Work Matters
The idea of rethinking vocation must start with considering the sacred/secular divide, or what some people refer to as the problem of dualism. Dualism, simply put, is wrongly dividing something that should not be divided. The Greco-Roman idea was that the world is divided into two competing dominions: the sacred (spiritual) and the secular (material). Such a worldview tends to assume that the spiritual is the higher realm and the secular, or material world, is lacking deep meaning. Dualism leads to multiple divisions in thinking; including the division between the clergy (spiritual) and the laity (secular), the church (spiritual) and the world (secular), and between so-called religious practices (bible study, prayer, worship) and supposed secular practices (work, art, eating). Where this form of dualism happens most often, is in our understanding of vocation.
The word vocation comes from the Latin vocatio, meaning a call, or summons. It is normally used to refer to a calling or occupation that a person is drawn to or is particularly suited for. The problem of work dualism goes back to the fourth century when Augustine compartmentalize the way people lived when he spoke of the contemplative life and the active life. For Augustine, the contemplative life was given to sacred things and deemed a higher calling, while the active life was given to secular things and regarded as a lower calling.
However, during the Protestant Reformation, in the 1500s, Martin Luther rejected this division between sacred and secular vocations. He broadened the concept of vocation from a very narrow church focus (the priesthood, nuns or monks), to describe the life and work of all Christians in response to God’s call. Luther argued that regardless of the vocation that God called someone to, it was sacred, because it was God who did the calling.
Therefore, it can be said that the doctrine of “the priesthood of all believers did not make everyone into church workers; rather, it turned every kind of work into a sacred calling.” (1) Bottom line—all work matters!
But unfortunately, many Christians still see their work as nothing more than a necessary evil. They don’t understand how their “ordinary” everyday life is part of the mission of God. In the book The Mission of God’s People Christopher Wright speaks about how this distorted view of vocation sometimes makes it difficult for people to see what they do outside the church is equally as important, as what they might do inside the church.
God, it would seem, cares about the church and its affairs, about missions and missionaries, about getting people to heaven, but not about how society and its public places are conducted on earth. The result of such dichotomized thinking is an equally dichotomized Christian life. In fact, it is a dichotomy that gives many Christians a great deal of inner discomfort caused by the glaring disconnect between what they think God most wants and what they most have to do. Many of us invest most of the available time that matters (our working lives) in a place and a task that we have been led to believe does not really matter much to God—the so-called secular world of work—while struggling to find opportunities to give some leftover time to the only things we are told does matter to God—evangelism. (2)
Therefore, part of helping people engage God’s mission in the workplace, must begin by giving them a fresh perspective on their vocation, and helping them see how it fits into the broader picture of mission. We must help them understand that when they leave the house on Monday morning to “go to work” they do not somehow leave God behind.
Work as Worship
Another reason all work matters is because of the connection Scripture makes between work and worship. The language of work in Genesis 2:15 (“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”) is rooted in the Hebrew word avodah, which in English is translated “to cultivate.”In the Old Testament, the word avodah is translated in several different ways. In some cases, it is rendered as “work,” “service,” or “craftsmanship.” But other times it is translated as “worship.” Avodah is used to describe the hard work of God’s covenant people making bricks as slaves in Egypt (Ex. 1:14), the artists building the tabernacle (Ex. 35:24), and the fine craftsmanship of linen workers (1 Chron. 4:21). Avodah also appears in the context of Solomon dedicating the temple. Solomon employs this word as he instructs the priests and Levites regarding their service in leading corporate worship and praise of the one true God (2 Chron. 8:14).
Tom Nelson, in his book Work Matters, summarizes this important connection between work and worship when he writes:
Whether it is making bricks, crafting fine linen, or leading others in corporate praise and worship, the Old Testament writers present a seamless understanding of work and worship. Though there are distinct nuances to avodah, a common thread of meaning emerges where work, worship, and service are inextricably linked and intricately connected. The various usages of this Hebrew word found first in Genesis 2:15 tell us that God’s original design and desire is that our work and our worship would be a seamless way of living. Properly understood, our work is to be thoughtfully woven into the integral fabric of Christian vocation, for God designed and intended our work, our vocational calling, to be an act of God-honoring worship. (3)
However, too often we think of worship as something we do on Sunday and work as something we do on Monday. This dichotomy is clearly not what God designed nor what he desires for our lives. God designed work to have both a vertical and horizontal dimension. We work to the glory of God (vertical) and for the furtherance of His mission and the common good (horizontal).
God is at Work – at Our Work
Building on the idea that all work is a sacred calling, the second key aspect of understanding our work is to realize that God is active in our workplaces. As Christians, we need to see that our work is not primarily about economic exchange. It is not about climbing the corporate ladder. It is not about achieving the American dream. Instead it is about contributing to and participating in God’s mission.
In a fascinating angle on vocation, Luther says that vocation is a mask of God. That is, God hides himself in the workplace: To speak of God being hidden is a way of describing His presence, as when a child hiding in the room is there, just not seen. To realize that the mundane activities that take up most of our lives—going to work, taking the kids to soccer practice, picking up a few things at the store, going to church—are hiding places for God can be a revelation in itself. Most people seek God in mystical experiences, spectacular miracles, and extraordinary acts they have to do. To find Him in vocation brings Him, literally, down to earth, makes us see how close He really is to us, and transfigures everyday life. (4)In the simplest terms, Luther is reminding us that God is at work—at our work. God is active in and through our places of work, we just need to find Him there.
Gene Edward Veith Jr., God at Work (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2002), p. 19.
Christopher Wright., The Mission of God.
Tom Nelson. Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to Monday Work (p. 26).
Veith.
