• Workplace Theology

     

     

    Much has been written on Workplace theology…that is…what God has said about the workplace from His perspective. This is but a brief glimpse at the fresh perspective on work that many around the globe are experiencing and celebrating. Churches are teaching this to many so that the workplace can be transformed. You will surely find ways to add to this document…your comments are most welcome.

     

                                                  

     

    The key is that "why you go to work will change forever"!

     

     “Work is Sacred”

     

    “Work is Ordained by God”

     

    We must dedicate the work of our hands to the Lord daily.

     

    “I enjoy working even more than I enjoy singing (worship). And it gives me hope that there will be work in Heaven as well as times of singing new songs as we gather around the throne of the Lord”. C. Peter Wagner

     

    Psalm 90:17

    May the favour of the Lord our God rest upon us;
           establish the work of our hands for us—
           yes, establish the work of our hands.

     

    Colossians 1:28-29

    We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labour, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.

     

    Colossians 2:9-10

    For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

     

    Colossians 3:1, 2, 17, 23-24

    Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

     

    And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

     

    Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

     

    Bezalel and Hiram

    Read also: Exodus 31: 1-6; 35: 1-35; 1 Kings 7: 13-51

     

    All About Work

    (taken from Ken Boa’s work: Conformed to His Image)

     

    •    Work is not a result of the Fall. It is a part of God's created order for human­ity (Genesis 2:5, 15), and it is patterned after God (Exodus 20:11). Nevertheless, the Fall affected the character of work in such a way that it became associated more with toil than with joy (Genesis 3:17-19). Work becomes idolatrous when it becomes an end in itself (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11, 18-23; Luke 12:16-22), and it can become a means of exploitation and oppression (Exodus 1:11-14; 2:23; James 5:4).

     

    •    However, Scripture rebukes idleness and sloth and affirms that work has genuine value.

         (Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:12-13; 5:18).

     

    •   When work is done in and for the Lord, it benefits others and honours God. In creative activity we externalize our identities as people made in the image of God

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    •  However, our identity transcends our work, and if we do not derive our identity from our relationship with the Lord, our work will tend to shape and define us. Our vocation, or calling, includes our occupations and careers but also transcends them.

        

    •   All honest professions are honourable, and there is dignity in manual as well as mental work, as is evident from the occupations of the characters in the Bible. True importance is not found in position or prestige but in the man­ner in which our work is done and the Audience for whom we do it. Significance is not determined by wisdom, power, or wealth (Jeremiah 9:23-24; Philippians 3:8) but by our relationship with God. Because of this, it is always a mistake to compare ourselves with others.

     

    •   Work hard, but do not overwork. The sluggard is reproached in the Old and New Testaments (Proverbs 6:6-11; 12:27; 13:4; 20:4; 21:25-26; 22:13; 24:30-34; 26:13-16; Matthew 25:24-30; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12; 1 Timothy 5:8, 13). But when work becomes the source of our significance and security, we swing to the oppo­site extreme and become consumed by our work.

     

    •   We are called to do our work as unto the Lord instead of seeking to impress and please people (Ephesians 6:5-8; Colossians 3:23-24). Employers should see themselves as accountable to Christ for the way they treat their employees (Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1).

     

    •   When we seek to glorify God in whatever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31), we will pursue excellence in our work, whether others notice or not. Consider the superb craftsmanship of Bezalel and Oholiab, the men who constructed the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 35-40). Also imagine the quality and workmanship of the wooden articles that Jesus crafted during his years as a carpenter.

     

    • Remember that God gives us our ability (Romans 12:6), our intelligence (Daniel 2:21), our wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18), and our promotions (Psalm 75:6-7). 
    • We do not work to provide for our needs. Our culture associates work with the quest for success, significance, provision, esteem, and purpose. By con­trast, Scripture teaches us that it is God, not our work, to whom we should look for these things (1 Corinthians 4:7; Philippians 4:19). Believers must come to see that God is their source of provision, and their work is a means He uses to supply their needs.
    • If we look to our customers and clients rather than the Lord as our source of provision, we will be far more inclined to manipulate and use them than to minister to them.

