All Jobs Matter

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How does the Christian’s faith affect their work? The Protestant Work Ethic is not merely about working hard, but understand that God has called us to a vocation — serving Christ by serving others — that we are to work out in our occupation.

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Text: “I therefore, the prisoner of the L ord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,” (, KJV)

Theme: How does the Christian’s faith affect their work? The Protestant Work Ethic is not merely about working hard, but understand that God has called us to a vocation — serving Christ by serving others — that we are to work out in our occupation.

Date: 09/03/17 File name: All Jobs Matter.wpd ID Number:

Tomorrow, as you know, is Labor Day. It’s a holiday that honors the American laborer and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. It was President Grover Cleveland who signed the bill in 1894 making Labor Day a national holiday.

However, most Americans do not use the holiday to “celebrate” their labor any longer. It is primarily considered the unofficial end of summer in the United States, and marks the beginning of many fall sports. Amen. and amen!

Being Labor Day weekend, I thought I’d use this morning’s message to preach on the theology of work. As Christians we need to think theologically about how we integrate our faith and our work. We must learn to not merely work just to live, but to live to work for the glory of God.

When thinking Christians consider the relationship between faith and work we instinctively think of what has come to be known as “the Protestant work ethic.” It is a set of principles, drawn from the Scriptures, which emphasizes hard work, discipline in our work, and frugality as the result of one’s faith. But there is more to it than that. The Protestant work ethic primarily teaches that our occupation becomes an opportunity to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. The Christian’s vocation is to represent Christ in all we do — including our occupation.

To celebrate Labor Day let me give you some tips on how to integrate your faith and your work.

I. FAITH GIVES YOU AN INNER BALLAST WITHOUT WHICH WORK COULD DESTROY YOU

YOU

ILLUS. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones was a British medical doctor who became a pastor and preacher. He was very aware that some professions can consume an individual if they are not careful. Speaking to a convention of medical doctors, Martin said "Somewhere in Pembrokeshire a tombstone is said to bear the inscription ‘John Jones, born a man, died a grocer.' There are many whom I have had the privilege of meeting, whose tombstone might well bear the grim epitaph: " ... born a man, died a doctor.'! The greatest danger which confronts the medical man is that he may become lost in his profession ... "

preacher. He was very aware that some professions can consume an individual if they are not careful. Speaking to a convention of medical doctors, Martin said "Somewhere in Pembrokeshire a tombstone is said to bear the inscription ‘John Jones, born a man, died a grocer.' There are many whom I have had the privilege of meeting, whose tombstone might well bear the grim epitaph: " ... born a man, died a doctor.'! The greatest danger which confronts the medical man is that he may become lost in his profession ... "

1. Martin Lloyd-Jones was referring to those individuals who are consumed by their profession to the point that it becomes their identity

profession to the point that it becomes their identity

a. you can't imagine yourself not being a doctor, or a lawyer, or a CEO

b. your whole identity is based on being what you do

ILLUS. It's easy to sit back and think to ourselves, "Yes, I can see how that could happen to a professional." It can happen to a lot of people. Linda and I were living over in Adrian during the height of the Farming Crisis here in Missouri. Land values had plummeted. Crop prices were low. Farmers, accustomed to getting loans for planting and purchasing equipment, could no longer do so. When you can't get a loan to plant and fertilize your crop, you don't get a crop, and when you don't get a crop, you don't have an income, and when you don't have an income you're not paying off the bills from the last planting season. There were any number of suicides in our community and the communities surrounding us — farmers taking their own lives. You see, their whole identity was based around, "I'm a farmer." That was their identity, and when they lost that identity because they could no longer farm or they were losing their farms it destroyed them. Their self-worth, their self-importance, their sense of self competence was tied up in the work that they did.

happen to a professional." It can happen to a lot of people.

