faithful is to be a Christian who lives out their faith. The workspace, from the stay at home mom to calling of pastor or plumber, is one of the largest God-given pockets of time and gifting that the Lord places His children in, and such a divine appointment is no accident. Christians, while still bearing Earthly flesh, are eternal beings with an eternal source of joy and encouragement. This unrelenting fount of Christ is the source for all Christians at all times to have a work ethic in all fields and circumstances that points to something beyond a deadline or product. To that end, living faithfully means working out the faith the Lord has given: in the heart, in the home, in the church, and in the workplace. 


What is our role in washing the church’s hands of laziness and neglect of vocation? First and foremost, understanding that salvation is not a free gift.  While we may do nothing to earn it and can only receive it upon the divine intervention of God, it is not free.  It calls for everything!  It calls for submission as slaves of Christ as read in Romans 6:17-18: 

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”  

Examine the call and duty to submit one’s self as a slave of righteousness to the will and love of God.  Examine the gift and outworking of salvation. Ask God to do the same in searching the heart of His church and its members. Let the fire burn within that so desperately seeks to serve the Savior and make him known– the world and state of the church today are in dire need of it.