     

    • Work embeds us in a temporal environment in which we can exhibit king­dom values and hope. It provides a context in which we can represent Jesus Christ by building relationships; by demonstrating character, conviction, and integrity; and by doing our work with care and quality. There should be no secular/spiritual duality regarding work. God has prom­ised that the product of our work will ultimately perish (2 Peter 3:10). It is not the fruit of our labours but the focus of our heart that gives value to our work in the sight of God. Thus secular work becomes spiritual when it is done to please God, and religious work becomes secular when it is done to please and impress people.

     

    • God is not impressed by or dependent upon our abilities or accomplish­ments. But if we do our work for his sake, it pleases him in the same way that the drawings children make for their parents decorate the refrigerator. These drawings are valued not because they qualify to hang in an art gallery but because of the parent's relationship with the children who made them.

     

    • We cannot contribute to the work of God (Esther 4:13-14; Psalm 1 15:3; 127:1-2; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Isaiah 46:9-10; 2 Corinthians 3:5), but we can participate in it (John 4:34; 1 Corinthians 3:6-9). If we think that we can add to the work of God, our work becomes so inflated in importance that it can overwhelm relational commitments. We take ourselves too seriously when we think God needs what we have to offer. When leaders attempt to build ministry empires by using people to serve their visions, they make the mistakes of trying to measure the ministry and of basing their significance upon their accomplishments.

     

    • Working harder does not necessarily lead to greater prosperity. There is a correlation but not a fixed causality. In many occupations (e.g., farming, real estate, technology), the ratio of productivity to time invested can vary dramatically. We may suppose that we can out earn our needs by working harder, but income is only one of several components that can affect our standard of living. If we miss these truths, we will be inclined to sacrifice other priorities (our relationships with God and others) when business is less productive.

     

    • There should be a rhythm between work and leisure in our lives so that we can enjoy periods of refreshment, renewal, restoration, and relationships. Work and rest are equally legitimate in God's economy, but most of us have a tendency to overvalue work. Leisure can be a mode of worship (Leviticus 16:29-31; Deuteronomy 14:22-26) and an expression of contentment with the will of God in our lives. From a biblical standpoint, rest is not so much the absence of activity as it is the presence of God. (Exodus 33:14; Nehemiah 8:10-12; Matthew 11:28-30; Mark 6:31; Romans 15:32; Hebrews 3:11-4:11)

     

    Compiled by Gerry Organ  (November, 2009)

     

     

     

    Work is of God

     

    Work is of God; it is just as spiritual or as sacred as any other part of God’s original creation.

     

    Robert Tamasy puts it this way:

     

    Work is sacred. It was ordained by God from the beginning, before the fall of man. After the fall, it just got rougher, frustrat­ing, exhausting, sometimes even boring. But work pursued with excellence and integrity is still pleasing to God, a way of honor­ing Him by serving in the unique ways He has equipped us.

     

    Consider what Mark Greene says about this:

     

    “Work is ordained by God. And it should be dedicated to God. . . . The Hebrew word for work is avodah, the same as the word for worship. “Service” captures the flavour best. Work is a seven-letter word— service— to God and people. And though I would lose my job if I built a theology on the basis of that observation alone, we can see elsewhere in scripture that work is a part of “everything” we do “to the glory of God.” For God, work is part of our worship. It is part of our service to him.”

     

    Gregory Pierce sums it up in his book spirituality@work:

     

    “The spirituality of work is a disciplined attempt to align our­selves and our environment with God and to incarnate God’s spirit in the world through all the effort (paid and unpaid) we exert to make the world a better place, a little closer to the way God would have things.”

     

     

    “Yes, there is a church in the workplace. We are that church…and what we do in the workplace is just as much ministry, service to God and even worship as what we do on Sunday in our local church!” (C. Peter Wagner)