Linda and I were living over in Adrian during the height of the Farming Crisis here in Missouri. Land values had plummeted. Crop prices were low. Farmers, accustomed to getting loans for planting and purchasing equipment, could no longer do so. When you can't get a loan to plant and fertilize your crop, you don't get a crop, and when you don't get a crop, you don't have an income, and when you don't have an income you're not paying off the bills from the last planting season. There were any number of suicides in our community and the communities surrounding us — farmers taking their own lives. You see, their whole identity was based around, "I'm a farmer." That was their identity, and when they lost that identity because they could no longer farm or they were losing their farms it destroyed them. Their self-worth, their self-importance, their sense of self competence was tied up in the work that they did.

c. in our culture, work as become an end to itself

2. the result is that the vast majority of Americans — whether you are a man or a woman — get their sense of self worth through their work

— get their sense of self worth through their work

a. work becomes their identity — I am a doctor, or I am a lawyer, or I am a teacher, or I'll make it more personal — I am a pastor

I'll make it more personal — I am a pastor

b. but there’s a problem when your work becomes your identity

1) If you are successful it goes to your head

2) If you are a failure at it, it goes to your heart

c. the problem, from a biblical point of view, is when your work becomes your identity you are enslaved to your work

you are enslaved to your work

3. you need to have your life grounded, you need to have a deep sense of your identity, and self-worth in something other than your work, in something that is not based on your performance

and self-worth in something other than your work, in something that is not based on your performance

a. and for the Christian that is Christ — Christ is your life

b. God never intended for work to become your source of identify

1) our acceptance before God is not based on our work record, or our sales record, or our production record, or our promotions record, but on His Son's record

or our production record, or our promotions record, but on His Son's record

2) if you're a Christian the hunt for personal worth ought to be over

a) you need to understand that, in Christ and in his Gospel, the only One in the universe Who’s opinion matters, has fully accepted you

universe Who’s opinion matters, has fully accepted you

4. your identity is that you are a child of the living God

5. Faith Gives You an Inner Ballast Without Which Work Could Destroy You

II. FAITH GIVES YOU A CONCEPT OF THE DIGNITY AND WORTH OF ALL WORK, WITHOUT WHICH WORK WOULD BORE YOU

WITHOUT WHICH WORK WOULD BORE YOU

1. Americans seem to have a love-hate relationship with their jobs

a. many Americans gain their sense of identity and self-worth from their jobs

b. at the same time, most Americans find their jobs boring

ILLUS. In 2013 The Gallup Organization did a nation-wide survey on “Employee Engagement.” Gallup defines engaged employees as workers who are “involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work, and contribute in a positive manner.” What did they discover? Americans appear to be bored out of their skulls with their jobs. In measuring whether people were engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged, the results consistently demonstrated a bored, apathetic, or otherwise disinterested population of American workers. The survey found that approximately 75% of Americans say they hate their jobs. The millennials were the least engaged of any generation.

Engagement.” Gallup defines engaged employees as workers who are “involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work, and contribute in a positive manner.” What did they discover? Americans appear to be bored out of their skulls with their jobs. In measuring whether people were engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged, the results consistently demonstrated a bored, apathetic, or otherwise disinterested population of American workers. The survey found that approximately 75% of Americans say they hate their jobs. The millennials were the least engaged of any generation.

c. I’m assuming that a lot of professing Christians are included

2. the Christian needs to understand the relationship between work and calling

a. the Scriptures teach that all labor accepted as a calling and performed as unto the Lord is noble

Lord is noble

1) but this truth has slipped away dramatically both in today’s Church and our present culture

present culture

b. we need to think theologically about how we integrate our faith and our work

1) we must learn to not merely work just to live, but to live to work for the glory of God

God

3. the Protestant reformer Martin Luther helps us understand this

a. our word vocation comes from the Latin vocatio, which means summons or a calling

calling

1) Luther said that the Christian butcher, baker and candle stick maker are called to represent Christ in their occupation just as the pastor or church worker is summoned to their position

represent Christ in their occupation just as the pastor or church worker is summoned to their position

b. unfortunately, some of the early Church Fathers began separating the sacred and the secular by as early as the end of the third century

the secular by as early as the end of the third century

1) sacred work was good and secular work was, well, not necessarily bad it was — secular, and therefore did not measure up to the work of the priest or monk

secular, and therefore did not measure up to the work of the priest or monk

ILLUS. Luther, never one to mince words, calls this view of work as the “guiles of the devil.”

the devil.”

c. Luther wanted to reconnect faith with everyday life, and so he began to recover a biblical view of work

biblical view of work

ILLUS Luther wrote, "…the works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks…"

they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks…"

1) simply put, there is no church-related work or missions work which is more spiritual than other professions whether they be blue collar or white collar

spiritual than other professions whether they be blue collar or white collar

4. Luther believed that a society’s whole economic system is the means by which God gives us our daily bread

gives us our daily bread

a. Luther looked at such passages as where Jesus tells his listeners, “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” (, NIV84) and wondered, "Okay, just how does God do that?"

b. God does it through our neighbors

1) Luther said that each part of the economic food chain is a vocation, through which God works to distribute his good gifts to men

which God works to distribute his good gifts to men

ILLUS. Whether it was the farmer who owned and cared for the cow, or the maid who milked the cow, or the laborer who churned the cream into butter, or the farmer's wife who took the products to market — all were performing their God-given part within the economic system. And each part — each role — was equally important, and equally dignified.

who milked the cow, or the laborer who churned the cream into butter, or the farmer's wife who took the products to market — all were performing their God-given part within the economic system. And each part — each role — was equally important, and equally dignified.

2) the Reformers believed that the people who do the simplest kind of work are the fingers of God

fingers of God

5. this means that all work is God's way of caring for His world, caring for His creatures, which means all work carries a dignity, and a responsibility so it that keeps us from getting bored with it

which means all work carries a dignity, and a responsibility so it that keeps us from getting bored with it

a. when we recognize that we are part of "God's fingers" in this world it gives our work, whatever it might be, new meaning

whatever it might be, new meaning

b. it means we should never sneer at the waitress, or the garbage collector, or the turkey truck driver, or the janitor pushing a broom

turkey truck driver, or the janitor pushing a broom

c. the way to do work as a Christian is to do it well whatever it is you're doing

ILLUS. If you are a Christian who is an airline pilot, what does it mean to do your job well? Land the plane. If you are a Christian who digs ditches, dig them well. If you are a Christian who is an auto mechanic, what does it mean to do your job well? You fix people's cars when they are broken — and at a fair price.

Dorothy Sayers, an English author of the early 20th century, wrote about the failure of the church in teaching a proper theology of work. She said, "in nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. … The church's approach to a carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables."

6. Christians need to practice, "the ministry of competence" in their jobs

a. you’re company my be giving you a paycheck, but your vocation is your calling to labor unto the Lord in whatever occupation you find yourself in

labor unto the Lord in whatever occupation you find yourself in

7. Faith Gives You a Concept of the Dignity and Worth of All Work, Without Which Work Would Bore You

Would Bore You

III. FAITH GIVES YOU A MORAL COMPASS WITHOUT WHICH WORK COULD CORRUPT YOU

YOU

ILLUS. In between my freshman and sophomore year in college I work at a steel-stamping mill in St. Louis. My primary job was to drill holes in break shoes for railroad boxcars. Occasionally when it got busy, I’d be transferred to the laquer department where I would help laquer brass parts. The process was pretty simple. The parts would be dipped in a vat of laquer and then placed in a centrifuge to spin the excess off. Then, they would be tumbled onto a conveyer belt to run through an oven that would bake on the laquer. One day, about mid-morning, the guy who ran the department asked me, “Do you feel like having the rest of the day off? I feel like having the rest of the day off.” I innocently replied that sure, a day off sounded good, but how do we manage that? At that he took the next bucket of lacquered parts, and tilted it so they all piled up one side, placed it into the centrifuge and pressed the on-button. Have you ever seen your cloths washer walk across the floor because the laundry was piled up on one side making it out of balance? That centrifuge ripped itself right out of the floor, ending that department’s work for the day. He got to go home. I got to go back to drilling holes in brake shoes for railroad boxcars. I had only been a Christian about 18 months when that happened, but I can remember thinking that “This is something Christian don’t do.”

I had only been a Christian about 18 months when that happened, but I can remember thinking that “This is something Christian don’t do.”

1. faith gives you a moral compass without which work could corrupt you

2. the pressure for profitability in almost every segment of our culture, whatever the business, can lead ...

business, can lead ...

a. ... to the temptation to cut corners, and

b. ... to the temptation to do whatever it takes to turn a profit or get the job done

3. we live in a culture where we are repeatedly told that morality and ethics are relative

a. that philosophy in the business world leads to a lack of integrity, a lack of transparency, a mistreatment of the staff, and/or employees

transparency, a mistreatment of the staff, and/or employees

b. unless you have a strong moral inner compass that comes from being a Christian, your going to have a lot of problems

your going to have a lot of problems

1) what do you do when you're asked to "fudge the numbers?"

2) what do you do when you're told to use an inferior part to repair something then the specifications demand?

the specifications demand?

3) what do you do when your superior advises you to cover up his sexual misconduct if you want to maintain your position?"

misconduct if you want to maintain your position?"

4. faith gives you a moral compass without which work could corrupt you

IV. FAITH GIVES YOU A WORLDVIEW THAT SHAPES THE CHARACTER OF YOUR WORK WITHOUT WHICH WORK COULD MASTER AND USE YOU

WITHOUT WHICH WORK COULD MASTER AND USE YOU

1. for too many people, including too many Christians work becomes an end in and of itself

itself

a. it's become merely a way to earn a living, or the primary way of developing an identity

identity

1) either way allows your work to master and use you

ILLUS. Carl F. H. Henry in his book Aspects of Christian Social Ethics, writes: "According to the scriptural perspective, work becomes a waystation of spiritual witness and service, a daily traveled bridge between theology and social ethics. In other words, work for the believer is a sacred stewardship, and in fulfilling his or her job he will either accredit or violate the Christian witness." Such an understanding shapes the character of our work in that we see it, not as an end in itself, but as "walking worthy" in whatever location God has placed us.

"According to the scriptural perspective, work becomes a waystation of spiritual witness and service, a daily traveled bridge between theology and social ethics. In other words, work for the believer is a sacred stewardship, and in fulfilling his or her job he will either accredit or violate the Christian witness." Such an understanding shapes the character of our work in that we see it, not as an end in itself, but as "walking worthy" in whatever location God has placed us.

2. Christ encouraged His disciples to be salt and light — change agents in the world around them

around them

a. one of the very best environments for us to accomplish that is in the work place

3. this is the core of what we call the Protestant work ethic

a. it’s not just about working hard, or giving an honest day’s work, or being frugal

b. the Protestant work ethic is all about understanding why we should work hard, why we should be honest in our work, and why work must be an outlet for our faith

we should be honest in our work, and why work must be an outlet for our faith

" ... whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (, NASB95)

"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." (, NASB95)

• "Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." (, NASB95)

“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men," (, NASB95)

• "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men," (, NASB95)

ILLUS. John Stott, an English Anglican pastor, once defined work this way: “It is the expenditure of energy (manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community and glory to God.”

expenditure of energy (manual or mental or both) in the service of others, which brings fulfillment to the worker, benefit to the community and glory to God.”

4. Faith Gives You a Worldview That Shapes the Character of Your Work Without Which Work Could Master and Use You

Work Could Master and Use You

V. APPLICATION

1. 1st, The humblest service, in the most menial job, can be dignified and God-honoring by doing it for the Lord

by doing it for the Lord

a. in this sense, there is no difference between "secular" and "sacred" work

1) all is sacred

b. let me quickly say that some activities are not legitimate instruments to serve the neighbor as divine mandates

neighbor as divine mandates

1) robbery, drug dealing, and prostitution are examples of “anti-callings”

2. 2nd, Our rewards in heaven will not be based on prominence or apparent successes, but rather for faithfulness to the task

but rather for faithfulness to the task

a. this means the Joe the Plumber, who is a faithful Christian, will have just as glorious a mansion in God’s Kingdom as will Bob the CEO, who is a faithful Christian

a mansion in God’s Kingdom as will Bob the CEO, who is a faithful Christian

3. 3rd, We express our Christian discipleship through our employment as much as our worship

worship

4. 4th, There is a tension between our faith and our work

a. you will not have a meaningful life without work, but you must not make your work the meaning of your life

the meaning of your life

5. 5th, God changes our culture when we bring our faith into our work

a. ordinary places of responsibility are transformed into holy callings when we bring Jesus to work with us

Jesus to work with us

ILLUS. German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "The first hour of the day belongs to God in worship, the other hours of the day belong to God in work."

of the day belongs to God in worship, the other hours of the day belong to God in work."